The first time I saw an F-14 Tomcat it was climbing steeply away from Westover AFB on a gray morning in 1971 or 1972. Twin tails, lots of noise, high performance-I knew what it was even from a distance. I would see these fleeting views of the Tomcat a number of times in those dreary days when Westover appeared ready for closure, and little air traffic was either coming or going from the long runway there. It was probably those two factors, low traffic count and a long runway, that attracted the Grumman pilots to Westover for their hops. Away from the heavily-used coastal airline routes and the cold Atlantic, the big base in western Massachusetts was a short hop north from Long Island.

The Tomcat series was an outstanding success, meeting or exceeding most USN design requirements. As a result, it served long and well from the Navy's carrier decks. It had no peer, ever-even today, years after its last flight. As this is a photo presentation, a detailed history of the Tomcat will be found elsewhere.

As with all of the "Teen" series American fighters, ongoing powerplant development, accompanied by advances in electronic systems led to improved versions such as the F-14A(+), the F-14B and F-14D. I'll let an expert fill you in on the F-14B, as I'm still confused about that one. I recall a long-awaited F-14B that was to be a re-engined version of the F-14A, but I think the delivered F-14B was more than that.

When the Tomcat first entered service, the Navy was still applying glossy gray finish to its aircraft, and the new Grumman top-of-the-line product was a billboard for the bright traditional colors applied by Navy maintenance personnel. In many cases, these color schemes proudly displayed historic squadron markings of Navy combat units. As the era of subdued markings approached, some far-sighted members of the American Aviation Historical Society, in cooperation with the Navy, held a "last chance" base tour at NAS Miramar on 25 January 1981. I was fortunate to attend this event, and although I had been unable to purchase any additional Kodachrome since arriving in California, I shot row upon row of Tomcats, Phantoms, and recon Crusaders. Without this B&W imagery, my Tomcat collection would be very deficient.

When it comes to the Tomcat, I'm probably not much different than any other enthusiast or photographer in my age group. I wonder, on occasion, how did it all happen so fast? Maybe I feel this way because in my eyes the aircraft was never replaced in fleet service. It just went away.

Crash-related information is from Joe Baugher's excellent online serial number pages at http://www.joebaugher.com/

Click each photo below for large version