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The F-14

From the 1970s through 2006, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the defender of the fleet. These huge, fast, swept-wing fighters could take on anything in close-in dog fights and could shoot down enemy aircraft 50 miles away. Toward the end of the Tomcat’s life, F-14s became Bombcats, capable of delivering precision bombs against distant land targets. F-14s starred the movie Top Gun, which also featured co-star Tom Cruise.

Preparing an F-14 Tomcat for launch. (U.S Navy photograph 050222-N-4308O-075, Feb. 22, 2005, by Photographer’s Mate Airman Ryan O'Connor)

Our Tomcat (S/N 163904) “Felix 102″

By the beginning of 2006, there were only two F-14 squadrons left in the Navy. Both were flying combat missions in the Middle East. VF-213 was the “Black Lions.” VF-31 was the “Tomcatters.” The tail insignia of VF-31, created in 1948, was a black Felix the Cat carrying a lit bomb.[1]

Insignia of the VF-31 Tomcatters. (U.S. Navy photograph, http://www.history.navy.mil/insignia/vf/vf31.jpg)

Not surprisingly, the squadron’s call sign was “Felix.” Our F-14D, Serial Number 163904, was Felix 102.

Felix 102 Getting Ready for a Cat Launch (U.S. Navy photo)

In March, the two squadrons returned to their home base, Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia. VF-213 quickly stood down and began to reequip with FA-18 Hornets. VF-31 remained on duty in case a sudden crisis required it to move out again. Finally, VF-31 was removed from standby duty and prepared to end its Tomcat days. The Navy decided to end the era with a large celebration at Oceana. “Tomcat Sunset” lasted for three days. It drew thousands of F-14 pilots, air crews, and enthusiasts.

Tomcat Sunset (U.S. Navy photo 060922-N-0841E-148)

A few VF-31 aircraft, including 102, had their Felix tail insignia and replaced with special artwork for the occasion.

Tomcat Sunset Tail Marking on Felix 102 (Photo by Ray@Panko.com at Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor)

The celebration ended on September 22, with a symbolic last flight. The honor was scheduled to be given to Felix 102. Its pilot would be the squadron’s CO, Commander Jim Howe, and its RIO would be Lieutenant Commander Bill Lind. Unfortunately, Felix 102 took the occasion to remind everybody what a maintenance nightmare the F-14 had become in its final years. A generator failed, and the last flight was flown by the backup plane, Felix 107.

Felix 102 at Tomcat Sunset (U.S. Navy Photograph 060922-N-5555T-001)

In any case, this final flight really was symbolic. The next month, the eleven aircraft of the squadron flew from Oceana to their final destinations. Felix 102 flew to NAS North Island. The final Tomcat landed at Republic Airport, near its Grumman birthplace. And, of course, there are still those Iranian F-14As.

In 2008, Felix 102 moved to its final destination, Pacific Aviation Museum in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. She travelled on the assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard. As the ship approached Pearl Harbor, the 102 was placed in front, looking like a hood ornament among the ship’s helicopters. She was winched off the ship, moved by barge to Ford Island, and winched onto land. She was pulled to her new home, Hangar 79.

Felix 102 Thanking the USS Bonhomme Richard (U.S. Navy photograph 080701-N-1722M-033)

Felix 102 in her new home, Hanger 79 at Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor.

[1] Tomcatters Association Home Page. http://www.tomcattersassociation.org/

This is a firsthand account by the pilot of aircraft #13 on the Doolittle Raid off the Hornet in 1942. Take the time and enjoy a bit of history.

My name is Edgar McElroy. My friends call me “Mac”. I was born and raised in Ennis , Texas the youngest of five children, son of Harry and Jennie McElroy. Folks say that I was the quiet one. We lived at 609 North Dallas Street and attended the Presbyterian Church.

My dad had an auto mechanic’s shop downtown close to the main fire station. My family was a hard working bunch, and I was expected to work at dad’s garage after school and on Saturdays, so I grew up in an atmosphere of machinery, oil and grease. Occasionally I would hear a lone plane fly over, and would run out in the street and strain my eyes against the sun to watch it. Someday, that would be me up there!

I really like cars, and I was always busy on some project, and it wasn’t long before I decided to build my very own Model-T out of spare parts. I got an engine from over here, a frame from over there, and wheels from someplace else, using only the good parts from old cars that were otherwise shot. It wasn’t very pretty, but it was all mine I enjoyed driving on the dirt roads around town and the feeling of freedom and speed. That car of mine could really go fast, 40 miles per hour!

