Vandy One, Baby!

As the readership may be aware, we love us some Tomcats here at TWW, and we love us some 'purtiness, too. Well, here's one of the 'purtiest Tomcats you'll ever see... 'Vandy One' from VX-9, 'Vampires' as seen in 2002 or thereabouts. Actually, 'twas October 17th of that year, to be precise.

Back in the 1990s, after the Red Russkies threw in the towel and brought an  end to the Cold War, there was alotta reorganizin' taking place in Uncle Sam's arsenal, and the US Navy lost alotta RONs. Among those losses were AIRTEVRON FOUR; VX-4 'Evaluators', which was consolidated with VX-5 'Vampires' to form a new Air Test and Evaluation Squadron, VX-9. 

The new RON inherited the 'Vampires' name from VX-5, and though VX-4 was now gone, some of that squadron's traditions lived on, including the adornment of the skipper's jet, call sign 'Vandy One' ('Vandy' being short for VX-4's full call sign, 'Vanderbilt'), with an overall black paint job and a white Playboy Bunny on the tail. The call sign and black paint were preserved, but the Bunny's days were numbered. The punchy, cheeky little emblem was apparently too suggestive for those with egg on their covers and it soon fell prey to that load of utter horseshit known as political correctness. But, for a brief while in the early years of the new century, it would seem that somebody with a functioning brain and balls enough to tell the flags to take a long walk off a short pier decided to revive the Bunny for the F-14's final days with VX-9.

The result is what y'all see below - F-14D BuNo. 164604, the very last Tomcat to roll off'a the production line at Bethpage, NY. She served only with VX-9 and never touched down on a boat. Never fired her gun, either, apparently.

Anyhoo, enjoy, test, and evaluate, baby!

USAF photo by Staff Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo

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Putting a Cat to Bed

As the readership may or may not be aware, we luv us sum 'purty pikshurs 'round these parts. Same goes for the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. So this time 'round we figured, what the hey, why not do both?

So here's a real looker for y'all - a beauty of a shot snapped late in the evening 'somewhere in the Atlantic', showing an F-14B (née A+) from either VF-11 'Red Rippers' or VF-143 'Pukin' Dogs', tied down for the night and receiving some end-of-day TLC. Both RONs were embarked aboard USS George Washington (CVN-73) as part of Carrier Air Wing Seven (CVW-7) during November of 2003.

Chocks and Chains, Baby...

U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate Airman Konstandinos Goumenidis

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FOX ONE!

Your blogmeister has probably once or twenty times in the past mentioned that he really digs the Grumman F-14, and the type has undoubtedly appeared on the pages of this-here cyber-rag more often than any other. We're not sure of the exact number of said appearances, but today that number increases by one, as we present a super-groovy and rather dramatic shot showing an F-14A of VF-33 (known as both the 'Tarsiers' and 'Starfighters' during the RON's time in Tomcats) loosing an AIM-7 Sparrow sometime in the mid-ish 1980s. Further details are unavailable at this time, but we're workin' on it.

Enjoy, and punch some chaff...

 

US Navy photo

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Victory 210 & 201

Today we bring you a quickie showing a pair of one of your blogmeister's faves, the F-14 Tomcat. These particular Toms are from what was arguably the most famous F-14 RON, VF-84, the Jolly Rogers. We're not sure of the exact date here, but judging by the paint schemes and other details, it was the late 1970s or early 1980s. Photo-bombing in fine fashion off in the distance is the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), roost to VF-84 and the rest of Carrier Air Wing 8.

AAAARRRRR!!!!

 

 

U.S. Navy Photo

 

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