Great story and I’ll admit Snods was one hell of a fighter pilot. I was a new Marine fighter pilot in VMFA-115 in 1986. We deployed to Oceana just as Snods describes. Lots of talking at the bar our first night in town. My first 1v1 verses a Tomcat was against Snods and he’s account is very accurate. He kicked my butt in less than a turn and a half then bingo’ed home. Great lesson than I took with me for the rest of my career - you fight the the other pilot and not the airplane. But Snods is confusing two different events and doing what fighters pilots does best - cheat and lie. After Snods kicked my ass it was proposed that he could could do the same with any of us. The challenge was a fight between Snods and Nasty, our recent TopGun grad, to be flown on the TACTs range for all to see. Nasty was was willing participant and would never back down from a fight, but this wasn’t his idea. And Nasty wasn’t a nugget and soundly kicked Snods ass as we all witnessed. There were many drinks shared in the bar that night. God Bless you Snods - you made me a must better fighter pilot and taught me a lesson I never forgot. I only wish we had meet for a second fight...
Kevin, this is fantastic. Do you think there's any way we could get you to recount your recollection of the events on your channel? Wish I could boost this somehow.
Obviously Snods was worried enough that he pulled several questionable maneuvers to get you. Technically yeah he won, would he have pulled the same tricks in actual combat questionable.
Exactly! You got it! That's the point people miss: If you're looking for a 'fair fight'.... your tactics already suck. There is no such thing as a fair fight.... even in 'fair fights', you find cheaters. When the game is combat, when it's your life on the line.... its in your best interest to do what you need to do to ensure that the fight is, in no way, fair...and the favor is in your advantage. Is that how the fight/battle/case will play out? ah-phhhht haha! If you've trained, your opponent fails to account for your actions and you have luck...then maybe it will go as planned. From Mike Tyson saying that "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" to Prussian Field Marshall Helmuth von Moltke The Elder saying "Kein Operationsplan reicht mit einiger Sicherheit über das erste Zusammentreffen mit der feindlichen Hauptmacht hinaus." .....which means "No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the main enemy force." He followed that up, btw, with "Nur der Laie glaubt in dem Verlauf eines Feldzuges die konsequente Durchführung eines im voraus gefaßten in allen Einzelheiten überlegten und bis ans Ende festgehaltenen, ursprünglichen Gedankens zu erblicken." or "Only the layman believes that in the course of a campaign he sees the consistent implementation of an original idea that was conceived in advance, thought through in every detail and retained to the end." When people say "choose your battles wisely".... that's what they mean. Pick battles you will win. If you might not win it, try to ensure victory before the fight begins using ... whatever tactics you need. All is fair in love and.... what now? 😋🤘
snort? this was the guy that gave my family a tour of the Roosevelt aircraft carrier when I was twelve. possibly the best f14 tomcat fighter pilot that ever lived
He would have beaten him no matter what. He beat the Hornet in 42 seconds so it would have taken a little longer if he had not dumped the gas. It was a common practice in ACM since F-14 could carry so much gas primarily for long range intercepts. Dale was very tough to beat in dogfights. He even took out 3 F-5E in a 1v3 with his F-14A in 1985. His airshow demos are a good indicator of how incredible he was especially with the Tomcat stick/rudder.
@@paoloviti6156 It was a tongue-in-cheek joke. He would have won anyway he liked. He was one of the most gifted pilots ever. He had a mock 1v3 against 3 F-5E Tigers in an F-14A in 1984. He took all of them out despite being heavily out-numbered. His airshow demos also show he pushed the edge of the envelope when he would do insane maneuvers just 50 feet over the ground.
@@2ZZGE100 thanks for replying as my English is not perfect, I'm an Italian, so I did misunderstand something on the line! Seriously I think that Dale was definitely an outstanding pilot to fly the heavy F-14 around almost like a toy!! That comes of course with very hard experience and dedication...
You ever read the story of how the Iranian F14 top pilot (he had the most kills in an F14) pulled his Big Cat to 10.5 g to get out of a dire dogfight against an Iraqi Mirage? It's crazy. After RTB, his RIO was unable to fly for 6 months due to over-g injuries and his Tomcat had to be repaired for two months or so.
Love fighter jocks and the old F-14!!! While aboard a supply ship in the Med, our ex-Tomcat pilot Captain had a couple old squadron buddies from either the JFK or America( I forget, its been a few years LOL) do a flyby. A low, FAST flyby...!!! They must've been at or under 100ft, and in full burner. You could see the distortion of the air around them and on the oceans surface. The sonic boom and shockwave did all sorts of damage to the ship... But it was AMAZING!!!🤣🇺🇸
If you need a fighter guy, you want someone like this in a fight who is extremely proficient & knowledgeable of their plane, tactics & adversary. Winner goes home, loser does not. Train like you fight.
