The F-14 Tomcat
me in front of an F-14D Tomcat
May 15, 2023
Did you know the F-14 is still used by the Iranian Air Force? So to prevent Iran from getting spare parts for their jets, the U.S government took all existing engines for the plane and destroyed them, “taken from Combat Air Museum”. Hello, I am here to talk about the F-14 Tomcat.
In the 1970’s the U.S NAVY needed a supersonic fighter jet, so different companies designed fighter jets for the NAVY. Grumman won the contract for the jet and it later entered service with the NAVY. It first fought “credit national naval aviation museum” against Libyan MIG’s and the F-14 shot down both of the MIG’s. Then, the aircraft fought in the gulf war and shot down a few Jets. The aircraft continued to serve until the early 2000’s when it was retired.
The reason why the F-14 is famous is because of its role in the 1986 movie Top Gun. The movie featured the F-14 as the main fighter jet that Tom Cruise flies. The movie was a hit and the F-14 gained a ton of popularity. The Supersonic jet was so popular that when it was retired a lot of people were sad.
There are a few preserved F-14’s. One of them is in Topeka. The one in Topeka was in the Top Gun training program. The M-61 vulcan cannon is visible because the area was cut out and replaced with glass. The aircraft there had its engines removed and destroyed because Iran still uses the Tomcat.
The F-14 was an extraordinary jet. It became loved by so many people and is still loved today. The F-14 was replaced with the F-18. The F-14 was big and you can see one at the topeka Combat Air Museum. Here’s a link to the history of the jet.
