042 - F-14 Tomcat

[@lancet.346]

So much Tomcat in my life right now. These guys sound like Han and Chewie banging on the Millennium Falcon to get it working.

[@TOMCATnbr]

I'm listening this like the third time, and honestly, I don't think Jello was able to find better people than Syph and Cosmo to talk about the Cat. This episode is so cool to listen. So many detail about this amazing bird, so many personal stories, and so many funny anecdote. The F14 is my favorite plane, but even without that, this episode is truly one of the best, maybe the best of the FPP series. Greetings from France.

[@n7565j]

In around 99 I took my daughter to a local Airshow at KHKY in Hickory NC. The spot light of the day was the Tomcat!!! It performed as expected, beautifully tuned After Burners stole the show!!! No ones head was down when that beautiful machine performed a max performance takeoff!!! It drew incredibly tight circles in the sky with those beautiful blue flames shooting out the back!!! Slow flight, aerobatics, didn't matter what it was doing, NO ONES HEAD WAS DOWN!!! Thanks to all who maintain & fly to protect our country!!! God Bless You All, and God Bless the U.S.A.!!!

[@LRRPFco52]

A Fighter Pilot podcast interview with former F-14 maintainers would be an absolute riot. I've never heard such horror stories in all of my life compared to what those guys have seen. F-14s with brakes that didn't work attached to the tow car on a rolling deck backing up with inertia from the roll, hitting the little elevator edge and lifting the nose off the deck slowly up to 90˚ with the car still attached, crew chief jumping out of the cockpit, then seeing the TARPS pod underneath, as the bird slowly and gracefully fell backwards into the ocean. Birds with the canopy open on the elevator in the hangar level, huge wave splashes over the aircraft, total write-off. The hours upon hours dealing with any system on the F-14, from avionics to power plant to the wing sweep mechanism, blown seals, AWG-9 connections pulling apart on cat launch and tits up in the air, reconnecting on trap so the avionics techs say everything is fine....it would be a great interview if you can locate the guys.

[@mike28003]

The story of the wave breaking over the elevator, I had that happen to me with a hornet on the Kitty Hawk it really sucked.

[@LRRPFco52]

@@mike28003 Was the aircraft written-off? This guy said the F-14’s canopy was open when the wave splashed over the whole plane, total write-off. I wonder if they salvage the engines after a depot-level inspection.

[@mike28003]

@@LRRPFco52 fortunately in my case it wasn't a write off but there was a real in depth inspection and replacing all the cockpit components.

[@LRRPFco52]

@@mike28003 How did they handle the movement and inspection of that bird post-incident? Were you guys able to do all that in the hangar deck?

[@mike28003]

@@LRRPFco52 the bird was already being taken in to hanger for some maintenance issue so we just did the inspection and replaced stuff at the same time as fixing the original issue.

[@thebgpikester]

The stories about the unusual tweaks, modifications and the messing about and non standard stuff is the real charm of this. Thanks for the stories, so great to listen to them!

[@jabonemalone4065]

"How did the bombs affect the Characteristics being in the tunnel" "To be honest it didn't care..." Best answer ever! LOL

[@LRRPFco52]

There's a great Aircrew Interview with one of the initial Grumman F-14 test pilots who said the F-14 was built from the start to be multirole, but the senior Navy fighter pilot community insisted it only be used for Fleet Air Defense/A2A. He has a lot of unique insights into the F-14 I had never heard before. Here's a pic of one of the early test Tomcats with the whale tail and orange/white paint scheme, with 14 Mk.82 retards, 2 AIM-7s, and 2 AIM-9s: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/F-14A_Tomcat_prototype_during_armament_tests_c1973.JPEG

[@Scoobydcs]

@@LRRPFco52 what fuel tanks are those?

[@LRRPFco52]

@@Scoobydcs I honestly don't know. I remember some of those pics from the 1970s and something is telling me I know, but I haven't thought about it since maybe 1980. There were very few pics of them in the early aviation geek books of the day, then the change to the standard F-14 EFTs.

[@NicholasBartel-rl8se]

75 vacuum

[@czoom51]

@@LRRPFco52 Hi can you direct me to that interview, if you're still around to see this?

