Yeah the Tomcat is an awesome aircraft, and it almost wasnt, McNamara wanted the navy to adopt the F-111 during the TFX program but it was a dismal failure onboard with several fatal crashes during landings and takeoffs and sluggish performance in dogfight due to its size. Luckily Grumman was working on the Tomcat/Phoenix missle design already!
That thing had terrible landing gear if I remember correctly. Wasn't it designed for the Air Force? Those long runways at Air Farse bases don't heave and move around. Pretty easy to grease it! I sure as hell didn't see a lot of 'greasings' on that carrier. I did see a few, and it was fuggin awesome. Picture textbook perfect. A sight to see for sure.
McNamara. Never liked that guy. I wonder what his net worth was back then? I doubt if ALL his bullshit was because of the greed of power. Kinda something ya really didn't think much about back then. It should be your FIRST thought today!
A lot of the fascination is, naturally, the wings. In the model I built, the wings were the coolest part! When on display, I always had the wings full back! Although, the power of the plane is simply humbling. You sure AF
know what plane is getting launched when those fuggin afterburners are lit! The very first time I was topside when one took off with me fairly close to the JBD, I got such a fuggin adrenalin rush!!!! You could describe it in minute detail and it won't be even close to what it's like to be there in the moment.
I could see where I'd like that environment. Stressful AF is a sure bet...............no matter what colored shirt ya wore.
My cousin was just a little AB, I think he was designated. He hated it with a passion. LOL! He was a huge puss!
When we were changing ports, both crew and wing was FULL of damn newbs and almost all wogs. The Wing got HEAVY training between the air shows we gave to some S A countries. They ran simulation ops close to combat rate fervor. WOW! Best description....... Highly Organized And WELL Executed CLUSTER*CK!
