2. The F-14 Tomcat Joins the Fleet

[@forthwithtx5852]

Worked on the F-15 for almost 14 years. Always thought the F-14 was stylistically superior. Great interview, guys.

[@nexpro6118]

It sucks that only 22% of the US delivered F14s had the better GE engines in them. Only 141 out of the 632 F14s had the GE engines in em. So sad.

[@elnach3240]

You thought correctly.

[@tomwilson1006]

We need Crunch & Bio to do a season 2! The fan interest is there and no doubt the Tomcast would grow! Nobody really covers the Tomcat quite like Crunch & Bio and now is the perfect opportunity to seize on that. I know y’all only wanted to do 1 season and understand if there’s just no time to do another season, bcuz life is busy enough, I totally get it. Anyway….love this channel and the patriots and warriors who are a part of it!

[@dasmin0710]

What AWESOME podcasts... Bio & Crunch thank you for keeping the Tomcat alive! Can't wait to hear more!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Every other Tuesday!

[@hoghogwild]

2:50 "Reported to VF-1 in July(1975), about a month or so after VF-1/2 got back from the F-14's 1st cruise." A full decade before filming of that movie. Must have been amazing times to be Navy. Thanks for the repost!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

You're welcome!

[@6605jeremy]

AWESOME.!! I can't get enough of these podcasts, please we need more! I've been in love with the tomcat since the first time I saw it 37 years ago, and I still can't get enough of it, so hearing your stories just...I can't explain it. It's just awesome! Keep it up please!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

We will, 24 more episodes over the next roughly year

[@6605jeremy]

@FighterPilotPodcast I don't know to many pilots. But I was wondering. After leaving your squadron, did you guys usually take your helmets and masks with you? Did you have to ask permission? Or was it a kind of, while nobody is looking right now ill just throw it in my bag sort of thing?

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@6605jeremy if we were going to another squadron, then we took our helmet and the rest of our flight gear. When I retired, they allowed me to keep my helmet.

[@nexpro6118]

It sucks that only 22% of the US delivered F14s had the better GE engines in them. Only 141 out of the 632 F14s had the GE engines in em. So sad.

[@paulashcraft799]

Wonderful episode; great to see Streak, one of the best CO’s ever. Now I know why we had so manyVF1 and VF2alumn in VF84. The leadership lessons I learned from him served me well in my nearly thirty year career.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

🇺🇸🤩

[@2ZZGE100]

Amazing watching this episode again. Thank you for posting.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

You're welcome!

[@DarthVader-ESB]

You sirs I admire to fly the jet that have captivated me for years. Working now on the f35 I'm still getting chills when I'm on the pax naval base and see the tomcats there. 😢 just beautiful.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

The Tomcat certainly captures attention like no other plane.

[@PAS_2020]

Wow, this is fun‼️“The Turkey”“ big sweetheart.❤️ this is the absolute greatest selection of episodes on this channel‼️ Energized guys. Thank you‼️

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

🙏

[@HabitualButtonPusher]

So glad I supported this effort the first time and now again on the FPP! Fabulous stories

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

And thank you for that!

[@SOSchangedme]

Great stories guys. You guys had all the fun! ❤🇺🇲🤙🏻

[@Gotav-uq4jr]

Like the new shots in the intro, but I miss Crunches ready the flight deck call. Glad these are back!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

He's still there on the audio versions. 👍

[@tomwilson1006]

Crunch needs to get with DCS and record tracks as the “air boss!” Who better to do it?

[@modscientist9793]

Love hearing the pilot and rio stories but also enjoying the podcasts visitors on the engineering and development side of the F-14. Can we get Mike Ciminera on? Btw R.IP. "Snort" of anyone knew the Tomcat inside and out..what a loss to the community.

[@nexpro6118]

It sucks that only 22% of the US delivered F14s had the better GE engines in them. Only 141 out of the 632 F14s had the GE engines in em. So sad.

[@fr6885]

Thanks again for re-posting these.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

You're welcome! This is not completely altruistic, we do make money on them.

[@johnb7490]

Great interview, I was in VA-97 on that 76-77 cruise.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Nice. A-4's?

[@johnb7490]

@@FighterPilotPodcast A7E

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@johnb7490 ah, my bad.

[@pierheadjump]

⚓️ Thanks Guys ♨️ I was CIVMAR Second Mate… USNS Mispillion w/ Midway group… Mombasa in ‘79, Iranian Hostage Crisis broke …. Balls to the wall GONZO Station… was there almost the whole time …Mispillion & Passumpsic 😎

[@thesteveruss]

When it comes to the looks ... the F14 and the Panavia Tornado will always be the best.

