The Great, Constantly Changing Picture Gallery

[HeyJoe]

Of course it is, when hindsight is 20-20. At the time, why wouldn't we sell weapons to the Shah?

Especially when it saved Grumman and thereby the US Navy Tomcat program. And if it hadn't been the Tomcat, it would have been the F-15 as Air Force had a lock hold on Iran with F-5E and F-4D/E sales under their belt and thought they the F-15 sale was theirs until Shah became enamored with the Tomcat and its Phoenix missile ability to deal with Soviet Foxbat overflights.

The epic showdown on Air Force terf at Andrews AFB in which the F-15 and F-14 did consecutive airshow routines for the Shah and his entourage was preceded by months, if not years, of rivalry and political maneuvering bordering on outright fist de cuffs between the Air Force and Navy on top of OSD pressure to pick a common solution to the service fighter needs.

 

[ea6bflyr]

Unfortunately, the last Tomcat drivers around...

The guy second from the bottom right kinda looks like a young President Ahmadinejad.

-ea6bflyr

 

[Catmando]

Of course it is, when hindsight is 20-20. At the time, why wouldn't we sell weapons to the Shah?

Exactly. The 1970s were an entirely different world than today, when the Cold War dominated most foreign policy.

In addition to the reasons HJ has given, there were others too. We had set up the Shah in Iran, and he was an important part of our strategy against the Soviets. Iran with its strategic oil reserves, was also blocking the Soviets from a much coveted "warm-water" port. We desparately sought to build Iran up militarily to preclude any possible Soviet "adventurism" or expansion.

Grumman at the time had a 4-part promotional video on the sale of F-14s to the Shaw, the building of the infrastructure, and the training to support 80 F-14s. As can be seen in the video, the worry was the Soviets and not any possible future revolution.

1970's Iran F14 Tomcat Introduction in Part 2

Part 3 might be a little more interesting with some inflight video of Iranian training flights.

 

[goopscoop]

Ahhh, those pesky Soviets. It seems that I had forgotten my history book. Great Grumman video by the way. I had to chuckle with the pool scene. Doubt you will see bikinis and cookouts there today.

 

[MIDNJAC]

1. There are plenty of Tomcat drivers still around in US Navy (and out of it); they just don't have any Tomcats to fly

+1 Lot's of them have had to turn in the Turkey for T-45's.....most of our reservists here (and some AD) are Tomcat guys.....in fact my skipper flew Tomcats before flying F-15C's and Hornets

 

[HeyJoe]

+1 Lot's of them have had to turn in the Turkey for T-45's.....most of our reservists here (and some AD) are Tomcat guys.....in fact my skipper flew Tomcats before flying F-15C's and Hornets

Let's keep the record straight, the vast majority traded the Tomcat for the Super Hornet quite literally starting with the Tophatters and Black Aces and ending with the Black Lions and Tomcatters

 

[MIDNJAC]

Let's keep the record straight, the vast majority traded the Tomcat for the Super Hornet quite literally starting with the Tophatters and Black Aces and ending with the Black Lions and Tomcatters

True story. Just meant that the vast majority of their last pilots are still amongst our ranks

 

[A4sForever]

..... the vast majority traded the Tomcat for the Super Hornet quite literally starting with the Tophatters and Black Aces and ending with the Black Lions and Tomcatters

Black Lions -- good sticks; good men.

Inquiring minds want to know: whatever happened to the Varks -- active from '45-'93 ... i.e., -213's sister squadron for soooooooooooo many years in the Air Wing ???

I know it's 'gone' ... but 'why' did they 'die' w/ the switch from "F to FA" when the Black Lions ('55 - present) 'made it' ... ???

 

[HeyJoe]

Black Lions -- good sticks; good men.

Inquiring minds want to know: whatever happened to the Varks -- active from '45-'93 ... i.e., -213's sister squadron for soooooooooooo many years in the Air Wing ???

I know it's 'gone' ... but 'why' did they 'die' w/ the switch from "F to FA" when the Black Lions ('55 - present) 'made it' ... ???

