F-14 Tomcat Pilot Interview! | Mike “Nasty” Manazir (Part 1)

Rear Admiral (Ret) Michael Manazir, shares his journey going through flying training which includes his time on the TA-4J to being selected to fly the mighty Tomcat (A & D).
Nasty shares some great stories along the way with great enthusiasm for flying and the F-14.
Enjoy
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Phots in the edit are from nara.getarchive.net/

[@John33gfed]

I was his plane captain one night, on the USS Carl Vinson. while he was doing his pre flight walk around with me, he found my screwdriver that my dumbass accidentally left in one on the landing gear. He handed it back to me and said “ you might need this” haha. He was the coolest man, coolest fighter pilot you could have the pleasure of knowing. Being a plane captain at sea was a hard but FUN and rewarding job!

[@benjaminperez7328]

Nasty’s ‘stache was awarded 3 Air Medals……… He’s the man. 🫡🇺🇸

[@John33gfed]

He was a Lt in VF-51 in 1984. He was my Division Officer. He was the coolest, determined and enthusiastic man then, and he is exactly the same man now. Im glad he is an American- he is deadly in a fighter jet!

[@mattg5978]

Was the 1984 cruise the one where all the birds were painted in the hiviz markings?

[@John33gfed]

@@mattg5978 oh high viz? im having a hard time remembering, but I think some were and some were painted tactical......

[@razor75250]

​@@John33gfedI met nasty a few years ago. We've become great friends and I'm glad to know him and his wife. And yes, he is like this in real life.

[@John33gfed]

@@razor75250 He probably wouldn’t remember me because it’s been 40 years! Lol. That’s nice that you and him are friends. Are you in the same industry as him?

[@razor75250]

@@John33gfed nope. I retired out of the reserves and I've been a trucker for a while now. I met him at tailhook. Mooch introduced us. I'd known of nasty for years but never met him until we were both out. I knew mooch when I was CAG maintenance/logistics officer for CVW-3 at Oceana.

[@stevenbayless210]

He was our CO at VF-31....by far the best leader I've ever witnessed. As a young man just getting to the squadron, I had a great role model from day 1. Unfortunately, it was never the same after he left.....thus the reason I got out after my 4 years. Nasty was the best pilot we had and the coolest mf'er around.

[@mviking39]

I love this guy, high IQ, he’s a straight up killer. Very intelligent, extremely competitive, he’s a very dangerous man

[@JohnDoe-nd9mv]

you cant enlist in the airlines until you kill a few babies....

[@JohnDoe-nd9mv]

unless you want to fly turbo props for 14k per year...you know, pay those dues young broke aviators...

[@AA-xo9uw]

@@JohnDoe-nd9mv pogue

[@mikeF111]

Tomcats vs Hornet rivalry sounds a lot like Pig vs Hornet. Love it 😂

[@FireAngelOfLondon]

A fabulous interview, this man comes across as a team player, someone who would be easy to work with and reassuring to have as an instructor. Great content as ever.

[@John33gfed]

he is. you are exactly right

[@elnach3240]

The story about his ejection with Slammer Richardson is very entertaining.

[@rostamr4096]

I am glad he is with us at Boeing now...

[@ajtabbilos]

Love the slammer story about the flat spin.

[@davidsmith8997]

I wish this part was longer, so I guess I must have enjoyed it! Thanks Mike and Nasty!

[@kimfrancis5671]

Part 2 is coming up

[@Thetequilashooter1]

He’s right about the Tomcat being sexy AF. I saw it for the first time at an air show on static display. Looking at it head on with the way its wing’s slanted is so cool. I felt the same about F-4U Corsair.

[@deantait8326]

Buy his book, it’s great. Takes a bit to get into but worth every minute of the read. LEAD to Win. Some of the ideas are obvious but the more subtle lessons are truly what makes the difference. I bought 2 books and 1 audio for my son to listen to while driving. Thanks Nasty !

[@Watchandcutgearchannel]

Awesome interview.. I’ve watched many interviews with nasty. I love his stories, and many people have great things to say about him as a commander.

[@eatthisvr6]

Every interview iv seen from military pilots they just scream competence! These are people I want to be around

[@troyledbetter6597]

Such and enjoyable interview. Loved the plane talk, easy to follow and lots of humor! I hope Nasty can come back may more times!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers Troy.

[@louwvandermerwe178]

I love Nasty!

[@jamesswain721]

Love you're energy Mike!

[@jbuckley2546]

Can't wait for Part 2. Thanks.

[@MrOhdead]

What a great guy in interview!

[@hendongooner7383]

"God's Jet" for the F-15 - How apt.

[@scottr9900]

Wow. Top grades and a must pump. Cool.

[@Pincer88]

Been listening with a smile from ear to ear all video. Great stuff!

[@dannyd7714]

Nasty for President! First order of business, the F-14EX 😅

[@MrWarwick15]

Thank you both! Richard.

[@MrWarwick15]

Thank you Mike and Mike! Richard.

[@85RJames]

Best fighter ever made

[@finchleyflyer]

Great interview, great guy. What a CV!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers!

