Guess what day it is, GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS! Its Tomcat Tuesday! This shot almost got me in trouble. I can post it now because the statute of limitations for whatever OPSEC Offense I committed has certainly passed. This shot was taken on 31 January 1989. On that date, CVW-3 returned to the CONUS from a combat cruise aboard the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67). I say combat cruise because a pair of VF-32 Tomcats shot down a pair of Libyan MiG-23s over the Gulf of Sidra on 4 January 1989. This Tomcat, 162694 was not involved in the shoot down. However, if you look closely, there are a pair of Libyan flags painted on the canopy rail. This was the only Tomcat in the squadron that was not parked on the Swordsmen ramp following the fly-in. Sort of a case of PC gone wild. Even the two MiG Killers, 159610 and 159437, had their MiG kill markings sanitized prior to leaving the deck of the JFK. As for 162694, she was sequestered on the Hot Ramp, away from the general public and photographers like me. 162694 was built as a F-14A and delivered to VF-32 on 1 July 1986 as Grumman Shop Number 540. She served with VF-32 and VF-101 before leaving Oceana to be modified as the 14th F-14B(KM) at Grummans St Augustine, FL facility. She was re-delivered to VF-102 and flew combat sorties during the Global War on Terror. Following VF-102s return from their final Tomcat cruise,162694 was transferred to VF-101 and then came full circle, finishing her flying career with VF-32. On 5 October 2005, she was delivered to the MAPS Museum at Akron/Canton Airport, Ohio. During her career, 162694 accumulated 6723 flight hours, 2011 catapult launches and 2022 arrested landings including field arrestments. What offense did I commit, I sent this shot to the Hook for publication. Worried about repercussions, I used a pseudonym. I later heard the Navy was inquiring about the identity of the photographer.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 03:48:47 +0000
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