Aviation for Women is the flagship member publication of Women in Aviation International. Articles feature women who have made aviation history, professional development ideas, and current-topic articles.
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26 Aviation forWomen J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 6 begin her fight training to be- come a pilot in the Navy. Af- ter a grueling year and a half of training lectures, simula- tors, and flights she received her coveted wings of gold and the title of naval aviator. Now she would finally find out if she would fly the airplane of her dreams, the F-14 Tomcat. She knew the Navy had recent- ly decided to begin decommis- sioning the famous airplane and she was fearful there may not be any more Tomcat spots after all of her hard work. "I still remember sitting with my commanding officer when he told me I was selected for the Tomcat, and that I would be one of the last four pilots. I was in complete shock," Meagan said. "I thought of the little girl who had seen a mov- ie 14 years earlier—my dream had come true!" After winging, Vanessa and Meagan would each leave fight school and fnally climb into the aircraft they had only dreamed of fying: the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, also known as the Big Fighter. "Driving up to the Navy base I could see the Tomcats coming in to land and I couldn't believe I was actu- ally going to fy them," Meagan said. "Words cannot describe how it felt to climb up that ladder and into the cockpit for the frst time." After two years in fight school, both women now began another intensive year of training in the F-14. From the tri- umph of getting their wings to being students again, both women realized that their next stop was the feet. They had F -14 TO M C AT The Grumman F-14 Tomcat was a supersonic, twin- engine, variable sweep fghter. It was the backbone of U.S. Navy fighter capabilities through the early 2000s. Built by the Grumman Aircraft Company on Long Island, New York, it was frst deployed in 1974. The Pratt & Whitney TF30 engines have a maximum thrust of 20,900 pounds each, giving the Tomcat the power needed to accelerate to speeds up to Mach 2.34 or 1,795 mph. It could carry an assortment of missiles and bombs, and also was equipped with an onboard cannon. The F-14 would see its frst air- to-air combat when two Libyan SU-22s challenged two Tomcats of VF-41 The Black Aces. At the end of the day the two Tomcats would go home with the kills. During a second Gulf of Sidra incident, Tom- cats of VF-32 would shoot down two Mig-23 Flog- gers. The aircraft secured its place in pop culture when the flm Top Gun featured the F-14 as the main backdrop, following students of the Navy's Fighter Weapons School. After the movie's 1986 release there was a food of applicants at naval recruiting centers who wanted to sign up and fy the Tomcat. The F-14 would go on to serve in Operation Endur- ing Freedom and was retired in 2006. U. S. NAV Y PHOTO BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 3RD CLASS NATHAN LAIRD CLEMENT BRITT/VIRGINIA'S COMMUNIT Y COLLEGES