On 18 Feb 2006 22:16:56 -0800, "BJ Conner"
wrote:

You can only see them now if you rent Top Gun or some other movie.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...y-tomcat_x.htm
The Iranians may be flying theirs.


It is a pity to see it pass into retirement though I'm sure some will
still stay in service doing other jobs. Certainly was a unique bird.

Too bad the article got it all wrong though -- the F-14 + Pheonix
missile was intended to hit targets at long range, even BVR. It was
never intended to be a dogfighter -- there's more dog than fighter in
it, Hollywood's fantasy notwithstanding. And it's certainly not the
last of the pure fighters either, plus you can make the case that it
never was a fighter, rather it's an interceptor meant to take out
Soviet maritme bombers at long range before they launched their cruise
missles at the task force.



Peter

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