[@ronniemo_1622]

Thus was absolutely amazing! Top Gun came out when I was a freshman in HS. This insight gave me a little nostalgic window into my teens. Thank you all for leading the lives you have AND for sharing it with us.

[@LegionOfEclaires]

Now the competition is tough these days but I still firmly believe the Tomcat is the best looking bird of all time.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Can't help wonder if it's because of Top Gun but it certainly is sexy...

[@Snuckster2]

if you ever get a chance to see one up close DO IT! in person they are something else and are a lot bigger than most people think. as far as good looking jets go its Tomcat Flanker Sabre in that order

[@Tamburello_1994]

@@Snuckster2 I've actually had the pleasure of sitting in more than a few line F-14A's back in the late 70's

[@het61yt]

Eeeh I prefer medium to small size fighters for looks, which is why the F-15 and F-14 aren't really appealing to me.

[@joelmoran5547]

It's gorgeous, no denying that. You may call me sick, perverted or right(!) but there's something about the Phantom (especially an S in VF-161 colours)...

[@javaace9746]

Listen to this one again for old time sake. This may be the GOAT of all of ur shows. I still catch myself randomly quoting from this show…… would love to see a follow up episode.

[@hughlb2]

"Moving poop bricks" - Now I know what to call those things ;) Great podcast!

[@eplatel1]

Besides the fact that the f14 was and still is my favorite plane… the chemistry between the two being interviewed and jello and sunshine great rapport as well… this is truly my favorite episode of the series ! I can listen to it many times … and always have a blast ! Thanks a lot for these series ! Cheers from Italy

[@cantonmotors]

I know I’m 4 years late to the show. But I had to share this. I was a Beaufort maintainer and from compass rose watched two of my squadron jets take strikes. The first was a goose strike down the intake. The sound was terrible and the smoke and flames from the exhaust pipe were nerve wracking to watch. Mr stick actuator handled it like a pro of course and brought it right back around for an emergency landing. Compass Rose incident two was a deer strike. Just after weight of wheels Bambi came running out of the woods and impacted the nose gear. Pink mist and body parts, and two FODed motors. He put it right back on the runway and rolled to the crash trucks. There was bio material everywhere. Anyway, I love the podcast.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Thanks. 😎

[@omally]

Oh, I get it now! "The Cat" ~= Tomcat Just dropping by to say this was easily one of the best episodes! (in the first 50) Loved the banter as well as the history and how an ancient beast operated and evolved. Thanks to SYFH, Cosmo and the BVR team!

[@khaaehi]

Loved this episode, great job guys! I hope one day you can get an F14D pilot and rio on the show. In all the F-14 interviews and videos I've seen they mainly cover the As and Bs with only passing reference about the Ds. I know not a lot of them were built/rebuilt, and it wasn't around long compared to the As but considering it was the best version of Tomcat that was actually built I would like to hear from people who actually flew it.

[@Josh-hr5mc]

I would love to hear from F14D pilots. Sadly I don't think there was to many. They only made the D for around a 1 year or so. Almost 500 of the close to 700 F14s were A models. So I think pilots who actually flew the D version is kinda rare

[@marktownsend7361]

This was Greatest podcast so far you all had me cracking up ! Outstanding dynamic I could invasion all the antics you guys got to experience through out all of your careers. Thank you for this it was just want i needed during my 16 hour shift patrolling the streets of America. Please bring these guys back Freaking Hilarious.

[@vanionsteele]

Awesome! Thanks Jell-o & Sunshine for this podcast on the greatest Fighter of all time! In my humble opinion anyway.

[@michaeljohn8905]

So nice you weren’t selling anything or boring the crap out of us with long intros. Great pod cast. Thank for taking time to make this. Thanks to all you guys. 👍👍

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

You're welcome, Michael. We appreciate the feedback.

[@rodneypearce6113]

I really enjoy this show, it's well presented and the guests are always interesting and informative. The interviews are always good, in my opinion largely because the hosts know the right questions to ask. And, no sensationalism! Thankyou to Jello and Sunshine and the rest of the team for putting it together.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Thanks for the feedback, Rodney--that is exactly the approach we try to take so it's nice to hear it's coming through.

