Combat Aircraft – September 2019

‘TOPHATTERS’ THROUGH THE AGES

Date Unit designation Aircraft type

September 1, 1919 FleetAir Detachment, Paci c Fleet Curtiss JN-6, Hanriot HD-1, Martin MT, Nieuport 28, Thomas Morse S-4C

June 15, 1920 V T-5 Curtiss R-6L, Martin MT

September 7, 1921 VP-4-1 Curtiss R-6L, Martin MT

September 23, 1921 VF-4 Curtiss R-6L, Martin MT

July 1, 1922 VF-1 Curtiss R-6L, Martin MT, Vought VE-7 (1922), Curtiss TS-1 (1923), Boeing FB-5 (1927)

July 1, 1927 VF-1B

Boeing FB-5, Boeing F2B-1 (1928), Curtiss F-8C-4

Helldiver (1930), Boeing F4B-3 (1932, also F4B-

4), Curtiss F11C-2/BFC-2 Goshawk (1933)

July 1, 1934 VB-2B Curtiss BFC-2 Goshawk

July 1, 1937 VB-3 Curtiss BFC-2 Goshawk, Vought SB2U-1 Vindicator (1938)

July 1, 1939 VB-4 Vought SB2U-1 Vindicator

March 15, 1941 VS-41 Vought SB2U-1 Vindicator, Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless (1942)

March 1, 1943 VB-41 Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless (SBD-5 variant from 1943)

August 4, 1943 VB-4

Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless, Curtiss SB2C-3

Helldiver (1944, SB2C-1 from July 1944, SB2C-

4/4E from May 1945, SB2C-5 from July 1945)

November 15, 1946 VA-1A Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver, Vought F4U-4 Corsair (1948)

August 2, 1948 VA-14 Vought F4U-4 Corsair (F4U-5 from 1950)

December 15, 1949 VF-14

Vought F4U-4 Corsair (F4U-5 from 1950),

Douglas F3D-2 Skyknight, McDonnell F3H-2N/F-

3B Demon, McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II

(1963), Grumman F-14A Tomcat (1974)

December 1, 2001 VFA-14 Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet (from 2002)

VT: Torpedo Plane Squadron

VP: Patrol Plane Squadron

VF: Combat Squadron/Fighting Squadron/

Fighter Squadron

VB: Bombing Squadron

VS: Scouting Squadron

VA: Attack Squadron

VFA: Strike Fighter Squadron

Below: ‘Camelot

200’ (F/A-18E BuNo

168927) wears a

special centennial

scheme — seen

here launching from

USS John C. Stennis

in December 2018.

US Navy

Bottom: VFA-14’s

F/A-18Es are

regularly confi gured

for the tanker role,

as is this example

operating from USS

John C. Stennis

(CVN 74). US Navy/

MCSSA Ignacio D.

Perez

Arabian Gulf deployments with CVW-

11/CVN 68 through March 2010 before

chopping to CVW-9 in October that year,

working up to deploy in USS John C.

Stennis (CVN 74) the following July.

VFA-14 arrived back at Lemoore on May

18, 2019 after concluding its fourth CVW-

9/CVN 74 deployment two days prior at

the culmination of an around-the-world

cruise. This included a show of American

strength in the South China Sea to both

China and North Korea and then doing

likewise to Iran by entering the Arabian

Gulf. In late 2018 into 2019, the Stennis

launched combat missions against Taliban

targets in Afghanistan under Operation

‘Freedom’s Sentinel’ as well as Islamic

State cells in both Iraq and Syria under

‘Inherent Resolve’.

It brought to a close the  rst 100 years

of ‘Tophatters’  ying, having operated

some 23 di erent aircraft types plus seven

sub-variants and including operations

from 32 di erent aircraft carriers. Since

the end of World War Two, the squadron

has undertaken 41 major deployments —

justifying the squadron motto: ‘The oldest

and boldest’.

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