RAF F-14 Tomcat Pilot | Pete Legg (In-Person Part 1)

Pete Legg talks about flying the RAF Phantom and going onto to fly the mighty F-14 Tomcat on his exchange tour!
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Filmed at www.boscombedownaviationcollec...
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Thanks to Ian Black for the photos. Check his website out www.firestreakbooks.com

[@Aircrewinterview]

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[@pakkelly]

Pete Legg is such a genuine, humble guy yet there he was at the pinnacle of aviation: an F-14 pilot.

[@JackWRichardson]

Just flicking through KZbin, saw a name I recognised and clicked on the video. Turns out I did my Multi Crew Cooperation course with Pete! Awesome guy to fly with.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Nice!

[@oliverroper1062]

Fascinating. What an achievement to go from enlisted to officer from tech to pilot.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@jameswebb4593]

Before flying became all high Tech , it was not unknown for conscripts to become RAF pilots . I knew two such men , one enlisted for extra service , flew as co-pilot in Sunderlands , Hunters and finally Lightnings, The other flew Spitfires , Meteors and Vampires/ Venoms. He got out after the obligatory three years. I asked why having lived a dream . His answer may surprise you. When he looked at the photo of his draught , and saw how many were dead , he decided he wanted a longer future.

[@user-iy1uf8vy1c]

Imagine being in the USA in the 80,s flying the the F14 ,I don't think I could imagine anything better. Absolutely fantastic video.

[@Aircrewinterview]

It would be a dream! Cheers

[@Dave72760]

I served in VF-101 as a metalsmith from 1978 1981 and went on many "carrier quals". REALLY enjoyed your story Sir.

[@catcherintheair]

That roundtrip of the USA in an F-14 because hours have to be "used up" reminds me of a story from a Marinflieger Starfighter pilot in the 70s.......On Monday morning his squadron commander told him that there is a Starfighter with 4 external fuel tanks on the apron, ready to go....."Take it and come back on Friday noon with lots of crosscountry time!".......those were the days my friends....😅

[@robertbaker8306]

Brilliant, I remember seeing a picture many years ago of Pete and Stu standing in front of their F-14 with Union Jack's painted on the canopy rail and wondering what it was all about. Now I know all these years later. Thanks for a great interview.

[@BugattiONE666]

Please, please tell me this image is still available somewhere

[@robertbaker8306]

@BugattiONE666 It must be nearly 40 years ago that I saw a black and white picture of Pete and Stu sanding in front of their Tomcat.

[@susanfennessey6193]

Fantastic! I can identify with Pete and his experiences because I was a US Navy A-7E pilot who had an exchange tour flying Harriers with the RAF on 233 OCU at RAF Wittering and 3(F) Squadron at RAF Gutersloh from '77-'80. Even brought back a "war bride", F/O Susan Tudor. Wonderful memories.

[@neilhurt1992]

What a lovely, lovely bloke! I wish I had met him when I was in the air force (1976-1984, F4/Tornado). I only did a very short trip to the states in 1982 at Nellis AFB in Nevada (Red Flag) when I was in but enjoyed the American hospitality (and the weather & the ladies). I keep telling my wife that not every fighter pilot looks like Tom Cruise...I certainly don't. Cheers from a Chilly Otford, Kent, UK.

[@petervharris]

Sounds like you enjoyed your USN exchange as much as I did mine - great, great times for us both!! Good interview - well done!!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks!

[@TowGunner]

Fantastic interview! You had great back and forth allowing the interview to flow instead of constantly interrupting him like so many do. F-14 Tomcat “Anytime baby!”

[@Aircrewinterview]

Many thanks.

[@Pincer88]

How on earth's name do you find such marvellous people ready to be interviewed? What a wonderful man and a great interview! I must say, it seems you're getting better by the day as well. And you've been doing this for quite some time too. So, isn't it time for a 'best of' video, with some memorable moments from the last years some time?

