F-14 Tomcat Nose Gear Brace

We are excited to announce the availablity of nose gear braces for F-14 Tomcats on display.  As time goes by, many display F-14 aircraft are 'in the kneel' due to gradually decreasing pressure in the nose gear strut.   These braces will keep the F-14 nose at its default elevation.

There are two styles of nose gear brace:

1.  The Rockies-Style nose gear brace is provided free of charge to museums with Tomcats on display (we only ask the museums to cover the actual cost of shipping the brace).  

2.  The Grumman-Style nose gear brace is a replica of the nose gear brace originally designed by Grumman.   The costs of producing the Grumman-Style brace are more expensive, so we ask the museums to cover the cost difference and shipping of the brace.  

The F-14 Tomcat Association is proud to provide this assistance to museums who maintain F-14 static displays.   Please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information or to request a nose gear brace.   Please allow some time for the nose gear brace to be fabricated (they are produced 'on-demand').    Tomcats Forever!

Dear Tomcat Flyers, Fixers, and Fans,

This year is the 10^th anniversary of the Tomcat Sunset. The retirement of the world’s most capable Fighter, and later Strike/Fighter, was a sad occasion for most of us, and the only way to commemorate such an event is to meet with fellow aficionados of this great aircraft. The 2016 reunions are fast approaching! Yes, that “s” at the end of reunions isn’t a misprint – we are doing both an east coast and a west coast event this year. Details included below, but first let’s step back and debrief 2015.

The Pensacola reunion in April came off beautifully, thanks to the hard work of several board members, particularly Mark “Beaver” Swaney. Highlights included:

• Blue Angel practice show onboard NAS Pensacola, hosted by Training Air Wing SIX Commodore, Captain Ted “Tag” Heflin and his amazing staff
• Memorial Service at the Veteran's Memorial Park with the NAS Color Guard
• Happy Hour and Panel Discussions to include T&E highlights, presented by Tom Reilly and Maintenance tales by many
• National Naval Aviation Museum -- Guided tour of the Museum and Flight Academy
• Winging ceremony in the Atrium
• Banquet Dinner at the Mustin Beach Officer's Club

The speaker for the banquet was RADM Mike “Nasty” Manazir. Nasty is the Director, Air Warfare (OPNAV N98) where he is responsible for the development, programming, and budgeting of all U.S. Naval aviation warfighting requirements, resourcing and manpower. He was qualified in the F-14A/D and has flown more than 3750 hours and 1200 arrested landings during 15 deployments aboard aircraft carriers on both coasts. The talk was highly entertaining, extremely motivating, and left all with the satisfaction of knowing that Naval Aviation is strong, vibrant, and ready to defend American interests throughout the world. Thank you Nasty!

NAS Oceana (Virginia Beach, VA) is home to the Tomcat Sunset Monument.   Many F-14 Tomcat Association members have asked about purchasing a commemerative engraved brick.  These bricks are placed at/around the base of the monument (photos of the bricks at the monument site are shown below).  

The bricks are still available!  The order form can be found at the Tidewater ANA chapter web site:

 http://hrana.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Tomcat-Brick.pdf

"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.