[@DJones476]

@@FighterPilotPodcast Hey, Jell-O, I've noticed that the hard-core DCS players argue about the 'best' fighter just like real fighter pilots. =)

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@DJones476 No surprise.

[@PrimarchX]

I like the discussion about NFOs and pilots and their synergy. Makes me think of the interview with Willie Driscoll.

[@ShamuXEagleDriver]

Very entertaining episode, learned a lot, well done gents. I was priveledged to have flown several training fights against Oceana NAS based A/B model Tomcats while flying A model Eagles (48 FS) out of Langley AFB from 1988 to 1991. - In the BVR arena, the AIM-54 WEZ posed a difficult, but not insurmountable, tactical problem. We had to use the rope-a-dope tactics the heater only F-16A used against us to get to the merge back then. - In the visual arena, the Eagle had the advantage; nearly 9G vs 6G, true HOTAS with four well designed and easily selectable auto acquisition modes, a power/turn rate advantage across most of the flight envelope, and a more automated/less demanding FCS. - None the less, dissimilar BFM/ACM/ACT was always preferable to a like adversary. The best hops were out-and-backs, where we landed at the NAS before returning to Langley. The sequence was; takeoff from Langley AFB, fight in the overwater ranges off of VA/NC, land at Oceana NAS, quick ACMI debrief (if lucky), and then takeoff to fight again on the way home; now that was a good day's flying 😉 A small detachment of Eagle maintainers would drive over to service/fix the jets, they were the best!

[@JacobGramtorp]

Honestly the best episode so far in my opinion! You guys keep raising the bar! 👊

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Thanks!

[@HabitualButtonPusher]

I concur, this was a fun episode to listen to with all the banter and smack talk about the "C's". I would love to hear an episode over the craziest verifiable Sea Stories and the winner gets a podcast shirt. Just hearing about the F-14 breakage would be hysterical.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@HabitualButtonPusher Great idea! We will consider it...

[@joelmoran5547]

Absolutely brilliant, thank you so much from a Brit who grew up on Tomcats. You guys did what I could only dream of. So happy I found your channel

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Welcome, Joel! Plenty more exciting content to come...

[@northstar8818]

"I saw a MOAB" -Where ? "Somewhere ;)"

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Right? Wikipedia lists the weapon's one and only operational employment...

[@williamkillingsworth2619]

I felt a moab that exploded about 30 miles away. Mini earthquake

[@xfiazc07]

@@FighterPilotPodcast Officially though....doesn't mean...you know...

[@StreckFu2U]

The development of the AWG-9/AIM-54 and how that development led to the F-14 is a very interesting history in its own right. It started life as the Hughes ASG-18 RADAR paired with the AIM-47 missile that was to be used on the Air Force XF-108. The Air Force cancelled the XF-108 but loved the radar and missile. At the time of the XF-108 cancellation, Lockheed's Skunk Works was starting to build the A-12 Blackbird (SR-71 predecessor) so Kelly Johnson went to the Air Force suggesting that the A-12 could easily meet the Air Force needs. The Air Force liked the concept so much that they ordered 3 airframes for testing and these became known as the YF-12A and were fitted with the ASG-18 and AIM-47. Several successful shootdowns of target drones were accomplished by 1963 but the program was cancelled in 1969 regardless. The RADAR and missile were developed into the AWG-9 and AIM-54 for the F-111B program which was supposed be bought by the Navy and Air Force but the aircraft could never cut the weight necessary for carrier operations leading the Navy to leave the program. Grumman was the partner contract on the F-111B so they approached the Navy with alternative designs that led to Navy contracting with them to create the F-14.

[@Haya-OhWaves]

Excellent !! Many thanks !!

[@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X]

What an insightful and entertaining interview - thank you all!

[@grizzworld]

Fantastic podcast this time, great stories and great guests, i enjoyed every second

[@CristianValenzuela2155]

52:05 "I mean I am representing the listener here" LMAO Thanks for the good time, guys

[@Pricklyhedgehog72]

Definitely one of the best modules to fly in DCS World...thanks Heatblur! Great interview, lots of cool stories!

