The black nose is a tradition with the "Tomcatters" of VF-31, going back to tthe earliest days of ops with the Tom (And even further back with the F-4). Nowadays the black noses, as well as any other colorful markings, are usually only seen on the CAG, CO and sometimes the XO birds. There have been exceptions, however. Unfortunately, the colorful glory days are long gone. And though I really like the look of a Tom in the TPS paint jobs, I rather miss the gull gray over white scheme and all the color that went along with it. Speaking of early Tomcats...
The only other squadron I can think of that had all-black radomes was VF-41, in the earliests days when they carried the flashy tail markings and the gull gray over white scheme. When the overall gull gray scheme was adopted the black noses gradually became a thing of the past, never again to reappear on a "Fast Eagle".
There's a third unit that comes to mind as having had an almost all black nose. VF-21 had a scheme variation at one point that saw the black covering the forward spine of the fuselage extended down the side of and under the nose. Really sharp lookin' paint job and, to this day, one of my faves.
The missing refuelling probe door is a rather common occurrence, though I've yet to find a totally satisfactory explanation as to why this is. I've read that it has to do with compatibility problems with USAF refuelling baskets as opposed to the USN baskets. I've noticed, however, that sometimes both doors are missing, and other times only one is missing. This leads me to think that it may simply be a mechanical issue. But, as an aside, (and to lend further seeming credence to the compatibility argument) all the F-14's that were delivered to Iran had the doors deleted at the factory. Food for thought, and if anyone knows more about this I'd love to hear about it.
Fade to Black...