Friday feels

"Viggen" (viggen37) 06/20/2014 at 13:32 • Filed to: Feels, Planelopnik, F-14 Tomcat, F-14, Tomcat

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After seeing !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! thread and remembering the long, glorious life the F-14 enjoyed serving in the US Navy, I can't help but think about their tragic end. The final cruise, AMARG, and then the, well, you know. It's sad to see one of my favorite liveries the F-14 wore go from this:

to this:

I'm a Tomcat fan through and through. I love all four of the teen series and I'm a devout Phantom Phanatic, but the F-14 holds a special place above the rest.

ttyymmnn > Viggen 06/20/2014 at 13:35

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Is that Tom still sitting in the desert? I thought they destroyed all of them so Iran couldn't get spare parts.

For Sweden > Viggen 06/20/2014 at 13:35

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Is the total death of the F-14s reason enough to bomb Iran?

Viggen > ttyymmnn 06/20/2014 at 13:37

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I think AJ-213 was destroyed, sadly. Last I knew there was one survivor sitting on Celebrity Row. Maybe she was destroyed too.

ttyymmnn > Viggen 06/20/2014 at 13:38

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More of that gorgeous livery. Must have been the squadron CO, who can paint his plane however he likes.

Viggen > ttyymmnn 06/20/2014 at 13:42

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A lot of the CAG birds toward the end wore earlier schemes their squadron's F-14s wore. VF-31 went full retro.

ttyymmnn > Viggen 06/20/2014 at 13:43

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Or at least stripped of parts. There are numerous static displays around the country, including outside the museum at RIC, and in the Udvar-Hazy Center in DC. I wonder if they are merely shells.

Viggen > ttyymmnn 06/20/2014 at 13:45

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Most of them are shells. Avionics were ripped out cockpits with little regard for restoration. That's why even some indoor displays have the canopy painted over. Heck, at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, they have a Tomcat cockpit that you can sit in, and a lot of the panel has been stripped out too.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > ttyymmnn 06/20/2014 at 13:51

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I never understood this argument. If they are sitting in the desert, in storage, under U.S. military control, how on earth would the parts go to the Iranians.

ttyymmnn > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 06/20/2014 at 13:58

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Beats me. Better safe than sorry, I suppose.

ttyymmnn > For Sweden 06/20/2014 at 14:01

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Don't be too hasty. We might need Iran's help to clean up the mess in Iraq. Of course, Iran is looking to make major gains in the region. But I don't want to turn this into a geopolitics thread.

For Sweden > ttyymmnn 06/20/2014 at 14:02

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If we let Iran take over Iraq, will they give up their F-14s?

Gamecat235 > Viggen 06/20/2014 at 14:04

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There is one on Celebrity Row, I've seen it both times I've gone past it during the 5k's they hold there. It's a "display" aircraft which is exempt from Iran agreement.

ttyymmnn > For Sweden 06/20/2014 at 14:05

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Doubtful. Iran's domestic fighter production is something of a laughing stock.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Viggen 06/20/2014 at 14:13

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Best F-14 livery ever IMO.

yamahog > Viggen 06/20/2014 at 14:48

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Reminds me of my intern years... Northrop Grumman's Bethpage site has the last F14 flown parked in front of the building.

Viggen > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 06/20/2014 at 17:37

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Parts randomly make it to the market. I've seen parts on ebay. A couple months before the F-14s were ordered to be scrapped, several F-14 parts were seized in Spain, destined for Iran. I don't know how those parts made it out of the US.

Viggen > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 06/20/2014 at 17:39

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I feel that the VF-84 and later VF-103 Jolly Rogers livery is too well known. That and the Black Bunny. There were many beautiful CAG liveries that the Tomcat wore.

Viggen > yamahog 06/20/2014 at 17:44

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The legendary Bethpage Grumman Iron Works facility. Wish I got to work there.