[@glennledrew8347]

Good story, and easy to follow. I would have liked to see those P-47s get in there and mess around with you. Actually, a couple more of those P-47s would have been a worthwhile addition, to spice things up! 😉

[@paulc1173]

AWESOME! Great stories and background information...... thanks guys

[@GenJackOneill]

i dont understand why the USN didnt just scrap the current projects and just make the Super Tomcat 21 or beyond. Its a shame they havent. This was great to listen to, Thank You o7

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

You're welcome. I trust someone looked at the math and it did not pencil out. Akin to remodeling a house: sometimes it's better to demolish and rebuild anew.

[@AvengerII]

@@FighterPilotPodcast It wasn't cheap to remanufacture an F-14. I think I read it was around at least $20million to rebuild an old F-14 but who knows that means in REAL cash because those numbers fluctuate depending on how people calculate the figures. In the mid-1980s, it was claimed the Tomcat was a $30million-$35million plane and the F-18 wasn't significantly cheaper in spite of a much higher production rate for that plane (which makes you wonder if Grumman was losing a TON of money staying in the airframe business or was MD cooking its books and charging more on the F-18?). At any rate, by the time the F-14 was retired they were claiming $65million-$68million a plane BUT someone may have adjusted for inflation (post-2006) which sounds realistic. About $35million is what you read in contemporary mid-1980s books. The classic Hornet (A-D) was about $30million a plane. The F-18 Super Hornet they never claimed was less than $75million a plane (late 1990s) and it's probably more than that now. Boeing may be throwing in things for free on the Super Hornet to keep the Navy business. It's cut-throat right now and it would NOT be out of the question for the Pentagon to throw all its business at ONE contractor (Lockheed, which would be the WORST thing for US military aviation, Lockheed's been a DISASTER for large tactical planes and the maintenance and flying costs for the F-22 and F-35 are terrible; the Navy foolishly threw away Grumman's services and put all the "carrier money pot" into MD in the early 1990s) for fighters and give it all to Lockheed as stupid as that would be. They had ZERO problems forcing Grumman out of the airframe business in the 1990s and even MD couldn't stay independent (the failure of their civilian airline business bankrupted MD) and was absorbed by Boeing! Grumman was claiming they could "zero-time" the F-14 airframes and it would be essentially a new plane but I don't think it quite works out that way. There are always stressed components but everybody seems to only concentrate on the wings and the reality (as the Air Force found with a few F-15s that broke up in flight because of failed longerons) is that other parts of the airframe are constantly under stress. There is a reason why they only guarantee 6000 or 8000 SAFE flight hours for these machines. Sometimes, this thing called reality kicks in! You'd be better off building a plane new and incorporating new technology and manufacturing techniques to reduce maintenance and prolong frame life than trying to band-aid that onto an existing 10-15 year-old airframe that may be half flight time-expired already. That old plane's metal has been stressed repeatedly and unless you an examine the frame all over with an X-ray machine and microscope you may never knew where it's already cracking.

[@MongooseTacticool]

All the tooling was probably destroyed.

[@W0lframAlpha8133]

In flight sim games (simulators) like DCS players seem to spend all their time dogfighting on the deck. Using mountain ridgelines to "hide" behind and dodge missiles. I can't believe this is at all realistic. I understand fights can end up on the deck, but I didn't think pilots tried to take the fight low intentionally.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Michael Powell it’s a natural progression due to gravity.

[@DJones476]

@@FighterPilotPodcast Not only that, Michel, but if you read Robert L. Shaw's _Fighter Combat: Tactics and Maneuvering_ you will learn about techniques for dealing with multiple bandits. One of these is masking your own fighter with surrounding terrain (radar clutter/hot desert floor, for instance) in order to make missile evasion easier. As Pete 'Boomer' Bonanni would say, you trade altitude for airspeed, and airspeed for altitude.

[@SUP_Bigans]

I know, but DCS it's a sim. In reality a pilot should avoid the dogfight and concentrate on his target/duty, the fuel, the survival of crew and plane. Dogfight is only the Ultima Ratio, after a BVR engagement.

