VF-41 Black Aces F-14 Tomcat crew members who took part in Gulf of Sidra Incident recall the shooting down of Gaddafi Sukhoi Su-22M Fitter fighter bombers

By: Lindsey Broman|In: Tom Cat|Last Updated: August 19, 2021

VF-41 Black Aces F-14 Tomcat crew members who took part in Gulf of Sidra Incident recall the shooting down of Gaddafi Sukhoi Su-22M Fitter fighter bombers

‘The F-14 had incredible superiority in the turn rate and radius over the Su-22, especially because we flew the F-14A Block 95 model with the auto-manoeuvring slats and flaps, which worked phenomenally well,’ Lt Lawrence “Music” Muczynski, former F-14 Tomcat pilot.

On Aug. 19, 1981, the famous Sidra Gulf Incident in which two Grumman F-14 Tomcat interceptors of US Navy (USN) squadron VF-41 ‘Black Aces’ shot down two Libyan Arab Air Force (LAAF) Sukhoi Su-22M Fitter fighter bombers took place.

As told by Tom Cooper, Albert Grandolini and Arnaud Delalande in their book Libyan Air Wars Part 1: 1973-1985, around 6:00am on that day, six F-14s and four F-4s, supported by two E-2Cs, took off towards their patrol stations. As on the previous day, the southernmost of these was inside the airspace claimed by Libyans. After Hawkeyes and fighters, USS Nimitz and USS Forrestal launched a similar number Lockheed

By: Lindsey Broman|In: Tom Cat|Last Updated: August 10, 2021

The F-14 Tomcat: The Initially Correct Multi-Position Fighter?

Nowadays, the F-14 Tomcat is primarily acknowledged for its operational background in the course of the Vietnam War, its starring function in “Top Gun,” and its anachronistic ongoing utilization by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nonetheless, a place that is generally missed in discussions of the F-14 was its innovative twin style and design purpose: it was created as a fleet defense interceptor but was thoroughly capable of having on an air superiority purpose as perfectly. As Matthieu Pickens noticed on Quora, “The F-14 wasn’t supposed to be a 1-trick pony like the F-15”—which was made as a pure air superiority plane.

Owing to house constraints on plane provider decks, the U.S. Navy was not able to work various courses of aircraft, each and every suited for a one mission. The Navy wanted a solitary aircraft structure that could cope with both defense and interception missions. And the F-14 in

VF-41 Black Aces F-14 Tomcat crew members who took part in Gulf of Sidra Incident recall the shooting down of Gaddafi Sukhoi Su-22M Fitter fighter bombers

‘The F-14 had incredible superiority in the turn rate and radius over the Su-22, especially because we flew the F-14A Block 95 model with the auto-manoeuvring slats and flaps, which worked phenomenally well,’ Lt Lawrence “Music” Muczynski, former F-14 Tomcat pilot.

The F-14 Tomcat: The Initially Correct Multi-Position Fighter?