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kanyiko — Tomcats forever...?
Published: 2005-09-05 21:08:35 +0000 UTC; Views: 1199; Favourites: 28; Downloads: 20
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Description
Grumman F-14B-150-GR Tomcat 163224 of VF-103, USS Enterprise (CVN-65) at the last Brustem Air Show (Belgium) back in September 1996. My first, and probably last, ever time I saw the Tomcat up close and personal, as the type has since been replaced by the F/A-18E, VF-84 having exchanged its Tomcats for Super Hornets.Tomcat 163224 ended up at AMARC on the 3rd of August, 2005, and was struck off charge on January 17th 2006.
The aircraft in the background is F/A-18C-23-MC Hornet 163444/AA-312 of VFA-83...
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Comments: 41
Funny, I have taken nearly the same shot at the same aircraft on that very former airbase... And now I call it "down the road" from where I'm currently based, and we usually go dig some holes and hide in the very same trees you see behind the 'cat
A long time has passed indeed, and the Mighty Tomcat will forever be missed, even if the Superbug has its advantages regarding technological progress and stuff, it lacks of the mythical aura of the F-14 ^^
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It's indeed weird how much time has passed since. I can hardly believe it's almost been 13 years since that shot... and still, I remember that day's Hercules 'missing man' formation as if it was yesterday...
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Heh. Coincidence, I guess.
...
... you didn't happen to be sent to some airshow in 'little' Belgium, though, did you...?
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missed that one,i,m afraid.
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Ah... I see.
Still a bit sad that it's the only one I'd ever attended where the Tomcat was. Never thought it'd be the only time I'd see it (in service)...
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You're definitely not the only one.
By the way, it was quite a static line-up there, at that airshow: an F-16A, an F-15C & E, an A-10A, an A-6E, an F-14B, an F/A-18A, a Tornado IDS and F.3; a Jaguar T.4 and GR.3, an F-8E Crusader, an Alpha Jet, a Hawk, a Bulldog, a Falcon 20, a Jetstream, a Dominie, a CASA 212, an RC-135, an E-3A, an SV-4, two Marchettis, two Fouga Magisters, two Alpha Jets, two Mirage 2000s, two F-4Es, two Tucanos, a Beaver, an A-1E, a Dakota and an HS-748. Quite impossible to do again nowadays - and that's just 12 years ago...
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It does indeed! My gran sometimes recalls the story how she and her brother got to explore a SABENA Handley-Page W8f which was exhibited at one of the World's Fairs - quite a far call from today's air travel...
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and the Boeing 737NewGens are a far cry from the original 737-100/200 series....! makes me feel old.
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Makes me feel old as well. Nowadays they're flying computers instead of pilot's planes, and computers that, so it seems, can make mistakes as well... :S
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oh,for the days of the Propliners...!
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... not only the propliner - it's hardly unbelievable that even aircraft like the F-27, F-28, Caravelle and DC-9 have become classics... (flew the F-28 & DC-9 - as passenger, of course XD )
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Time Marches On....as does aviation.
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So it does...
...
By the way, I finally managed to find that Hase 737-200, it's a gem! ^_^
... and it seems a vac-kit caught my sleeve and hitched the way home... T_T (a brand-new - 2009 - 1/72 Belgian Air Force Bristol Sycamore, in fact...)
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beats that silly Matchbox kit by a mile,in all departments.....! all the Hasegawa airliners are gems too. a vac,eh?
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Yep, a vac as well; my very first one, in fact. Probably my final descent into madness - I've already gone into scratch, so that would make it official, I guess...
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i descended into vac-madness a long time ago! still remember my first one too.{RarePlanes XA-2D Skyshark,1/72}
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This one'll make a memorable one for me as well, as it's the only helicopter in my Belgian Air Force line-up that was missing until now (though in a couple of years time, I'll probably say the same about the NH-90 - but as that one hasn't entered service yet, I haven't bought it yet... XD)
There were a lot of vac-forms for sale, and most of them cheap as dirt, by the way - though most of those kits had since been made as injected or resin kits, which explained the low prices...
... Love to see that Skyshark, btw (if you still have it, that is); from what I've heard, it was huge, especially compared with the Skyhawk...
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man,i think the original one is long gone! i made that one almost 30 years ago. but i do have a duplicate from the same kit,as well as a superb 1/48 vac by Dynavector. thewre was also an injection kit offered by Microscale Decals during the late 70s whih was a remould of an old Allyn desk model from 1954.
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I've seen a review/build of the Dynavector 'Shark once, it surely built up to an impressive model...
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mine came out real nice!{but she was a bit pricey...}
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I sure hope my first one (vac, that is) will come out as nicely as well... ^_^
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it takes a bit of practice....my first one wasn,t any Great Shakes.
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... I guess I should have bought one or more of those €1 models to practice on, then...
Luckily, though, this model isn't the usual flimsy '
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yes,snag some more if you can! and if you put a bit of work into them,you may just have something good there for your collection.
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I definitely will, the next time I'm able...
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that should be an interesting experience,to make them.
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don,t be afraid....after all,Death is only the worst that can happen...
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... with injury and maiming following. I long lost the count of cuts and scrapes, not to mention CA-burns... <.<;
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but all well worth it ! a modeler who can do vacuforms and do them well,is truly a cut above the ordinary.
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Too bad it's now nothing more but angular Hornets... :S
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Thanks for the tip - it's helped me a great deal identifying the aircraft!
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I agree with you it's sad. But it's nostalgic if you can thas tomcat, because the first squadron of Tomcat was deploy on the Enterprise.
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Yeah, in a way, it's kinda fitting to have a pic of a Tomcat from the "Big E"...
Thanks for commenting!
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Yes, its a very sad (and in my opinion very stupid) decision on the part of the U.S. Navy. Tomcats are much better fleet defenders than F/A-18s, and they've demonstrated over Afghanistan to be just as effective if not more so in the ground attack role the F/A-18 was originally designed for.
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Fleet Defenders, yes. This tells us where the millitary sees the threat. There is nothing out there to threaten our fleets from the sky. Origonaly, they where equiped with the Pheonix to kill Ruski Bears before they could fire a missle. Noone can do that now, and if they try, our fleets have a better ship to air screen then they use to.
As for Air-to-ground, yes they wher ejust as good as the F/A-18 C/D. Now we have the Super Hornet. Hornets put one less person per ship in danger, can suport there own sorties, and tend to be less matanance then our Tomcats.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Tomcat (and morn the loss of the last in the cat series) but its time has gone. May we remeber this Top Gun for all its glory
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