F-14B Tomcat 

by Bud Sliger

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Silly Week 2008

 

F-14B “White-23”

VX-9 “Vampires”

NAS Fallon

2004

 

  (Excerpt from the Navy Times)

 Dateline: NAS Fallon , NV

 

    Today a historical event took place as the last F-14 Tomcat of Fleet Test Squadron VX-9 was handed over to the Navy’s premier ‘Topgun’ combat school in Nevada. The F-14B, still finished in its eye-catching gloss black paint scheme and full color markings, some what rare these days in an air arm that is normally overall gray, is only one of four aircraft that the school has acquired for combat training. “It’s a rush” pilot Lt. Natalie “Heart Break” Tennyson remarked. “The F-14 is the only aircraft in the world that does the mission it was designed to do”. “Only the F-14 can track multiple targets over a hundred miles away and engage eight of those targets at the same time” commented Capt. Jerry “Bradshaw” Douglas, who is an F-14 Radar Intercept Officer. The Navy’s Naval Strike Air Warfare Center, which is located at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada, now has four of the F-14s in use and plans on keeping then in service until 2010. 

This started as a joint effort between me & my girlfriend at the time, we used the pathetic Zhengdufu 1/72 F-14B kit with the decals coming from my stash of leftovers.  I mention her & one of the Aviation professors at La. Tech in the write-up.

Bud

Photos and text © by Bud Sliger