The Need For Speed

[kham]

Anytime, Baby




Prob been up a while, but still worth it

Sadly, all the Toms are long gone now, only gateguards remain, the rest scrap

[Mynock]

I hope at least a few of them ended up in museums. They were one of the most awesome warbirds of their time.

[kham]

Indeed, the shot of the max burner pass at around 2:00 is impressive, as is the supersonic pass shortly thereafter

[Duncan Edwards]

It was a peerless, long range, interceptor for the fleet and there were several Libyan pilots who can tell you how good it was in a fight. The highest compliment came during Operation El Dorado Canyon when the Libyan pilots refused to even take off in defense of their own skies.

[kham]

Tomcat Tribute Video

Nice one, almost brings a tear to your eye


And, for some fun : Stupid pilot tricks

[Billie Bonce]

I agree that Tomcat is one of the most beautiful aircrafts ever made.

I love beautiful things

[Mynock]

How about that F-22 Raptor though? Pretty sure that puppy's the closest we've come to building an X-Wing. I almost feel sorry for whoever has to go up against it.

[kham]

You not far off Myn, I have seen the F-22 Team Demo video, and some of the moves it puts on in PUBLIC in a demo just blow your mind.

X-Wings? Who knows what sorts of wiggly stuff out in Dreamland er Area 51 are under flight testing as we speak...

[Duncan Edwards]

How about that F-22 Raptor though? Pretty sure that puppy's the closest we've come to building an X-Wing. I almost feel sorry for whoever has to go up against it.

Yeah, but it lacks style. I like to compare the lines of my '77 Monte Carlo with an '82 model. They took all the curves out of it and just ruined it. Same thing with the appearance of a Tomcat and a Raptor. I wouldn't want to get in a dogfight with an F-22 but it will never be beautiful in the same manner an F-14 was. Always made me laugh that Tom Cruise thought he was the star of Top Gun.

[PM2K]

They are beautiful aircraft, I agree, but I always preferred the classics of the 1940s and 50s... the sleek F-86 Sabre, the Me-262, the MiG-15, and all those beauties of the piston age... the P-40 Warhawk, the Hellcat, Wildcat and Corsair of the Pacific Theatre, the Spitfire, Mustang, Typhoon, Thunderbolt and Mosquito which helped clear the skies of Europe, not to mention their opponents the Luftwaffe's Me-109 and FW-190...

And roll back further to the Spad, the Sopwith Camel, the Fokker Triplane, and others...

Today's stealthy ultramodern fighters may be the way of the future, but all those sharp edges and stealthy touches have drained a lot of the soul and beauty out of them. But maybe that's just me...