F-14 Tomcat Walk Around with Former Top Gun Pilot Mike Rabens

[@trojanalum2622]

I was stationed with Mike back at Miramar. A very classy gentleman and an example of fine Tomcat pilot.

[@robertmeyer5468]

Mike Rabens "callsign Rabies" was my Division officer at VF-114 Aardvarks and a Finer Man, Pilot, or Naval Aviator you will not find any where...So LT...like the presentation and the way it seems that you've managed not to age over the last thirty years...In my Era (1981 thru 1984) He was the best of the best in the Varks command and at Topgun...So Sir I thank you for making Us the Flight Deck Hero's of our time, Showing Me personally what It means to be a leader, and having more fun at the best job in the world...Thanks and there is only one thing one can say about a Tomcat...."AWESOME"...LOL...Line LPO Badd Bobb Meyer.....(Oh and thanks again for that First Cubi Point TAD)....

[@N330AA]

It's nice when people that are obviously awesome at something are modest and polite like Mike here.

[@oot007]

my favourite plane when i first saw a picture of it in the late 70's. most beautiful plane ever

[@Chris23lover]

Mine too from mid ages, and from first ages i like the Javelin, and from last age i love Typhoon & Raptor; F-14 was the King from 70's even until now still beating some of the existant Jets.

[@daddiodizzle8990]

Epic. You can watch documentary after documentary, but learn even more so from these great servicemen. Thank you for sharing and your service.

[@Glen.Danielsen]

Mr. Rabens does a marvelous job at explaining this aircraft. Fascinating, informative! 💛😎

[@taofledermaus]

Very enjoyable! I love this channel!

[@bodazaphfa]

Great video.I was a Tomcat A/B/D I and O maintainer for years and Mike definitely knows a lot more about the Cat than just flying.Bravo-Zulu.

[@RealismFTW]

Hi! I've always heard the Tomcat was a maintenance nightmare. Any truth behind that? What made it so? Would love to know. :)

[@ksamos]

@@RealismFTW I was an Aviation Ordnanceman (AO) with the F-14A back in the early 90's. Aircraft, like any other mechanical device, all seemed to have their own personalities. Some birds were great, they just kept on tickin'. Others were more finicky and required more TCL. Some were just down right stubborn. We had our hanger queens that were robbed for parts to keep the others in "up" status. The Tomcat was a very good aircraft. Obviously, newer planes are easier to troubleshoot with all the digital electronics in them. We still were analog, so our techs really had to know how to troubleshoot problems. Plugging in a laptop to find your problem in a few seconds was not an option with us. Anyway, the aircraft was a great bird and served us all well.

[@josephobrien942]

Thank you Betty for a great presenation, well done. Thank you Mike for your service, I'm in ewe of your experience and knowledge, I enjoyed the video.

[@tomcatjeff1985]

Cool, Calm and Collected this guy characterized of being a good F-14 Tomcat pilot, my all-time favorite fighter/interceptor aircraft which is a symbol of freedom and might of the United States of America. God Bless and thank you for your wonderful service.

[@FromGamingwithLove0456]

Getting my F14 knowledge warmed up for the release of DCS F-14A/B by Heatblur! Absolutely loving these videos.

[@truckproam.2218]

Eno M I see this comment was written over a year ago, so tell me sir, are you as hyped as I am now that the Tomcat is only a few months away? I’m brushing up on my knowledge too lol. Can’t wait to defend the fleet.

[@christopherbazaka1564]

@@truckproam.2218yeap

[@unusualbydefault]

same ^^

[@mickmckean7378]

Awesome walkaround with Mike, really enjoyed his other longer talk too.

[@DaveTaste]

The very first man to win the Top Gun trophy. You will not find a finer fighter pilot anywhere in the world: Commander Mike Rabens -- callsign "Rabies."

[@micheltangy2725]

Excellent video and great information. Thank you to all participants

[@elendshuraglump3620]

It is nice, to hear somebody, who has really knowledge. My highest respect!!!

[@rickgould6554]

We were at Point Mugu together when Naval Weapons Test Squadron was still NWTS (now, VX-30). Being humble is one of the strongest indicators of leadership.

