VF-2 "Bounty Hunters" jet positioned for launch. Taken on a mid-80s cruise by Dave "Bio" Baranek.
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Mission: To Preserve the History of the Greatest Fighter Jet the United States Navy Has Ever Flown.
The F-14 Tomcat Association
Our primary purpose is to maintain contact among the members of the Tomcat community, keep members informed of developments in Naval Aviation, provide support to museums where F-14s are on display, and sponsor annual reunions of the F-14 family. Membership is open to anyone who has flown, worked on, or just plain love the F-14 aircraft.
This website is dedicated to the aircrews who risked their lives fighting for our freedom, the maintainers in the hangars and shops who kept these jets flying, the managers and support personnel who continually found the funds and supplies needed to hold it all together, and finally, the engineers, scientists, technicians and artisans who designed and built the F-14 and who through the years came up with the improvements to keep it in the air for 36 years.
ALWAYS, BABY ...!
Presidents Message - January 2015
Dear Tomcat Flyers, Fixers, and Fans
Your F-14 Tomcat Association Board of Directors is working diligently to prepare for an outstanding reunion in Pensacola Florida. From the F-14 Association web site, select the “Flight Schedule” tab and you will see the link to a live registration form. From there, you can register for the reunion, and sign up for each individual event, depending on your personal schedule. There is also a link to the current schedule, summarized below.
The panel discussions promise to be very lively. Tom Reilly will tell the story of aircraft#1’s fateful last flight, and other T&E highlights, and we are organizing other panels that promise to be both interesting and stimulating.
We are also working to get a senior active duty Naval Aviation Flag Officer (and Tomcat driver) to be the speaker for the banquet on Saturday night. Look for updates on the web site over the next couple of weeks.
Hampton Inn and Suites on Pensacola Beach
Room Reservations: 1-800-320-8108
(Ask for Group Reservations – F-14 Association)
Gulf Front with Balcony – $179, South Side Rooms - $149
F-14 Tomcat History
"The F-14 Tomcat continues to be a premier long-range strike-fighter as evidenced by its superb performance in Operation Allied Force and the strikes in Operation Southern Watch. While the Navy provided only eight percent of the total dedicated aircraft in Operation Allied Force, the Navy was credited with 30 percent of the validated kills against fielded forces in Kosovo as a result of the superb performance of the Tomcat in the Forward Air Controller (Airborne) (FAC(A)) role. Another revolutionary feature of the Tomcat is the recent Low-Altitude Navigation and Targeting InfraRed at Night (LANTIRN) system software update that enables the Tomcat to acquire mensurated target coordinates that are accurate enough for GPS weapons, which is unique to the Tomcat. The Tomcat's "Roadmap for the Future"—a plan to incorporate significant performance improvements during the next four years, including through-the-weather precision strike capability—makes it the platform of choice for all-weather, day or night, deep strike." [U.S. Navy statement, 2000]