[@johnferguson1455]

Great interviews! So, I only ever knew that the TBF Avenger was known as the Turkey. Never realized the Tomcat had the same nickname.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Here’s the story: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5ildKyaoqp2htk

[@CarlosMoreno-dq3kg]

nice video, I would like to know if you pull at max lift AoA at 250 knots CAS, how many Gs can you reach? dogfight configuration

[@joshuamelton8908]

The only thing I don't like about the show is I have to wait 2 weeks between episodes! Love the show guys!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Hah! Well, the audio versions are still available on your favorite podcast player

[@mandyfox9376]

My favourite episode ❤

[@AaronMal1978]

What was the rate of conversion for aviators switching from the F-4/F-8 to the F-14? Were all offered the chance to qualify on the new airframe?

[@get2dachoppa249]

20:42 Thats 163904 at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum on Ford Island. I was just there 3 weeks ago.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Cool!

[@darrenschultz3572]

Uugg, For- Crunch -, on start up you would have to run OBC (onboard Check out). As the pilot you would have to set the master test PNL to OBC and the RIO would run the test. As an AE on a launch if we saw the ramps fail to run, we would hook up to the get and tell the pilot to push the corresponding throttle forward a little then slam it back to idle and cycle the associated Circuit breaker.

[@nexpro6118]

It sucks that only 22% of the US delivered F14s had the better GE engines in them. Only 141 out of the 632 F14s had the GE engines in em. So sad.

[@modscientist9793]

About the only real downside to the F-14 were the maintenance hours required to keep it operational? Thoughts? What an amazing airplane, the first time I saw one in person on the JFK during fleet week, and walked up to it, what an awe inspiring jet. I couldn't believe the size and i was absolutely floored. The Tomcat made it's mark in history.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

What year was that? I was on JFK for Fleet Week 1998

[@modscientist9793]

@@FighterPilotPodcast sure sounds like the same one! Wow..small world. Every fleet week I could attend, i was there. Met a RIO call sign SEWP who gave us a great walk around but memory eludes me, can't remember which squadron he belonged to. Sewp might have been on the America during her last cruise...I think the VFA-113 Stingers were on the America as well. The JFK dwarfed the America in my opinion. I might be mashing those 2 fleet weeks together in my memories.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@modscientist9793 VF-102 😉

[@bedevilers7496]

Was streak the C.O. of VF-84 during desert storm?

[@sigurdolaisen8389]

Great podcast! Anyone got a link to the F-14 picture on the thumbnail?

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Email the show and we'll send it to you.

[@sigurdolaisen8389]

@@FighterPilotPodcast Fantastic! Many thanks from long time listener of FPP in all iterations!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@sigurdolaisen8389 👍

[@tomalexander9340]

Had to laugh about the port visit to Karachi.......flying civilian cargo out of Afghanistan, we had to do a tech stops in Karachi in order to get "cleansed" before going on to the UAE. I was flying with a guy who had never been there before and was asking me about it. I told him that he'd smell it before he saw it.....he looked at me and rolled his eyes. Descending through about 5,000 AGL he looked over at me and asked "Who just busted ass? That is foul". The engineer said "That's Karachi like he told you". Was on the Ike with VQ in 1980.....

[@julianbrattoni]

Williamtown just north of Sydney with Mirages and then Hornets

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Can you clarify this comment?

[@julianbrattoni]

The gents were talking about doing an Alpha strike against the RAAF at a base north of Sydney in the mid 70s and they couldn’t recall the name of the base…

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@julianbrattoni ah, very good.

[@elnach3240]

Back to talking about an Alpha Male Airplane, the mighty Tomcat!

[@deantait8326]

The F-14 looks cool but Tom Cat is a great name. What was the % of up v down time. They did fly occasionally? This breaker, this one…

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

“Tomcat” is all one word for the F-14.

[@indy500tabasco8]

JOLLY ROGERS TOMCAT❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@tomwilson1006]

Too bad there isn’t a civilian-owned Tomcat that could take Bio & Crunch on one last hop. No thanks to that country I shall not name in the Middle East, the reason why we can’t have any air-worthy Tomcats still flying 😞

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

That and simple economics

[@tomwilson1006]

I can only imagine how ridiculously expensive it would be to maintain an airworthy Tomcat

[@danam0228]

These guys look too young to have flown in the mid 70s, or maybe I look too old for my age 😂

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

😅