[@navyguy7001]

I was attached to VF-1 in the early 80's enjoyed this video

[@Ignignokt5150]

What an airframe . It just screamed 'badass' .

[@DrRich-mw4hu]

Damn! This was a classy well presented and informative video! Thanks you both👍👍💕

[@homerwarner1870]

My favorite fighter jet ever

[@alphamike2839]

Nice to see you Mike! Aardvarks Forever!

[@nyuseco]

Great video sir. I still think it is the most beautiful plane ever built. The F-15 comes next.

[@HotTakeHQ]

Really fascinating stuff! I was nearly compelled to grab a notebook and pencil, it was all so beautifully phrased and clear.

[@MamaEtna]

Very nicely done.

[@wimmm72]

Very informative and enjoyable to watch,txs!!

[@VitorMoura]

Thank you so much for sharing this video. Awesome!

[@johnnysp1]

My God what a beautiful fighter jet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@toddwoods582]

I was a couple hangers down ...AT2 Woods , VF-124 Gunfighters 1988- 1994.

[@Tertius_Oculus]

Great story... I already watched so much stuff on this channel. Thank you for the content!

[@bbking0064]

Excellent video!

[@P61guy61]

WELL DONE. THANK YOU FOR POSTING.

[@RevFilmore]

Nice to have someone talking about the inner structure and technical bits around the plane rather than the power numbers. The airbag, I did not know that. Hillarious.

[@anonymouscitizen2732]

Thank you for your service.

[@thetreblerebel]

The "airbag" is called the wing glove. I learned that from a peninsula seniors video on the F14

[@woooster17]

Excellent walk around.. don't they also go to full thrust as the land, incase they miss the wire and have to bolt? That is a lot of stress on the hook etc..

[@MagnarNordal]

Yes, they do. Full power until the arrester wire caught by the hook.

[@meadroad]

Thank you Sir, really enjoyed the video...

[@jlandradeneto]

👏👏👏👏 THANK YOU VERY MUCH MIKE, TO BE LEARNING A FEW THAT FANTASTIC PLANE, 👏👏👏🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@WorldComNews]

phenomenal presentation, very informative, I didn't realize pilots knew so much about the mechanics of these craft. which leads me to wonder, with so much tax dollars invested in,these guys, and experience, why retire them? make them fly till they drop. this guy is too mentally sharp and experienced to retire. Get him back behind a fighter f-18 . must be 14 million invested in his training , I say use him up! that's my my feelings about all officers and NCO for that matter. they are so valuable when they retire, I say use an up!!! till they drop!!!

[@daskarman]

very interesting, educational -thank you ! Sincerely hope US recovers all of the f14 tomcats residing in Iran ASAP !

[@intelcom4964]

I love these show... Great just great

[@liammay7756]

Back when 'awesome' meant something.

[@loganironside343]

I have a steel cast model tomcat identical to this

[@MANPORT555]

I'm married to Bob Kress daughter. We have his swept wing patents and original Grumman model.

[@henryvagincourt4502]

I bloody enjoyed that.

[@javiermac5885]

The F14 had a very good run despite some of the problems with the original engine, TF30. Tribute to Kara Hulk who perish in F14 where one of the TF30 stalled.

[@KLRGT500KR]

The TF30 stall issue was easy to mitigate if pilot did not panic and yank the throttle back and forth like a mad person. Kara was messing with the rudder because she was not appropriately skilled at carrier approaches (she had a history of missed approaches). That resulted in the plane banking hard left and caused a stall in one engine because she started yanking the throttle like a maniac. She then selected full after burn, but with one engine stalled, she pointed the plane directly into the sea. Don't want to stir the pot, but Kara was a pilot who made a lot of mistakes in her career. She was put in the Navy to add women because of pressure after the "tail hook" scandal. The report clearly outlines how repeatedly made critical mistakes, but was not demoted. Even the day she crashed, she missed the landing 2 times before that. Bottom line, she should not have been flying the F14, but was never demoted because she was put into the program to make the Navy look good and to show the world that Navy is putting women fighter pilots. She would be alive today, if the Navy took appropriate action like they would in the case of a male pilot.

