# Flight F-14 by Rick Reilly



## Gunner (15 Apr 2005)

Flight F-14 by Rick Reilly                                                
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
    Below is an article written by Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated. He    
    details his experiences when given the opportunity to fly in a F-14     
    Tomcat. If you aren't laughing out loud by the time you get to "Milk    
                   Duds," your sense of humor is broken.                    
                                                                            
          "Now this message is for America's most famous athletes:          
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
     Someday you may be invited to fly in the back-seat of one of your      
  country's most powerful fighter jets. Many of you already have ... John   
      Elway, John Stockton, Tiger Woods to name a few. If you get this      
        opportunity, let me urge you, with the greatest sincerity...        
                                                                            
                               Move to Guam.                                
                             Change your name.                              
                            Fake your own death!                            
                              Whatever you do                               
                                Do Not Go!!!                                
                                                                            
                                                                            
 I know. The U.S. Navy invited me to try it. I was thrilled. I was pumped.  
  I was toast! I should've known when they told me my pilot would be Chip   
     (Biff) King of Fighter Squadron 213 at Naval Air Station Oceana in     
                              Virginia Beach.                               
                                                                            
   Whatever you're thinking a Top Gun named Chip (Biff) King looks like,    
   triple it. He's about six-foot, tan, ice-blue eyes, wavy surfer hair,    
    finger-crippling handshake -- the kind of man who wrestles dyspeptic    
  alligators in his leisure time. If you see this man, run the other way.   
                                   Fast.                                    
                                                                            
 Biff King was born to fly. His father, Jack King, was for years the voice  
  of NASA missions. ("T-minus 15 seconds and counting ..." Remember?) Chip  
 would charge neighborhood kids a quarter each to hear his dad. Jack would  
 wake up from naps surrounded by nine-year-olds waiting for him to say, "We 
                              have a liftoff."                              
                                                                            
 Biff was to fly me in an F-14D Tomcat, a ridiculously powerful $60 million 
 weapon with nearly as much thrust as weight, not unlike Colin Montgomerie. 
   I was worried about getting airsick, so the night before the flight I    
      asked Biff if there was something I should eat the next morning.      
                                                                            
                            "Bananas," he said.                             
                                                                            
                       "For the potassium?" I asked.                        
                                                                            
  "No," Biff said, "because they taste about the same coming up as they do  
                                going down."                                
                                                                            
 The next morning, out on the tarmac, I had on my flight suit with my name  
    sewn over the left breast. (No call sign -- like Crash or Sticky or     
 Leadfoot .. but, still, very cool.) I carried my helmet in the crook of my 
   arm, as Biff had instructed. If ever in my life I had a chance to nail   
                        Nicole Kidman, this was it.                         
                                                                            
  A fighter pilot named Psycho gave me a safety briefing and then fastened  
  me into my ejection seat, which, when employed, would "egress" me out of  
      the plane at such a velocity that I would be immediately knocked      
                                unconscious.                                
                                                                            
  Just as I was thinking about aborting the flight, the canopy closed over  
  me, and Biff gave the ground crew a thumbs-up. In minutes we were firing  
   nose up at 600 mph. We leveled out and then canopy-rolled over another   
                                   F-14.                                    
                                                                            
                                                                            
 Those 20 minutes were the rush of my life. Unfortunately, the ride lasted  
  80. It was like being on the roller coaster at Six Flags Over Hell. Only  
 without rails. We did barrel rolls, sap rolls, loops, yanks and banks. We  
 dived, rose and dived again, sometimes with a vertical velocity of 10,000  
         feet per minute. We chased another F-14, and it chased us.         
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
                                                                            
  We broke the speed of sound. Sea was sky and sky was sea. Flying at 200   
  feet we did 90-degree turns at 550 mph, creating a G force of 6.5, which  
  is to say I felt as if 6.5 times my body weight was smashing against me,  
            thereby approximating life as Mrs Colin Montgomerie.            
                                                                            
  And I egressed the bananas. I egressed the pizza from the night before.   
                                                                            
  And the lunch before that. I egressed a box of Milk Duds from the sixth   
 grade. I made Linda Blair look polite. Because of the G's, I was egressing 
    stuff that did not even want to be egressed. I went through not one     
                           airsick bag, but two.                            
                                                                            
 Biff said I passed out. Twice. I was coated in sweat. At one point, as we  
 were coming in upside down in a banked curve on a mock bombing target and  
     the G's were flattening me like a tortilla and I was in and out of     
 consciousness, I realized I was the first person in history to throw down. 
                                                                            
  I used to know cool. Cool was Elway throwing a touchdown pass, or Norman  
   making a five-iron bite. But now I really know cool. Cool is guys like   
 Biff, men with cast-iron stomachs and freon nerves.. I wouldn't go up there 
 again for Derek Jeter's black book, but I'm glad Biff does every day, and  
       for less a year than a rookie reliever makes in a home stand.        
                                                                            
 A week later, when the spins finally stopped, Biff called. He said he and  
   the fighters had the perfect call sign for me. Said he'd send it on a    
                         patch for my flight suit.                          
                                                                            
                            What is it? I asked.                            
                                                                            
                                "Two Bags."


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## Gill557 (24 Apr 2005)

Cool picture.  Too bad the Tomcat's going out to the boneyard.  They're not even in the fleet anymore, at least that's what I've heard.  Replaced by Hornets and Super Hornets


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## WannaBeFlyer (7 Jul 2005)

Ah, another unauthorized buzz of the tower by Maverick. Somebody was able to reinact their favorite scene from Top Gun!

