BKR Baby!!!! It’s funny how back then I had mixed emotions about being in 154. Very long hours to keep them flying and very little time off. But looking back on it now I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Those days really prepared me for my future in aircraft maintenance. I miss you 154!!!
Your dad had the best job in the world! Did he initially want to be a Tomcat pilot? Not all Tomcat pilots did as some talented pilots got their 5th or 6th choice of flying the Tomcat as they saw the Tomcat as too dangerous for their liking. Over 20% of all Tomcats build were lost for various reasons. In one RU-vid video I watched, a former Tomcat pilot said he was initially frightened and disappointed that he was assigned to the 'F-14 West coast', his 5th of 6 preferences. He said he initially felt that being assigned to the Tomcat felt like a death sentence. He ended up ejecting later in his Navy career due to an engine explosion and he left the Navy as soon as it was possible to under his contract. He then went to join the airlines.
@@airplane1831 Yes, it was the jet he wanted to fly. I forgot his reasoning why. He shot three Phoenix missiles in total during his time as a Tomcat pilot. He was with VF-154 Black Knights aboard the USS Constellation before going to TopGun school in Miramar. Then to VF-301 “Devil’s Disciples” in the reserves. He got his pilots license before he got a drivers license and his dad my grandfather flew Sabres in Korea and Douglas Skyraiders in Loas and Cambodia out of Thailand during the Vietnam war.