[@curtekstrom6600]

If it weren't for the GE Engines, the Tomcat would have been dead alot sooner The Navy was losing a TCat a month with the Pratt and Whitney garbage.

[@michaelbrothers5732]

Where is this beauty.

[@TakakurakenSan]

Where can i take pictures with this F14 nowdays?

[@callumbush1]

Big shout out to the Iranian Airforce who are still flying these warbirds!

[@ooeyb]

I doubt they have the spares to keep them flying. They are probably moth-balled now.

[@kandishm8575]

@@ooeyb Iran has many overhaul factories just for the F-14s,they are still flying and some have had slight upgrades ...around 60-70 are operational in Isfahan's 8 hunting airbase and a few others

[@johnleyland338]

Really ended that, thank you so much

[@keijomattinen5447]

What does the "VF" stand for?

[@skeelo69]

Superb !

[@joketori109]

i am ready to pay extra tax for this bird to upgrade with a new engine, thrust vectoring system, new avionics and start to service again and i do not give a damn about RCS !

[@berndlauert3481]

Does anyone know why the vertical stabilizers/rudders aren't parallel but slightly canted?

[@munozcampos]

they enhance the directional stability aspect of the aircraft more compare to the F-15 for example. which have a vertical design.

[@babakzekibi315]

I think it may be something similar to dihedral angle

[@tony3461]

For better high AoA flight.

[@jowenjv4463]

Lol, one question, 4 answers, 4 different Answers xD

[@numberyellow]

I knew it was an F-14A, by the little retractable canards, just over the intakes. They were designed off the bird, starting with the B model, because they were determined to be of little to no real value, with respect to controlling the aircraft. I wish he'd talked about that.

[@Skybolter]

I LOVE THE F-14 TOMCAT.

[@garyvale8347]

besides the two cockpits in the Tomcat, the F14 and F15 seem very similar ........can anyone tell me some major differences between these two fighters .....thanks

[@PLISNO]

Although the F-15 and F-14 have both twin tails, they are very different planes, the major difference is that the F-14 have swing wings and the F-15 doesn't. The F-14 have the engines much apart from each other, and in the F-15 they are very close. The twin tails in the F-15 are parallel to each other, not so in the F-14 because they are pointed outwards. The botton side of the F-15 is almost flat, not the case in the F-14. And the landing gears are also very different because they need to be much more stronger in the F-14 because landing in an aircraft carrier is much more stressful than landing in an airport. I hope I have answered your question!

[@joem5110]

3:48 hard to believe 72,000 lbs going from 0 to 150 mph in 2 seconds being pulled with that little "T". Wonder if it's welded on, machined as one piece and what material? If it breaks while launching the plane will end up in the ocean with not enough speed for flight.

[@Pook162]

Yup they learned the lesson for 50 years but hey guess what... Now were making a fighter without guns. Good stuff

[@1903chrisholden]

Is he contactable

[@globallearningnetworkTv]

The United States Navy should bring back this beautiful supreme flying bird of the sky with some modifications and let it come to life again. It should have never been put to rest. It's still tough, powerful, mean, and can get the job done. I say we all come together and unite as one common people of a large and great mass population of this earth and demand to have her put back in service and do not stop our requesting to do so until it is done. Those who have such a strong love and passion for this aircraft will agree with me. Let's all put in a petition to the government to see her back in service. What do you think guys? Tell everyone about this. I want to see her back in action even if they have to make changes to her.so be it. Let's make America great again with the F -14 TOMCAT back in the skies.

[@ThruTheWireless]

Guy kinda reminds me of Hank from BB ....very good stuff tho!

[@enlightenedwarrior7119]

What's the difference between cat and eagle?

[@alexandertheissl5517]

The cat was a beautiful fighter for real naval gentlemen aviators. The eagle was a plane.

[@abh3960]

High torque tension bar...

[@sioda2008]

Why did they sell these babies to Iran!

[@carlosfernandez6754]

6000 round per minute(20mm) ? ? ? what you need is 10 round per second at 40mm will do!!