I went to the Toronto air show (CIAS) in 2004 and saw all three aircraft, the CF-18, the Super Hornet and the Tomcat. I have to say, I love the dirty, noisy old TomCat but the SuperHornet was very impressive.   It set off a lot of car alarms in the CNE's parking lot.   ;D   

It was a treat because not only did I get to see the replacement for the F-14 but I was able to compare our 188 to the Super Hornet. It was like seeing the 188 with square intakes, a really powerful and loud engine but with a less talented aviator.


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## Ex-Dragoon (7 Jul 2005)

G-Man said:
			
		

> Cool picture.   Too bad the Tomcat's going out to the boneyard.   *They're not even in the fleet anymore, at least that's what I've heard.*   Replaced by Hornets and Super Hornets



Actually some carrier air wings still have them but for the most part they are on their way out.


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## raven23 (24 Nov 2005)

By 2008 they will no longer be in the US inventory. Only place to see them will be Iran


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## Spr.Earl (9 Dec 2005)

Good one Gunner,I like the banana bit. ;D
Here watch this one,you can hear her but can't see her till she's just on him.It's a good one.

http://www.friday-fun.com/showvideo.shtml?clip=spitfire.wmv&width=480&height=400&clipname=Spitfire


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## Spr.Earl (9 Dec 2005)

raven23 said:
			
		

> By 2008 they will no longer be in the US inventory. Only place to see them will be Iran


Or Canada? ;D


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## Armymatters (12 Jan 2006)

US Navy Tomcats are really beat up. They are at the end of their airframe lives, and with the way they have been flown while in service, it is a good idea that they get replaced otherwise, they will be falling out of the skies. Grumman tried to propose an upgrade plus new build F-14's, but apparantly, Grumman was too cocky as they felt they were the only serious option for the Navy to consider and quoted them an inflated estimate for building new F-14's. This infuriated the Navy, so in an act of reprisal against Grumman, they first purchased the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet, and then ordered Grumman to destroy the tooling and molds for the F-14.


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## evil drunken-fool (20 Mar 2006)

Apparently this plane is already out of service now.

http://www.supercars.net/PitLane?viewThread=true&bottom=0&gID=1&fID=5&tID=78339

Here is the last formation fly by. This plane made me want to me a jet pilot, thanks to my vision that will not happen anytime soon.


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## JBP (29 Apr 2006)

MikeG said:
			
		

> Ah, another unauthorized buzz of the tower by Maverick. Somebody was able to reinact their favorite scene from Top Gun!
> 
> I went to the Toronto air show (CIAS) in 2004 and saw all three aircraft, the CF-18, the Super Hornet and the Tomcat. I have to say, I love the dirty, noisy old TomCat but the SuperHornet was very impressive.   It set off a lot of car alarms in the CNE's parking lot.   ;D
> 
> It was a treat because not only did I get to see the replacement for the F-14 but I was able to compare our 188 to the Super Hornet. It was like seeing the 188 with square intakes, a really powerful and loud engine but with a less talented aviator.



I was at that very same airshow and I have to agree with you 100%... I was anticipating a good show from both the Hornet pilots, knowing that fighter jockeys seem to be quite competitive it turned out to be a wicked show.... I was actually laying on the grass under a tree almost asleep when the CF-18 made his first appearence... I almost pooped my pants! If I remember, it was the CF-18 that opened up with a super-sonic flyby right? I jumped straight from laying down to directly on my feet in about 1 second because he scared the crap almost right out of me... 

Wicked airshow that year, can't complain one bit!

PS> Anyone going to be at the CNE this year for the show? I plan to be there but I actually haven't checked the line up yet. Anyone ever been to the Abbotsford airshow in BC???


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## Sheerin (29 Apr 2006)

> it was the CF-18 that opened up with a super-sonic flyby right?



I kinda doubt it was a super-sonic flyby...


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## JBP (30 Apr 2006)

Sheerin said:
			
		

> I kinda doubt it was a super-sonic flyby...



Why is that?

 ???


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## Sheerin (30 Apr 2006)

Someone more in the know can correct me on this but for the most part there are regulations against aircraft flying faster than the soundbarrier due to the sonic-boom associated with the speed.


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## Astrodog (2 May 2006)

correct... in canada the limit for airshows is around M.90 while in the US they can take it closer to M.98, .99 (thats why you get the better 'blossoms' down there)... last year the USN -18F demo team almost got in a whack of trouble because a woman near the airport's windows were shattered during an airshow in michigan... after an investigation it was said to be the jet truck's fault... needless to say they flew by the books the rest of the airshow season...


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## JBP (8 Jul 2006)

Ohh crud. Well that bloody sucks! 



So I guess if there was a pilot who wanted to get his wings tapered a bit and he felt like it the closest I would come is a 'close' mach flyby. 

That just stinks!

So when the F-22A comes to the CNE this year with his 72,000lbs static thrus he'll prolly only have the engines at like... 55% most of the time other than afterburner climbs? THAT SUCKS!!!

Wow I'd really like to throw a fit! I'd love a sonic boom thankyou! And no I wouldn't mind being knocked on my ass or have my ears pop from the compressed air if that sort of thing happens... 

 :rage:
 :crybaby:


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## Sheerin (8 Jul 2006)

Well would you also like to pay to replace all the windows broken around downtown toronto? 



I'd love to see a super sonic flyby as well, but sadly I don't think I ever will.  I'd also like to fly supersonic, but again that will most likely never happen (Maybe if they make another SST....)

anyway,  it would have been cool if it happend.


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