Grumman F-14A "Tomcat"

The F-14 was designed to fulfill the missions of clearing contested airspace and protecting strike forces, defending the carrier fleet, and secondary attack of tactical ground targets.

This two-seat carrier-based fighter utilizes variable-sweep wings to provide good aerodynamic performance at both low and high speeds.  A Mach Sweep Programmer selects the optimum sweep angle based on speed and altitude.  The aircraft has twin vertical tails with rudders and all-flying horizontal tails.  The large rectangular inlets utilize variable multiple shock ramps for good supersonic performance.

The F-14A at the Western Museum of Flight was accepted by the Navy on February 18, 1976.  A fire in the right hand engine on May 7, 1979 structurally weakened the aircraft, causing it to be relegated as a maintenance trainer for most of its service life.  The aircraft was last stationed at Naval Air Station Miramar.