[@peep39]

Such a lovely chat. I love listening to Brits talk about American stuff

[@2ZZGE100]

Fascinating interview and the fact that he worked with the famous ''Hoser' Satrapa who infamously 'shot down' the F-15s in a 1v2 during the AIMEVAL/ACEVAL. The F-14 cockpit picture is actually an early test prototypes and not the actual production in-service F-14s since it is missing the two displays that were directly in front of the pilot.

[@wasscm]

🇬🇧Loved this interview and what a classically humble guy who definitely has enjoyed his career and has many experiences Pete is clearly a very capable qualified professional yet he certainly doesn’t beat his chest in fact he’s quite self deprecating. Thank you for representing the British Armed Forces and making your mark across the pond.🇬🇧

[@derekcoleman8985]

This bloke is a master of understatement. He is one of the top-tier RAF pilots of his day. Many failed the TWU programme (RAF Brawdy in Pembrokeshire was another) that he quickly brushed over. Hells bells Dave Geldhill is mentioned too. What a story, He started off as an L Tech leading to an ONC in Electrical Engineering.

[@daveh1081]

You just know Pete would be great value on a night out!! Looking forward to the next installment gents!!

[@Farweasel]

Got me convinced Where are we going?

[@daveh1081]

Ha ha.....let's ask Pete and Mike.....first round is on me!!

[@slickstrings]

I read about toeser a long, long time ago. From what i read, he took one barrel from a 20mm vulcan and fabricated up some sort of arrangement to fire it. The breech or something exploded when he test fired it and it took out his thumb. Amazing to hear the story from someone that knew him.

[@richardz5837]

I went through the RAG in 83--84 and flew with both you and Stu. Great memories, especially of Hoser! Ryszard Zadow VF-32/VF-43

[@benjaminperez7328]

SARGE! Loved “Pop Gun!” Big fan of Mooch & his YT channel! Cheers, Sir!

[@richardz5837]

Those where good days! :) @@benjaminperez7328

[@engineer17151]

What a fabulous interview and recall from clearly a well seasoned flier ... wow and all the toys he got to play with. Many many good days (and nights) at the office.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@MrSimonurry]

Loved listening to Pete. What an amazing experience he had out in the states back then !

[@jyy9624]

Lovely partnership US UK

[@caterhamsuperlightr81]

Fantastic interview and what a lovely chap! 👍

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@pakkelly]

1000 hours in three years! He must have gotten very comfortable in that F-14.

[@callenclarke371]

What an interview. Entertaining from start to finish.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks!

[@stijnvandamme76]

From Hosers book, that exotic Dancer in Oceana was called "Tasha"

[@bowdoin5063]

Fantastic interview, this gentleman must've been a hoot to work with

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks.

[@mikelindgren6851]

Was sat in that Hawk yesterday! Great venue for an Aircraft interview

[@swanlaker02]

You have so many great interviews but this was one of my favs.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@Mondeoman72]

The definition of Living the Dream

[@Aircrewinterview]

Indeed.

[@KRGruner]

Most excellent! Really enjoyed this one.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers, Karl.

[@tomburnip7565]

Great interview. Thought I recognised the Sea Harrier and Hawk. Boscombe museum is local to us. A fantastic place to visit.

[@AC_702]

Great dude! Just shows how much fun you can have in the service!

[@morganplatt6762]

Fantastic!

[@noobmcgoob9745]

Leggy took me flying whilst I was on XXV(F). Such a humble guy!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Lucky git!

[@memonk11]

Very informative interview. Wonderful!

[@greatzoglo]

Brilliant interview!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@shirleydrury5565]

What a top bloke and what a top interview 😊 thank you both for this up load so enjoyed regards😊😊👍👍

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@iflyc130]

Most excellent! Let's have more "stuff like that"..😊

[@Aircrewinterview]

More to come!

[@stevemull2002]

I knew Pete legg, from my Virgin Atlantic days, and always got on with him very well, even though i was the Enemy, as in Crew Scheduling, there were a couple of other Names in this vid, that i also knew well, also, some of the Photos were from one of the VA Pilots as well

[@reno22355]

Thank you for keeping these stories alive.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks for listening

[@iancouzens]

Pete is fantastic.