[@DJones476]

@@SUP_Bigans True. No fighter pilot suits up and says, "Y'know... I hope I get into a dogfight today!" That would be like a gangbanger saying, "I hope I get into a _knife_ fight today."

[@davidconnolly7693]

Love the longer podcasts!

[@jasonsong86]

Very cool episode. Love the Tomcats. It was the last of the analog fighters.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

This episode had such a favorable response we ended up making a whole podcast dedicated to the F-14: the "F-14 Tomcast."

[@jasonsong86]

@@FighterPilotPodcast So many good podcasts to go through. Each one is so informative and eye opening. I am catching up as quickly as I can. Great job you guys have done.

[@IkeThe9th]

Still one of my favorites on this channel - but this one has the added realism of hearing empty beer cans in the intro. 😎

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Once in awhile you have to cut loose a little!

[@IkeThe9th]

The Fighter Pilot Podcast Competely Agree. Keep up the good work!

[@Makku293]

Exactly the channel I was looking for!!!

[@stevelikesrhino]

gonna binge listening all FPP episodes until the virus goes away

[@dr.livingstone]

Great episode. I think that one of the things that made this conversation so good is the great balance between yours and Sunshine's usual straight-forward tone and your guests' casual sarcasm. I would have loved to hear their opinion about the long-lasting debate between Tomcat die-hards, arguing that the Tomcats should not have been retired so early, as the Navy would have been better off if they kept their Bombcats and proceeded with their planned upgraded version (also implying that the project was "intercepted" for political reasons rather than military), and, on the other side, those arguing it was the right decision for the time, both for cost/efficiency reasons and technologically-wise.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Thanks for the suggestion. As both of those guys ended up flying F/A-18s I think they understood the immense costs involved in keeping the F-14 flying, relative to the newer jets.

[@MongooseTacticool]

@@FighterPilotPodcast I guess its akin to keeping your sexy old sports car alive vs. having the dealership fix your new car less often under warranty, plus all the nice new features and comforts it has. It might not be *as* good, but it frees up a lot of Sundays under the hood.

[@30AndHatingIt]

The Tomcat was killed by that lovely human being Dick Cheney, look into it and try to tell me with a straight face it wasn't political.

[@UchihaMadaraGr]

I have a question here. Did AWG-9 had a problem in locking targets from rear lock aspect for a Sparrow shot (fox 2) ?

[@spacedigger]

everyones favorit fighter. The picture showed it and yet, I was thinking about the Folland Gnat. The fighter from the movie Hot Shots.. Classic.

[@crownlands7246]

easily on a top ten of awesome looking fighters

[@Arexodius]

Wait a sec, the F-15 also had hydro-mechanical control system at first, and the F-15 was introduced after the F-14. Wouldn't that make the earlier F-15's the last mechanically controlled US fighters?

[@Mightymamba]

That's another great interview. I liked learning more about the F-14 (for me on DCS) and I think I have an idea of what John's call sign means ;) (of course just a hunch lol)

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

I'm trying to get him to come back for a bonus session--maybe we'll get it out of him yet!

[@BlackAces1983]

Awesome podcast. But the Bs got a proper modern HUD by the early 2000s called Sparrowhawk.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Sweet, thanks for the extra detail.

[@ronaryel6445]

The Dept of Defense sold 80 F-14A aircraft to Iran in large part because the airplane was over budget, had a lot of teething problems, and the Iranian order decreased the per-airplane cost, making the Tomcat more affordable for the US Navy.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Anytime more aircraft can be built (and in this case sold overseas, you are correct), it brings the per aircraft cost down. Same for the F-15, -16, -18, etc...

[@het61yt]

55 maintenance man hours per flight hour.....Wow. How did the charlie hornet compare?

[@donno1970]

Awesome episode guys,. Great guests as always.

[@Vlerkies]

Very cool interview. Thanks guys.

[@dallasparty316]

What is this Charlie they kept referencing? What does a pilot do if they have to #1 or #2.....or if they get hungry or thirsty?

[@GoldPicard]

Charlie is in reference to the F/A-18C (Charlie), and for the other either 1: They hold it or 2: They better be wearing diapers because modern fighters don't have piss tubes like the fighters of old.

