Collings Foundation Aquired a Two Place Hun...

[RMAllnutt]

yeah that sucks. I guess no top gun 2

Strangely enough, a Top Gun 2 is in the works... but obviously not with F-14's. I think the premature retirement and destruction of the Tomcat was a disgrace, but I do see the point of concern re. Iran getting parts.... which was happening. That being said, the same level of paranoia has extended to every other aircraft retired since then, which makes absolutely no sense to me.

Richard

[cco23i]

MMMMM,
Obviously a spammer jerk! NFL my BUTT!

Scott

[shrike]

Chances of even the almighty NFL getting an F-14 are slim to nil

[TimAPNY]

MMMMM,
Obviously a spammer jerk! NFL my BUTT!

Scott

All gone!

Tim

[Nathan]

The F-14 got scrapped fast. Faster then any other story I've heard. Although Iran is flying F-14's as we speak......so what? What kind of threat is that to the U.S.? Every country has fighter jets that could attack the U.S.. I still don't understand why the F-14 is so different from any other aircraft. I personally think it's more of a macho thing about the F-14.

[mustangdriver]

The F-14 is better than those other jets we speak of nathan. The F-14's were not retired because they were no longer effective, they were retired because they were becoming expensive to maintain. In my opinion the person to be upset with is not the person or group that had the Tomcats scrapped, but the person or group that managed to give Iran F-14's. I wouldn't give Iran a coffee pot.

[51fixer]

yeah that sucks. I guess no top gun 2

Strangely enough, a Top Gun 2 is in the works... but obviously not with F-14's. I think the premature retirement and destruction of the Tomcat was a disgrace, but I do see the point of concern re. Iran getting parts.... which was happening. That being said, the same level of paranoia has extended to every other aircraft retired since then, which makes absolutely no sense to me.

Richard

This log in issue is making posts disappear and is a PITA!

Hollywood Producers should buy the Iranian F-14s many issues will resolve themselves-
Iran won't have the F-14 anymore.
TG2 can pick up where TG1 left off.
Congress and Govt agencies can use their energies on more productive things.

Last edited by 51fixer on Mon Feb 28, 2011 8:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

[whistlingdeath77]

yeah that sucks. I guess no top gun 2

Oh Thank God! I hated Top Gun! lol But it would be nice to see Snodgrass get some F-14s to operate for airshows.

NEVER EVER leave your wingman Chris! You loved the movie, i know you did

[JohnB]

In my opinion the person to be upset with is not the person or group that had the Tomcats scrapped, but the person or group that managed to give Iran F-14's. I wouldn't give Iran a coffee pot.

Back in the 70's Iran's order for 79-80 F-14s helped Grumman avoid big money troubles.
At the time, the Shah's government was one of the U.S.'s few allies in the region, helping America in the Cold War and being tolerant of Israel.

Then the largely western educated liberal/intellectual elements in Iran, got fed up with his rule, and merged with the pro-Islamic religious elements to start a revolution which brought the Ayatollah Khomeini back from exile.
But instead a being a more liberal government, it became a hard line theocracy...and the intellectual elements either had to go along and grow beards or leave the country. U.S. trained military personnel were shot, "converted" to the new government, or forced to flee. I remember a story at the time about a former fighter pilot working at a 7-11 somwhere and getting killed in a holdup
In short, what was once America's best friend and most stable allie in the region became a US enemy.
The Shah was sick with Cancer, Jimmy Carter allowed him to come to the US for treatment (at Willford Hall at Lackland AFB) andf Iran took over the US embassy...something not even Hitler or Japan did in the days leading to WWII.

[whistlingdeath77]

i thought we gave them the f-14's, but left a very important part out of it for examples just like this. That way they couldn't use them against us. Thought i watched a documentary on the tomcat and heard that

[RickH]

We didn't GIVE Iran anything. They were sold for hard cash.

[Bill Greenwood]

John, I once went to Willford Hall when I was there in basic training at Lackland. I would think that Willford is not primarily a cancer center and that the Shah would have gone to a civilian hospital that was more expert, such as M D Anderson in Houston.

Last edited by Bill Greenwood on Mon Feb 28, 2011 4:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Pogmusic]

I remember the Wilford Hall part. I was a young cadet at Texas A&M at that time. Sort of close to College Station (Well, at least in Texas measurement)

[the330thbg]

Is San Antonio., I went to Austin.., so no gig-ems around here!

MD Anderson was not around in 1979.., at least as the cancer meca!

I spent a great deal of my childhood in San Antonio and do remember the Shah in town. My best friends was an Iranian, who's father used to command a large piece of their army. The ex-General still owns and runs a liquor store in San Antonio. Quite a life changer for him.

The Collings folks are the best!!!!

Can not wait to ride in this new bird!

[Bill Greenwood]

330, I am almost certain that M D Anderson in Houston was in full use in 1979. I graduated in 69 and my girlfriend then worked at M D Anderson briefly when I worked in Houston after basic training.

Also, Texas football star Freddie Steinmark, after playing in the game where Texas won the National championship, was sadly to become a patient at Anderson. The game was in Dec. 8, 1969 when they beat Arkansas and Nixon was there and on tv. Freddie would have been in the hospital in 69 or 70, I am almost sure. He passed away in 1971.
I was there in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl in Jan when Texas defeated Notre Dame. Freddie was out of the hospital by then, at least for awhile and on the sidelines.

Last edited by Bill Greenwood on Mon Feb 28, 2011 5:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.