[@philchristmas4071]

Great interview. I realy enjoyed listening to a British pilot talk about the F-14 and his time in the states.

[@tomsanborn4156]

I was in VF-101 IWT shop 88-90. We had some Brit pilots there at the time as well. Great guys!

[@daniel030570]

That’s been a fantastic video, thank you very much, I didn’t know that there was any RAF pilot, that I admire, that flew the unique F14.very interesting, this Sir explained so naturally that it is feel like having a conversation with an old fantastic friend

[@Aircrewinterview]

Many thanks!

[@markgriffin8158]

Brilliant interview… well done both.

[@boggy8557]

Great storytelling!

[@busterdee8228]

Delightful man.

[@JohnJones-nj5hz]

What a wonderful humble guy! Very informative, Tremendous interview. well done! Flying a Tomcat superb!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@matthayward7889]

What a career! Fantastic interview

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@yurinator4411]

Cool interview

[@timshipman6395]

Great stuff 💯🥰

[@Machlooper]

Fantastic interview Mike 👍🏻.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@benjaminperez7328]

16:15. Leggy sure was a handsome chap. I bet he cleaned up at the NAS Oceana O Club!

[@SynapseDriven]

what a cool guy

[@Ian-Saxon]

Superb interview cheers lads and look forward to pt2😊

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@davidwallace5831]

Brilliant interview - fascinating. Thank you!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@whathasxgottodowithit3919.]

What an amazing story, thank you for posting, sad thing is, it probably wouldn't happen today.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@SpeedbirdConcordeOne]

Fascinating interview. Thanks 😎

[@montieluckett7036]

I'm just sorry that he didn't have a good kilt story when he started in on the uniform thing at 40:00. That was hilarious!

[@jared9191]

What a legend!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Sure is.

[@zx7-rr486]

Amazing... incredible that you could join the RAF as an apprentice tech, and graduate to flying fighters, and then get posted to the US flying the coolest jet of the era! Only in the 1970s/80s I suspect....

[@ryansta]

What a great bloke, and flew in a fantastic era.

[@Farweasel]

Pete, if I may borrow a phrase from Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' .......... *You lucky, LUCKY ________d* Another great video too few folk seem to have picked up on YET

[@jdmmike7225]

What a legend. I had heard about RAF exchange pilots but to hear it first hand is awesome. Great content, definitely gained a sub from me 🤙

[@kpsig]

Fantastic :-). Brilliant interview.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@TheJamesm1980]

Fascinating great post

[@rosie121000]

Another brilliant interview 👏

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@Whiskey11Gaming]

Just as a slight correction, when he was talking about the wing sweep mods, you zoomed in on the emergency wing sweep handle. The actual thing he was talking about is on the right throttle, there is a four way switch on the bottom (top was radios, middle was air brakes, bottom was wing sweep). If you do a image search for F-14 throttle, you will see what he was talking about. :)

[@organicpaul]

Fascinating!

[@markendicott6874]

Excellent episode

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@Blox363]

Awesome interview!!! ❤

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks!

[@ReaA-nn2jx]

Fantastic interview!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@ETRTriad]

Being non military, this stuff is brilliant.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@mlusiak]

One word, fantastic!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@stijnvandamme76]

Hosers 20mm story was that he had been given a 20mm barrel as some reward for a gunnery feat. And he was trying to get the 20MM round to fly faster and further to bridge the gap with the Aim 9 shortest distance. He did that with Teflon coating and some say it was adopted later (though I cannot find any proof of that) Hoser did indeed blow his Thumb off, and it was Snort who talked Hoser in doing the Toe Transplant surgery. Because "What Toe would not love getting out of that smelly boot into the sunshine?" Hoser did the surgery, and it failed The Second Big Toe was then transplanted and it worked. Hosers party trick was to run his "thumb" through a jar of peanut butter and ask bystanders if it smells like cheese The Toeser Callsign never stuck. You can see Hoser in the video below, not too long before he retired because he felt his reaction time had degraded. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpuliIuAr62rpas

[@garethjohnstone8662]

This geezer has had the best experience, in the best job, ever!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Sure did!