[@harmandeepsingh6598]

Awesome! Thanks for doing it......

[@maximillianvermontsuperbik2624]

Outstanding ! TY

[@IkeThe9th]

@Fighter Pilot Podcast Jello, I’m re-listening to all the FPP podcasts and hearing some things for the first time. At 35:15 during a discussion about the wings and engines and carrier catapult, Sunshine asks, “talking about overspending the shuttle, could you two block the gear by chance?” Could you elaborate what “Two-Blocking the gear” means, or point me in a direction the look it up? I tried but I think it’s fighter pilot lingo I’m unfamiliar with. Thanks! (Stay Safe!)

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

That expression means breaking the arresting gear contraption.

[@edisonsimoni7784]

Jello the iranians claim to have wrecked a lot of Iraqi Mig 25 and 23 with Phoenies.Apparently when iraqis found out Tomcat was around they just flew away in a hurry

[@kasrakhatir]

Its true as a matter of fact Tomcat pilot Assadollah Adeli with his RIO Mohammad Masbough Shot down 3 close formation Mig 23s with one Phoenix missile. Their only kills during the 8 years war but by God were they good ones.

[@30AndHatingIt]

@@kasrakhatir 3 MiG 23's with one shot... holy hell I wish footage of that existed!!

[@pogo1140]

There is a video of of one of Dale Snodgrass's F-14A flight demo. about the middle of the demo, he streaks by show center wings fully swept back, pulls up slightly and snap rolls the -14 into a max g turn, making the 170-180 deg turn in about 5-6 seconds. Based on the calculations (stall speed wings back, accelerated stall speed, 6-7 second 180 turn) that was what 9.5-11.5 on a 6.5g jet??

[@jordanmartinez2432]

Saw snort giving a lecture, h ex said when his dad was working for Grumman, he would have the Grumman test pilots over to the house for cocktails, and snort said the test pilots always said the F14 was a 13 g airplane. Guess it was tougher than advertised.

[@benjaminperez7328]

Snort made the ‘Cat dance.

[@PilotGigi]

I’d like to know how maneuver flaps work in the F14. When and how you used it.

[@ahmadreza6886]

I'm Iranian, this machine saved Iranian sky in Iran Iraq war, thanks US

[@williamrussellmorley]

I went to f14 school in Millington Tennessee with you guys

[@ahmadreza6886]

@@williamrussellmorley hope to see you here William, You know most of Iranians don't want war or any trouble,

[@Kolobochok95]

Really awesome stuff! Keep it up my dudes.

[@Angus_Gibson]

"And when I woke up, we were at his 6 o'clock." What does, "The wings were hot" mean?

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

I don't recall them saying that--what was the context?

[@Angus_Gibson]

@@FighterPilotPodcast He was talking about the story of the RIO passing out at Top Gun when the pilot pulled 10 gs.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@Angus_Gibson It could mean that the wings were set to move automatically but I'll have to ask SYFH.

[@Angus_Gibson]

@@FighterPilotPodcast Loved this podcast. Perfect whetting of the appetite before the Tomcat drops on DCS tomorrow. I've been waiting on a true, non-arcade, F-14 sim since I was in grade school. I played Jane's Fighter's Anthology back in the 90s. So the wait has been over 2 decades in the making for me.

[@DJones476]

@@FighterPilotPodcast Good thing... I thought Angus meant it literally. As in metal fatigue.

[@Zakariah1971]

Outstanding show.

[@KLRGT500KR]

60,000 lbsf of thrust with a better than 1:1 thrust to weight ratio. People who have flown it, say this thing is an absolute monster in the vertical climbs and in raw acceleration especially with the wings swept back. It is tough to match it both in verticals and accelerations. It is great in slow speed maneuverability with a high angle of attack with great pitch authority making it easy to stand it up on its tail because of the massive horizontal stabilizers that are the size of A4 wings.

[@williamkillingsworth2619]

Closer to 47,000lbs. The Ge 110-400 puts out 23,500 lbs. You can find the Flight Manual through a google search to verify. It wasn’t until recently that versions of the 110 made +29,000 lbs of thrust.

