How to move an F-14

tbm3fan

tbm3fan

Old Man with a Hat
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These pictures were taken 11 years ago using a 1950's Agfa folder camera shooting 6cm x 9cm sized negatives. Forgot about it in the freezer and recently developed it and put onto CD. This is how we got our F14 from the Navy. It was flown into SFO and had the fuel drained and ejection seat rockets removed. Then loaded onto a barge for the trip across the bay. The Navy did leave it with the very top secret, at the time, radar in the plane. For those who are curious there are apparently no planes left in the Arizona boneyard as the Navy scrapped them all least parts make their way to Iran. Yeah, I know crazy but that is the Navy.

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That was the only way to ensured the Iranians did not gain access to valuable spare parts. Most people do not know that Iran, as former allies to the US, bought many F14s and F4s (and lots of other US military equipment) prior to 1979 and the overthrow of the Shah in early '79. Iran was also the ONLY country to whom the F-14 was exported.
 
Just a few years ago, the gov was selling a few old F4's. They were located in Hawaii and stripped down to a shell. The catch was they were sold for scrap, and had to be demilitarized, or cut up, before leaving the base.
 
I remember F-4s when I was on the USS Saratoga. This was 78-80. Those Phantoms were really cool in that most of them had 'kills' painted on the side of them. My last cruise was on the America and I got my first look at the F-14s. Man they were awesome, sexy planes.
 
We had some F-111's providing ground support to us in Desert Storm. Those were some of the oldest aircraft in the inventory besides the B-52's that dropped some big ordnance to help us out a few times.
 
I enlisted in the AF during the tail end of the F-4/T-33/F-106 era. When I was in Alaska, the F-4 was transitioned out and replaced with the F-15. Retired about the time when the F-22 was being tested. Sometimes I feel pretty damn old.
 
Closest I have ever been to an F14. Like many of you, one of my favorite planes. Put my hands on it..might be against the rules but I had to prove i wasnt' dreamin' :icon_cool:

Fascinating place BTW.. Pima (AZ) Air and Space Museum. I wanted to "walk the yard" outside but the people I was with were having NONE of that in 115 degree temps, so we took the bus tour and getting pics (the tram wasnt stopping much) was impossible.

Most of my group also wasn't really into the place like I was, and I succumbed to the pressure and cut the whole visit short.

in their defense, it WAS August and again it was hot (AC inside of course, but my group was dreading going back outside until the sun went down).

Anyway, as neat as the indoor part was (yep, they have an SR-71 too, with its "Buick"), outside planes were a great attraction too. magnificent specimens.

http://www.pimaair.org/

http://pimaair.org/FTP/H1/build3/virtualtour.html

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I see the one in Pima is like many others. Sans weapons. Through some contacts the Hornet scored some Sidewinders and a former F-14 pilot got his hand on two Phoenix missiles. He was told not to hang the Phoenix missiles onto the pylons because once there and the yearly picture was sent to the Navy for inventory purposes, then the missiles would belong to the Navy now. Well he did hang one, but not yet the other,so while time dragged out and then one day the Navy called the ship to say thanks for the missile (inert). He should have created a stand off to the side to display the Phoenix. At the moment he hasn't done that, may never, so we have the missile stored on the 4th deck with our other weapons and shells.

Also, unlike other museums, I was able to climb into the cockpit of the F-14. I can tell you it wasn't designed for someone 6'1" tall. Getting into it was like putting on a glove. So obviously they were flown by guys shorter than me with lots of attitude, or as a SWO Captain calls them "winged feces".
 
My eyes saw 1945 until my brain saw the F14. I love black and white photo's for that effect. Those riggers were good. Is that Tomcat for a museum?
 
Tink said:
My eyes saw 1945 until my brain saw the F14. I love black and white photo's for that effect. Those riggers were good. Is that Tomcat for a museum?
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Yes, the USS HORNET Museum.

We are picky about our planes. The F14 is live. The TA-4J Skyhawk is live. The TBM3E is live. The T-38 Trojan is live. The SA-3 Viking and Sea Sprite are live. The Viking and Sea Sprite were delivered to us by the Navy during a Fleet Week as the ships came up from San Diego. An Amphibious Carrier took them aboard for us. The other planes all flew in or were flying were we received them. We get called every year by the Navy trying to give us an F-18 Hornet. We turn them down because we want a flying version that arrives at Oakland, fuel drained, and then towed to Alameda by back streets to the ship. We do this as we want the engine and a full cockpit. The planes on the USS MIDWAY are mostly shells. We even have a movie star in the SH-3 Sea King which was in the Apollo 13 movie as #66. The real #66 crashed off San Diego in 1974 during a night training mission. Pulled out of the desert and lovingly restored by a former SH-3 Sea King chief mechanic.

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1978 NYB said:
We had some F-111's providing ground support to us in Desert Storm. Those were some of the oldest aircraft in the inventory besides the B-52's that dropped some big ordnance to help us out a few times.
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I was a B-52 crew chief during desert storm, launched a bunch of planes and they all came back empty, one of mine could have provided support for you. Small world
 
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