In high school I played football and tennis, and was good enough at football to receive an athletic scholarship from Trinity University in Waxahachie. I have to admit that sometimes I daydreamed in class, and often times I thought about flying my very own airplane and being up there in the clouds. That is when I even decided to take a correspondence course in aircraft engines. Whenever I got the chance, I would take my girl on a date up to Love Field in Dallas. We would watch the airplanes and listen to those mighty piston engines roar. I just loved it and if she didn’t, well that was just too bad.

After my schooling, I operated a filling station with my brother, then drove a bus, and later had a job as a machinist in Longview , but I never lost my love of airplanes and my dream of flying. With what was going on in Europe and in Asia , I figured that our country would be drawn into war someday, so I decided to join the Army Air Corps in November of 1940. This way I could finally follow my dream.

I reported for primary training in California. The training was rigorous and frustrating at times. We trained at airfields all over California . It was tough going, and many of the guys washed out. When I finally saw that I was going to make it, I wrote to my girl back in Longview, Texas. Her name is Agnes Gill. I asked her to come out to California for my graduation. and oh yeah, also to marry me.

I graduated on July 11, 1941. I was now a real, honest-to-goodness Army Air Corps pilot. Two days later, I married “Aggie” in Reno, Nevada. We were starting a new life together and were very happy. I received my orders to report to Pendleton, Oregon and join the 17th Bomb Group. Neither of us had traveled much before, and the drive north through the Cascade Range of the Sierra Nevada ‘s was interesting and beautiful.

It was an exciting time for us. My unit was the first to receive the new B-25 medium bomber. When I saw it for the first time I was in awe. It looked so huge. It was so sleek and powerful. The guys started calling it the “rocket plane”, and I could hardly wait to get my hands on it. I told Aggie that it was really something! Reminded me of a big old scorpion, just ready to sting! Man, I could barely wait!

We were transferred to another airfield in Washington State, where we spent a lot a time flying practice missions and attacking imaginary targets. Then, there were other assignments in Mississippi and Georgia, for more maneuvers and more practice. We were on our way back to California on December 7th when we got word of a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. We listened with mixed emotions to the announcements on the radio, and the next day to the declaration of war. What the President said, it just rang over and over in my head, “. With confidence in our armed forces, with the un-bounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph. So help us God.” By gosh, I felt as though he was talking straight to me! I didn’t know what would happen to us, but we all knew that we would be going somewhere now.

The first weeks of the war, we were back in Oregon flying patrols at sea looking for possible Japanese submarines. We had to be up at 0330 hours to warm up the engines of our planes. There was 18 inches of snow on the ground, and it was so cold that our engine oil congealed overnight. We placed big tarps over the engines that reached down to the ground. Inside this tent we used plumbers blow torches to thaw out the engines. I figured that my dad would be proud of me, if he could see me inside this tent with all this machinery, oil and grease. After about an hour of this, the engines were warm enough to start.

We flew patrols over the coasts of Oregon and Washington from dawn until dusk. Once I thought I spotted a sub, and started my bomb run, even had my bomb doors open, but I pulled out of it when I realized that it was just a big whale.

Lucky for me, I would have never heard the end of that! Actually it was lucky for us that the Japanese didn’t attack the west coast, because we just didn’t have a strong enough force to beat them off. Our country was in a real fix now, and overall things looked pretty bleak to most folks. In early February, we were ordered to report to Columbus, South Carolina. Man, this Air Corps sure moves a fellow around a lot! Little did I know what was coming next!

After we got settled in Columbus, my squadron commander called us all together. He told us that an awfully hazardous mission was being planned, and then he asked for volunteers. There were some of the guys that did not step forward, but I was one of the ones that did. My co-pilot was shocked. He said “You can’t volunteer, Mac! You’re married, and you and Aggie are expecting a baby soon. Don’t do it!” I told him that “I got into the Air Force to do what I can, and Aggie understands how I feel. The war won’t be easy for any of us.”

We that volunteered were transferred to Eglin Field near Valparaiso, Florida in late February. When we all got together, there were about 140 of us volunteers, and we were told that we were now part of the “Special B-25 Project.”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHnwxRfzR2A&w=480&h=390]

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