[@appa609]

@@williamkillingsworth2619 Barely better than 1 even on the D. She swole but she also fat.

[@RCAvhstape]

"The times have changed. Officers are expected to act more mature." And then I recall the recent incident of the Hornet pilot drawing a giant dick in the sky with his contrail LOL.

[@mike28003]

Speaking of maintainers I'm curious how many pilots actually would get dirty with the maintainers. When I was a plane captain in VFA-22 we had a divo that would come in and learn our procedures, and went as far as got out there with us on the wash rack. He actually wanted to learn how to be a PC. He is a great guy I still occasionally talk to him on Facebook.

[@toddmenard5525]

Kind of odd, that cosmo didn’t want to give a back story on his call sign. That’s probably one of my favorite recurring questions

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

He went for the "mystery" component.

[@dannyd7714]

That HAS to be Snort who pulled the 10.5 G's 😂

[@charlesbarbour2331]

You interviewed some amazing super-experienced people. Please however can someone tell me what a ‘Charlie’ is.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

The C model of the F/A-18 Hornet.

[@charlesbarbour2331]

@@FighterPilotPodcast thanks for letting me know.

[@billfish6244]

Great episode , thank you !

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

You're welcome, Bama!

[@Scoobydcs]

Best module in dcs, its glorious to fly

[@rudyverdin2285]

And composites and i know the amount of work in maintenance Learjets had they same amount of labor involved in labor ?but we were able to use power tools except the c21Amodels which were the USAFversion all hand tools

[@ligmaboo]

If only this was possible for the Grumman F6F Hellcat

[@dkoz8321]

Poor Lt. Cara Wade. The last words she heard from LSO was "POWER , POWER, POWER, WAVEOFF, WAVEOFF, EJE...."

[@kayakutah]

Hey SYFH....did you get the call? I retired from Delta Air Lines in 2017 after 29 years there. (12 active Navy before that + 8 reserves while at Delta) You'll love it...especially with Tricare!

[@SUP_Bigans]

A masterpiece of Art and Technology too early put down by Cheney's burocracy!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Agreed on the art & tech--particularly for the early 70s when it was fielded, but by the mid 00's it was rather expensive.

[@garethfox5118]

Could please interview Michael Galpin .. Flex .. he was one of the Mig pilots in Top Gun

[@kayakutah]

Flex is a great guy. He was a RIO in the F-14 as I recall, not a pilot.

[@Yoshimurha]

I would have liked to hear more about the decision-making behind retiring the F-14 from the fleet. To my understanding it performed really well. Likewise how come it seemingly is not even active in the Air National Guard. In comparison I've seen F-4 phantoms active in the Air National Guard, and the F-4 is one generation older than the F-14. From a non-flyer, it just seems strange.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

The driving factors in this aircraft's fate were cost and Iran.

[@Yoshimurha]

@@FighterPilotPodcast something possible to expand on? I'm genuinely interested. Thx

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@Yoshimurha Possibly. Would need to find the authority on the subject...

[@Yoshimurha]

@@FighterPilotPodcast would be an intersting topic to cover. Hope to hear it. It was me who emailed to C.Lemone concerning the same topic. Thx for an interesting podcast/channel. Hope hearing more about the faith of the iconic F14 and the reasning behind it. Cheers👌

[@billflynn4602]

Great vids Jello

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Thanks, Bill.

[@wileybird69]

How did the tomcat prevent supersonic air into the engine?

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Thought we discussed the variable inlet ramps--did we not?

[@wileybird69]

The Fighter Pilot Podcast don’t think so! Touched on the glove vanes but not the inlet ramps! Was just curious no biggie! I know the spike on black bird is to keep shock wave out of there engines. Was just curious how other fighters keep super sonic air out of there engines!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@wileybird69 Must have been a previous episode. It's difficult to keep track now.

[@PringphotographyDyndnsOrg1]

161134 still is alive at Titusville fl :)

[@holkemann]

Really cool! I just wish the volume was a bit higher. I have a bad speaker on my phone, and have a hard time hearing what you guys are saying.