[@garethjohnstone8662]

Mate, I would supply the beverage of choice for as long as necessary if you supplied the memories, any time, any where! @@Aircrewinterview

[@briansteele2723]

He says :Fantastic' a lot but with that lifestyle and set of experiences who wouldn't!!?

[@FallNorth]

@31:48 .. I've found myself instinctively moving my head forward to get a "better look" at something miles away. If he does it, then maybe I'm not actually insane.

[@ritchiecallaghan5482]

Loved the interview Pete. Regarding the Gnat, give me a gallon of olive oil and a crowbar and I’ll get you in to it!

[@fredflintstome6532]

I'm pretty sure Tooser shows up on a news report in the US in the 80's flying aircraft during brush fires in the US. From memory California S2 Trackers if I remember correctly.

[@AA-xo9uw]

Toeser

[@andrewmallard2301]

Wonderful interview. And all from an Apprenticeship.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it. Cheers.

[@denislinehan5581]

Great!

[@busterdee8228]

Stood in water up to my ankles at Fentress. We were supposed to deploy a mobile radar, but rain brewed up. As we waited for permission to call it off, a very embarrassed, young officer tried not to look at us. Marines have a way of talking back without talking back.

[@robertbaker8306]

Thanks

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thank you very much.

[@robertmurray8815]

The Marines were slated to get F14 aircraft, I was stationed at PT. MUGU in Vx4 and our X0 was a Marine col. 1973 to 1974?. Dates might be a little off.

[@AA-xo9uw]

Strong armed into buying it in exchange for getting the Harrier. Schlesinger finally got them out of the deal and those aircraft ended up getting sold to Iran.

[@BlueSwallowAircraft]

Really love this discussion. Was hoping to become a NFO (RIO) when in NROTC at the University of Virginia in the late 1980's. Absolutely loved the F-14. Knew everything a civilian could know about it. But it was meant to be... Thanks for your talk.

[@evanmurphy2473]

"Load up, you'll need a navigator to get around" 🤙

[@ltcterry2006]

When did Pete do CARQUAL w/ VF-101? He mentioned "1982" and "three years." USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) went in the shipyard for about a year sometime in 1984 and came out late spring 1985, right after I reported on board. So I might have been on board when he did his CQ. My four years on JFK were a great experience. Get video, I'll have to watch more. (My channel has some personal flying videos w/ IFR, soaring, and aerobatics.)

[@PomyMagnum]

Time stamps would be nice. Love the content 👍

[@johnnunn8688]

Why would time stamps be nice? (Whatever they are 🤷‍♂️)

[@paulmaggs3212]

Sadly, I heard that Hoser had passed away ….

[@edwardhewer8530]

Probably NASA Whidbey Island in Washington State? Although it would have been rare they supported F14’s - they were/are EW/ASW/Strike base.

[@dictumfactum7784]

He was talking about his duty station at NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach.

[@rickversteeg7075]

Great interview (again) - just sorry to report that Joe "Hoser" Satrapa died in December 2022.

[@AA-xo9uw]

17 March 2019

[@allanmacgibbon662]

Now there is a character -

[@rogerturner5504]

Does anyone else feel like he's just talking to YOU.

[@markhuckercelticcrossbows7887]

do you get fries with that?

[@thefrecklepuny]

RAF. Must have meant Rowdy And Fun in Pete's day! Not surprised he was too big for the Gnat trainer. l think I'd have been as well. That plane looks like a toy on comparison with other types!!!

[@robincurwood]

Hoser sometimes turns up on ward carols chanel .(if it is the same guy? )He flew those aircraft you discussed.

[@AA-xo9uw]

Joe "Hoser" Satrapa is deceased. Kevin "Hozer" Miller appears occasionally on Ward's channel.

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

I actually never knew there was anyone in the RAF that flew Tomcats. I feel kinda dumb not knowing this information lol. It makes sense there’d be at least one guy on exchange.