[@mandyfox9376]

Great interview thank you 😊

[@NilleFix]

As always, great interview, Mike!! Love Nasty's book, I highly recommend it!👍

[@JEFFASCO]

Thanks again for another great interview. This Chanel is amazing 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@hoguwang]

Really funny whenever hear about Nasty's ejection. Reenactment should be made especially the parachute part. Wonder if Nasty would cooperate. Thanks for the great interview.

[@mviking39]

It’s the coolest airplane ever. Thee United States of America F14 baby

[@Wtpat2]

Good interview with a great man! Enjoying the Lead to Win book!

[@mattg5978]

I know this is an aviation channel, but Mike I think it would be really Really interesting if you did just one episode on aircraft carriers. They are such an integral part to aviation having Nasty talk about them would really be neat. Keep up the nice work 👍

[@jimbrown5268]

This was awesome, thanks to you both.

[@joeruger5858]

Great interview, looking forward to part 2

[@Francio85]

amazing interview. would be intersting know more about f14 school time. how hard it was,how many things to study, basically everything about that. nobody really talks about the school before learn fly the jet. cant wait for pt.2

[@JagdgeschwaderX]

I got the impression RIOs were former pilots, do some of them have not flying background? Loved the interview, his enthusiasm got me dreaming about flying again for a moment lol.

[@scottr9900]

RIO’s are rarely qualified pilots. They are basically guys/gals who didn’t have the eyesight to be a pilot. But! Some troops managed to transition in their later career as a RIO to pilot seat.

[@hoghogwild]

RIOs that later went on to be pilots were known as re-treads, pretty rare.

[@JagdgeschwaderX]

@@hoghogwild I was really talking about RIOs already having pilot training.

[@hoghogwild]

@@JagdgeschwaderX Understood, Scott addressed your question with an accurate answer. I though you may appreciate some additional accurate RIO info.

[@JagdgeschwaderX]

@@hoghogwild Thanks man, I read a book by one of the early Top Gun guys during Vietnam and I think RIOs back then were often very skilled pilots so that's probably what I was thinking about.

[@hoghogwild]

That went quick, great work Mike. Cant wait until part 2.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@matteopesce1627]

Grande intervista. Per noi fan del Tomcat e' sempre un piacere ascoltare i racconti di chi ha avuto la fortuna (e, soprattutto, la bravura) di volare su questa splendida creatura. Mi permetto di far presente un errore nelle foto: al minuto 30:06 circa l'immagine che compare non e' quella di un F-14D ma si tratta di un F-14B del VF-101. Infatti sotto il muso non c'e' il doppio pod TCS-IRST, inoltre i seggiolini eiettabili non sono i nuovi NACES II ma i vecchi GRU-7 (si notano le maniglie gialle e nere sopra), ecc. Tomcats forever!

[@Taffeyboy]

Fabulous! Go Navy!

[@couchfighter]

1st baby!

[@2ZZGE100]

Great interview. Actually, the TF-30 in zone 2 made equal power to the GE-F110 in military power in the B/D. 'Nasty' student, 'Slammer' said on the Tomcast that as an instructor, he take an A and would beat students in a D p.s. Wondering if 'Nasty' knew 'Snort'? An interesting anecdote, Captain Dale 'Snort' Snodgrass (R.I.P) actually went 1v2 in 1985 in an F-14A against two F-5E Tiger and got gun kills on both.

[@davidsmith8997]

Totally. It's the man, not the machine. Same source Jungle talks about beating Top Gun graduates in a T-45. Crazy!

[@higfny]

He probably knew him or at least knew of him. But Nasty was the best pilot there was. Snort was good, but was known to break rules and be the “kick the tires, light the fires” kind of pilot Winkle warned about. (And when Snodgrass unfortunatly died it was because he neglected the checklist). Never seen Nasty comment on him, I’m guessing he thinks highly of what Snod did for the tomcat and as a pilot, but that he didn’t like his methods - though Nasty strikes me as way to much of a gentleman to ever comment on a dead man unless he only have positive things to say.

[@2ZZGE100]

@@higfny True, 'Snort' bent the rules, but he could fly the A especially like no other. He could literally stand it on its tail at 90 - 100 knots and then control the nose at such slow speeds and eat 9 - 10 Gs at high speeds with no issues and pulling 45 - 50 degree/second radius turns near 500 knots (again, bending the rules by pulling more Gs than what NATOPs allowed). Of course, he used the 'big boys' to do the necessary maneuvering at such slow speeds, but still I heard some Hornet guys say, he was pretty much unbeatable in a Tomcat since Hornet's advantage over the Tomcat is at slow speed, high AoA and 'Snort' was so good with the Tomcat at very slow speeds that it was almost impossible to beat him.

[@kevinphillips9408]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@wesleyallen1173]

Well at least you got to actually interview RA. Manazer, You almost did not get a word in with CMD. Carroll.

[@The_Irish_Fox]

Y’all having issues with your store it seems to have gone.

[@albertoperez3223]

Subtitles, please

[@wayneschenk5512]

I suppose you have to get on knowing your goal was a two seater.