[@vince_137]

37:10 What are they talking about ? I don't understand well.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/9vxmig/til_the_f14_had_highspeed_glove_vanes_mounted_to/

[@joevaccaro6655]

The F14 radar and The potential of the phoenix missile was enough to make the Soviet forces back down, like the beginning of Top Gun “ok buddy, what’s on your mind?”

[@rudyverdin2285]

Great interview !Wow speed handles working on pulling panels Iam a structural mechanic in sheetmetal and

[@jpm74]

The Iranian flew the hell out their Tomcats in the Iran-Iraq War. Iranian Tomcats have well over 200 kills.

[@ronaryel6445]

The Imperial Iranian Air Force shot down some Iraqi aircraft using the Phoenix missile; the US Navy reportedly had three attempts; two failed due to motor failures, likely due to poor maintenance on the missiles. A third was fired at an Iraqi MiG-23 at the very edge of its range, and the MiG-23 turned tail and ran, and the missle fell short. But that shot did force the Iraqi pilot to flee.

[@CalvinMaclure]

TOMCATS!

[@SpicyTrifongo]

hmm how do you get a nickname like Syph being in the navy? I sure wonder.

[@greatwhiteythe2nd804]

I'm flying one right now :P

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

In DCS?

[@greatwhiteythe2nd804]

​@@FighterPilotPodcast Yeah. Fortunately, I'm not Iranian. Although, if they let me fly a Tomcat I might convert :P Just been trying to fix this Gulf of Sidra mission I made a while ago. Updates wrecked it. Will repost it tomorrow if you're feeling bored...

[@deantait8326]

I'm trying to understand how I qualified for a naval air, AVROC program out of Los Alimitos NAS back in 69. I never thought about the "BOAT".... DUH. A ruptured disc did me in....

[@tabascoindy5005]

RoboTech version of TomCat is the best☠️

[@eriktruchinskas3747]

I wonder if they picked people with specific personalities to fly the turkey/ be RIO cause many f14 pilots who have been interviewed seem to have very similar personalities I dont know if I'm finding connections where there are none or.am just dumb

[@gritty7485]

My favorit fighter!

[@williamrussellmorley]

Re ... It turned out to be a pretty good bomber.... I knew an fb 111 in air force .. he told me that aircraft had something to do with development of the f14's

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

True.

[@aaronchase38]

Off the topic but maybe an answer.. I religiously go to the miramar air show in San Diego ..they have lots of older planes on static display..but i have never seen a TomCat there why? Even top gun was filmed there back in the day..but no tomcat

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

aaronchase38 The Miramar Air museum must not have ended up with one. Don’t know why.

[@billflynn4602]

Love ur podcast but it would be better if we could see everybody

[@juliemunoz2762]

had they upgraded the tomcat instead of scrapping it the super-tomcat would be one of the superior modern fighters and we’d be a trillion or so wealthier.

[@juliemunoz2762]

as it is the iranians still fly the tomcat and its still a dangerous plane.

[@razgriz4978]

28:53 "Mmm, compressor stall..."

[@mxcollin95]

Crazy...never knew you had to practically be an avionics tech to run the radar... I mean the “oscilloscope” display. That poor backseater...working his ass off with a screwdriver in combat trying to keep it classy. I can’t believe how manual that plane really was, apparently it had more work-arounds than your local club beater plane. Just sounds like those old highly skilled tomcat pilots were true “skilled operators.”

[@Scoobydcs]

is charlie f18c??

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Yes.

[@DanM19811]

Which aircraft do you mean when you say charlie?

[@javaace9746]

You probably know this by now….. but they were talking about the F-18C. I think any fighter with the C designation is called a “Charlie.”

[@DanM19811]

thank you@@javaace9746

[@paladin0654]

The question is, was "Cosmo" better than "Jester"? Out of "refreshments".......right!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Cosmo is a RIO. If you mean Jester from Top Gun, he was a pilot.

[@Scoobydcs]

Soooooo how did cosmo get his call sign???

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

He wouldn’t tell.

[@Scoobydcs]

@@FighterPilotPodcast I know in the interview lol I was wondering if somebody else knew

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@Scoobydcs His former squadron mates, surely, but good luck with that...

[@Scoobydcs]

@@FighterPilotPodcast yeh. It was worth a go lol