combat aircraft

small cracks. While air force rules allowed

 ying with such cracks, navy rules would

not. Some solutions presented to solve

this problem included the replacement

of the entire center section of every

aircraft at a total cost of several hundred

million dollars.

‘So, as the CO of TOPGUN — a position

that also made me the F-16 model

manager for the navy — I had to craft

a mitigation plan given the life of our

F-16s was probably coming to end in

the near term. We were also [winding

down]  ying our A-4 Skyhawks due to

growing safety concerns, so options for

a F-16 replacement were limited. Given

the situation, I put forward a plan for

rapid integration of F-14s and F/A-18s

into TOPGUN. Most of the sta were from

these two communities, so the instructor

training issue was relatively easy. Getting

the maintenance and supply support

The Tomcat would

often be used as the

high and fast-fl yer simulation

— think MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’ or

MiG-31 ‘Foxhound’

CDR Ted Ricciardella

was a di erent matter, but this issue

was overcome.

‘AIRPAC [US Naval Air Forces, Paci c

Fleet] responded to my request for aircraft

very quickly, and we had four F-14As on

the line by mid-December 1991.’

Tomcats join the NFWS

The  rst NFWS F-14s initially served as

back-up aircraft for students, primarily

from Atlantic Fleet units, should their

ageing F-14s from their home units

su er mechanical problems during their

time with TOPGUN. The NFWS Tomcats

also undertook instructor pro ciency

check  ights, allowing both pilots and

RIOs to remain current in the workings

of the jet during their two-to-three-year

assignment with the NFWS.

LT (later CDR) Doug ‘Boog’ Denneny

was posted to TOPGUN in October 1993

as a RIO instructor, performing many

sorties in NFWS F-14s during his two-

year tour there. ‘When I showed up at

Miramar, TOPGUN was  ying A-4s, F-16s

and F-14As. The vast majority [90 per

cent] of my sorties for the next two years

— I was one of only  ve RIOs on sta ,

and we usually had three or four ‘up’

F-14As — were in the Tomcat, operating

the jet in an adversary, support or ‘Blue

Air’ instructor role. We had roughly eight

to 10 F-16s, the same number of A-4s

Left: CAPT Jim

Robb was the

commanding

offi cer of TOPGUN

when it fi rst

received its

Tomcats in 1990-

91. He is pictured
    with an F-16N.
    Jim Robb
    via author
    Below: The
    unmistakable
    lines of the F-14A,
    with wings swept
    and accelerating
    to high speed.
    Ted Carlson/
    Fotodynamics

52 September 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

// F-14 TOMCATS

50-57 Supp_Tomcats C.indd 52 19/07/2018 12:23