"Scott Skylane" wrote in message
...
Matt Barrow wrote:


That WAS the PLAN, back a couple years ago when the article was written,
but I recall (for what that's worth) that the last one was retired (for
carrier operations?) and the advanced Hornet was accelerated into
operations. Wasn't that a thread here just a few weeks ago?



Matt,

See: http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q36E21BDB

It's the Google group archive of J. Honecks thread. His first post has a
link to an article that indicates the last F-14 squadron was just deployed
to the Gulf.

I read Jay's post of "What an amazing run the F-14 has had. It will be
terribly sad not to see
them flying anymore.... ", but not the article. :~(

"The venerable F-14 Tomcat, a mainstay of naval aviation, Hollywood movies
and air show awe since the 1970s, will retire for good after a final combat
deployment, which began Thursday. "
....
"The Tomcats require between 40 and 60 hours of maintenance for every hour
in the air, LaBranche said. For the F/A-18s, it's more like 10 to 15."
-----------------------------------------------------------
When I was a Norfolk a few years back, (2001) they (F-14's) were already
decorating the static displays as "museum pieces".


--
Matt

---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO