The F-14 Tomcat entered service in 1972 as the replacement for the F-4 Phantom II, the Navy’s premier fighter aircraft. Featuring a unique variable geometry wing that automatically sweeps forward or back during flight for maximum performance, the aircraft is also equipped with the AN/AWG-9 weapons system. This advanced avionics equipment allowed the F-14 crew to detect airborne targets at ranges up to 195 miles, as well as track and attack six enemy aircraft simultaneously.

The Museum’s F-14A Tomcat was received by the U.S. Navy August 16, 1976 and served in several naval squadrons, where it logged 6,844 landings, 937 ship arrests, and 925 catapult launches. It came to the museum from NAS Oceana on December 17, 1997 on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum of Pensacola, Florida. One of only three remaining F-14 Tomcats (out of a total of twelve) to be utilized in the blockbuster 1986 film “Top Gun,” the Museum’s F-14 was featured three times in the film (TWICE in the final climactic dog fight scene at the end of the movie where the F-14 fires an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile). At the time of filming, the F-14 was a part of Squadron VF-213 (the Black Lions) that was stationed aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise when Paramount Pictures gave it its shot at stardom. Sadly, most Tomcats to be used for the film were later scrapped, with only a handful to testify to their history in one of the most iconic aviation films of all time.

SPECIFICATIONS

Type                  Two-Seat fighter aircraft

Weight               59,714 lbs.

Wingspan         64 ft. 1 1/2 in.

Length               62 ft. 9 in.

Height                16 ft.

Power                Two Pratt & Whitney TF-30 turbofan jet engines


PERFORMANCE

Maximum Speed              1,544 mph

Cruise Speed                    633 mph

Range                                2,000 miles

Service Ceiling                 50,000 ft.