They didn't make past the Night of the Long Knives post Desert Storm when the powers that be decided that your beloved A-6 should be retired and half the Tomcat Squadrons be retired leaving only one per Air Wing with a precision strike capability a la LANTIRN. So in one fell swoop, there went VF-1, VF-21, VF-24, VF-33, VF-51, VF-74, VF-84, VF-111, VF-114, VF-124 and VF-142 as I recall off top of my head. The beloved Adversary squadrons also fell to the T/M/S budget knife (VF-45, VFA-127, VF-126, VF-43...and those renegades flying out of Dallas..who were those Maniacs?). The survivors: VF-2, VF-11, VF-14, VF-31, VF-41, VF-101, VF-102, VF-103, VF-143, VF-154, VF-211 and VF-213 all eventually transitioned to the Super Hornet (except VF-101, which was the FRS) after absorbing the best and brightest of the A-6 community (well, some also-rans went to EA-6B squadrons and a few pilots to JV Hornet squadrons)

 

[Catmando]

They didn't make past the Night of the Long Knives post Desert Storm when the powers that be decided that your beloved A-6 should be retired and half the Tomcat Squadrons be retired leaving only one per Air Wing with a precision strike capability a la LANTIRN. So in one fell swoop, there went VF-1, VF-21, VF-24, VF-33, VF-51, VF-74, VF-84, VF-111, VF-114, VF-124 and VF-142 as I recall off top of my head. The beloved Adversary squadrons also fell to the T/M/S budget knife (VF-45, VFA-127, VF-126, VF-43...and those renegades flying out of Dallas..who were those Maniacs?). The survivors: VF-2, VF-11, VF-14, VF-31, VF-41, VF-101, VF-102, VF-103, VF-143, VF-154, VF-211 and VF-213 all eventually transitioned to the Super Hornet (except VF-101, which was the FRS) after absorbing the best and brightest of the A-6 community (well, some also-rans went to EA-6B squadrons and a few pilots to JV Hornet squadrons)

I always wondered why VF-2 survived, while VF-1 was buried. Was there a rationale as to which squadrons lived and which sister squadron didn't?

 

[A4sForever]

I always wondered why VF-2 survived, while VF-1 was buried. Was there a rationale as to which squadrons lived and which sister squadron didn't?

I kinda wondered that re: VF-114/VF-213, too ....

If anything, the VARKs had the better 'PR machine' goin' in my experience with them -- and yet they died and -213 was given another lease on life ... and still alive & kickin' ???

Of course, the Black Lions had movers & shakers & up & comers on their GREENIE BOARD like Roy Cash and John Nathman ... but the AARDVARKS had characters takin' traps like 'Cobra', 'Otis', and 'Viper' (now Viper II ???) ... so it's kinda a push.

HOWEVER ... a pair of Black Lions 'stuck' Trophy Girlfriend ® w/their patch @ the NUW O'Club in/around the early '90s (that's not where they put the sticker, btw ... ) ... so mebbe that was the deal-breaker ... ???

At least the sticker is still 'warm' ... and alive & kickin' ...

 

[wlawr005]

great slideshow of Army air over Iwo Jima circa 1945...gotta love the P-51D!

http://picasaweb.google.com/7thfigh...6oth&feat=email#slideshow/5299163514644248546

 

[BadgerDave]

great slideshow of Army/Navy/Marine air over Iwo Jima circa 1945...gotta love the P-51D!

http://picasaweb.google.com/7thfigh...6oth&feat=email#slideshow/5299163514644248546

Proving how small a world this is........

I'm a civilian who lurks around here, in part because I grab the occasional photo or video link and route them to my grandfather, a retired AF O-6.

I nearly fell out of my chair when I clicked on that link. Many of those photos are from the 78th Fighter Squadron; I know that because that was my grandfather's unit. He was a P-51 crew chief; some of those birds in those photos were his. I've seen some of those photos before; I believe he's in them but not very visible. I've met a number of the men those photos.

I believe the guy who put that gallery together is a Boeing employee who, as a hobby, has served as the unofficial historian for the 7th Fighter Command and the 78th Fighter Squadron. If you dig into the rest of his gallery you'll find the Missing Air Crew Report for Gordon Scott, who was shot down over Japan on 4 July, 1945. His Mustang crashed into a Japanese lake; there is in fact an attempt underway to retrieve that Mustang. It has been precisely located; the locals are concerned about possible environmental impacts of having the Mustang removed.

The Missing Air Crew Report can be viewed here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/7thfighter/GordonMACR

Gordon Scott's own description of his experiences available here:
http://www.7thfighter.com/78th/history/Gordon.htm

FWIW,
Dave

 

[wlawr005]

I can't claim any credit for finding those photos, the link was given to our ROTC unit by the CO in an email. Just thought they were cool and wanted to share...glad to see that you were able to explain some of the history behind it. Thanks...

 

[Mumbles]

HJ.....I always thought that this was the sickest/nastiest (In a good way!) patch @ Oceana in the early 80s. What did I know?? I was only 7 or 8 years old.

At A4s....I suspect this is the Admiral you speak of. I remember this article from years ago.
http://www.fredoneverything.net/Potties.shtml