Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor

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,...

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...