Right: Two VF-14
F3H-2N Demons
on the deck of
USS Forrestal
during 1957. The
following year,
Carrier Air Group
One adopted the
‘AB’ code, which
is still in use with
Carrier Air Wing
One. Tailhook
Association via
Peter B. Merskycoast since Vought F-8 Crusaders served
on the Atlantic Fleet front line. Pilot LT
Stan C. Foltz became the lead Oceana-
based F-14 aviator to carrier qualify
(CQ), doing so on USS Kitty Hawk (C VA
63) off California between December
7-9. He also became the first Atlantic
Fleet landing signal officer (LSO) for the
Tomcat. As part of pre-cruise work-ups
in May 1975, the paired squadrons
expended nine AIM-54 Phoenix missiles
— the Tomcat’s primary long-range
air-to-air weapon — during the debut
fleet firings.VF-14 Tomcats deployed for the first
time on a CVW-1/CV 67 Sixth Fleet cruise
on June 28, though the aircraft were
craned aboard at Norfolk, Virginia, as the
F-14 fleet had been grounded four days
prior due to continuing issues with the
Pratt & Whitney TF30 powerplants. By
the end of the cruise in January 1976,
the maintenance situation had improved
only slightly and F-14 engines were very
limited on flight hours, with crews just
able to meet currency targets with the
small number of ‘up’ airframes available.
In fact, VF-14 recorded in its command29, 1973 informed that the squadron
would be the first Oceana-based unit to
transition to the Grumman F-14A Tomcat.
The F-4Bs were transferred as the year
came to a close, with the last example
(BuNo 153012) being handed over to
NAS Miramar-based VF-302 ‘Stallions’. The
California master jet base — then home
to the only Tomcat Fleet Replacement
Squadron VF-124 ‘Gunfighters’ —
became the temporary residence of the
‘Tophatters’ as it underwent a 90 per cent
turnover in personnel to begin training
on the new fighter.
As VF-14 personnel graduated, they
slowly moved eastwards from California
before officially shifting their homeport
back to Oceana on July 5. ‘Tophatters’
CO CDR John T. ‘Jack’ McHugh, with
RIO [radar intercept officer] LTJG H. L.
‘Phil’ McKinney, flew ‘Camelot 101’ (the
squadron’s radio callsign) — F-14A BuNo
159019 — into Oceana on July 26.
The first ever Atlantic Fleet Tomcat
‘traps’ and launches from a carrier were
conducted on November 13, 1973, with
a VF-14 F-14A (BuNo 159007) following
a VF-32 example onto the USS Kennedy’s
deck. On December 3, the incoming
squadron CO CDR George W. White
Jr led his squadron in the inaugural
air-to-air gunnery exercise on the easthttp://www.combataircraft.net // September 2019 55
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