Was the F-14 Tomcat a success?

I work with two gentlemen that served as maintainers in a Navy squadron.  Both of these gentlemen were involved in re-equipping the unit from F-14's to F-18's.  They prefered the F-18's.  No suprise there.  They liked the new bird.  The unit had the tomcats for over 25 years of military wear and tear.  I'd say that's successful.  I hope my pickup truck lasts that long, and it gets babied.    

tempestjohnny

 

 

Phil_H

 

 

tempestjohnny

Well the Tomcat did shoot down a couple of Libyan Su-22's. Oh and those 2 Zeros on December 7th..:) 

 

 

 

You forgot the four(?) Mig 28's, all shot down with the same missile..

 

 

 

 

Oh yeah. How could I forget Mav and Ice 

 

 

He’s coming back... with a promotion... but no Tomcat...

Aside from high maintenance required for an obviously complex machine, the Tomcat suffered from the TF-30 turbofans inherited from the F-111 program.  Like the F-111, the F-14 suffered its share of compressor stalls and surging. I wonder if the problems were the fault of the engine design rather than the intakes?  When the F-14D was re-engined with the GE units, it was finally the "Top Gun" of the fleet.  Kind of sad that the US is replacing mach 2 fighters with slower ones.  How will our fighter boys catch mach 2+ Su-27s and other similar current jets?

The F-14 was a really cool jet, regardless of any problems or shortcomings.

"Top Gun 2"... ugh.  It was cool watching the first one in college, but it just seems dumb today.  And isn't Tom Cruise, like, old? Will they use some Eastern European primary jet trainer for the next MiG, or will Maverick be tangling with CGI Chinese fighters like the J-20?

[quote user="ridleusmc"]

ridleusmc

The unit had the tomcats for over 25 years of military wear and tear.  I'd say that's successful. 

 

Talking about success, the B-52 came out in 1955 and is still in service. Talk about a plane that technically a grandfather, son, and grandson have sat at the controls of the Stratofortress. They have plans to retire it around 2050. Holy crap that is a 95 year run!!

[quote user="plasticjunkie"]

ridleusmc

 

ridleusmc

The unit had the tomcats for over 25 years of military wear and tear.  I'd say that's successful. 

 

 

 

 

Talking about success, the B-52 came out in 1955 and is still in service. Talk about a plane that technically a grandfather, son, and grandson have sat at the controls of the Stratofortress. They have plans to retire it around 2050. Holy crap that is a 95 year run!!

 

Maybe the Top Gun franchise should follow the lead of "Star Wars" and make some prequals.  Maybe they could scrounge some F-4's, Mig-17's and -21's.  That way they could show Maverick's Dad and Viper fighting "Bogies like fireflies, all over the sky."