The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a twin-engine, variable sweep wing capable of supersonic flight. The aircraft is crewed by a Pilot and a Radar Intercept Officer who share the tasks of navigation, target acquisition, ECM, and weapons usage. The Tomcat was operated by the United States Navy and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force only. The name “Tomcat” is said to come from the call sign used by Vice Admiral Thomas Connolly which conformed to the USN tradition of giving Grumman aircraft feline names.

The Aircraft

In 1988 flying F-14A 162705 c/n 551 Captain Dale “Snort” Snodgrass performed his (in)famous super low banana pass off the port side of the USS America while at sea. Snodgrass was a high-time F-14 pilot with over 4,800 hours flying the F-14. Snodgrass was a member of VF-33 Starfighters, formerly the Tarsiers, a small South Asian mammal