Very common thing though. The first time I saw a Tomcat spewing liquid I thought it had a hydraulic leak, lol. He was just dumping gas to get down to landing weight on the boat.
I recall Snods doing the "boat airshow" for the carrier which at sea includes breaking the sound barrier. The pass was timed just right and the sound perfectly converged to the seasparrow covers on the missle sponson and turned the fiberglass into snow. Soon there seemingly was confetti at sea floating around us on the flight deck.
I was never anything as glamorous as a fighter pilot but our instructors taught us "always cheat, always win". So we did, and most of us are still here to cheat again.😉
From about April of 86 to October of 90 I served with the Pukin’ Dogs of VF 143 as a Photographer’s mate. Was witness to many a humorous episode of Naval Aviation. Great sea stories, and no finer bird than the Tomcat.
Oceana! Love that base. Also Dam Neck. When I was stationed at the Op Base in Norfolk I'd spend training time in the Ocean and Dam Neck bases. I really miss it.
I have a channel only for few videos about some stuff i like. I'm not so strong as you think but i like F14 really much, which is your nickname in DCS? When we'll meet it would be nice to fight, bye!
@@maxsin1972 you know me as angry-farmer or lately as dcs-self-aware-bug. And i know what i say... your probably the best f14 pilot around... at worst top 3 with ssungod and ace ! By the way im italian too !
His maintenance Chief I bet was PIIIISED !!! bringing him a bent bird but I bet he got over it quick given the honor of the squadron is maintained 😉 well played sir.
@@thomaskositzki9424 I think in a F-14 the flaps and slats become jammed in the full downwards position when you manually force them out past a certain airspeed, so what Above Infinity meant was that the crew chief would have had to repair the jammed flaps and slats on the plane when it got back to base.
@@thomaskositzki9424 Over a certain amount of G the aircraft has to be gone through and inspected which means removing panels and stuff. Doing it without reason tends to earn you no favors and potentially discipline action. Plus the damage that can happen to the flaps system on the F-14 when forced down out of envelope. That's why he had to pull the circuit breaker to be able to override the system's self limiters to prevent damage.
From my perspective, OS (operations specialist) when we replaced the A-7 with the F-18 we saw dramatic decrease in combat radius for ground attack mission planning. Then when we tried using f-18 for CAP missions, we were very disappointed in the aircraft’s speed and range because we still had F-14’s to compare them with. I left the IKE in 90 and started shore duty. I flew as an airline pilots in 98 - 2008. My airline had a boat load of Navy pilots and it was during that time the Navy began replacing everything with wings on carriers with F-18’s. It was obvious that fighter pilots Admirals were protecting jobs for fighter pilot positions at a massive reduction in capability. The 18’s replaced the A-6, EA-6, S-3, A-7, F-14 and when that was done, they finally admitted that the Navy was reliant on Air Force tankers. F-18’s launch, get fuel. On way to mission get more fuel, complete mission, get more fuel, on way back to carrier, if all goes right land. If not, tanker up using an f-18 tanker 😂 😂. So we build a bigger F-18..... still far less capable than the ASF-14 we could have built in the early 2000’s! It will be another 10-15 years before the Navy has a real fighter interceptor onboard that will be as capable as the F-14D.
That was one of the biggest concerns I saw as well, and was frequently voiced at the time. A lot of long stick got hacked off with the Baby Hornet replacing the A-7E. The Navy spent $1 billion on the A-12 program to replace the A-6E, only to cancel it. Super Bug was funded to replace the Cat and A-6, while waiting on JSF-C. JSF-C, contrary to popular belief, adds capabilities that neither the F-14D nor A-6F had, brings back the long stick with its very long combat radius, (100nm longer radius than a 2-tank D Cat), with ASW capes the S-3 never had. It's the easiest fighter to bring back to the boat with those manta-like wings, DFLCS integrated with FADEC, and lower approach speed. It also does constant ISR and recon better than any of the legacy systems, as well as EW like a Prowler or Growler, then Airborne Early Warning & Control, with better resolution and TGT discrimination than an E-2D. The SH/F-35C/EA-18G/MQ-25 carrier air wing will be a very capable force mix that changes things from the neutered Baby Hornet/SH/Growler mix.
@@LRRPFco52 I think your right. My concern with the f-35 is two things, cost to purchase and cost to operate Its range, isn’t where we need it. I truly believe we need something better than the f-22 in a Naval version with range closer to the F-111.
@@bret9741 Range like an F-111 from the carrier would be too heavy unless you go subsonic like the S-3 or A-3, which is no longer a fighter. F-35C has more range and better/more sensors with a better data link than Raptor, can carry 2000lb JDAMs internally, which the Raptor can’t. When you pair the MQ-25 aerial refueling drone with F-35C mission profile, the reach goes way out from the boat, and stand-off VLO cruise missiles are on top of that with their range. Unit price has come way down on F-35s, including the C model. There aren’t a lot of C models, so it costs more to make them. Operating costs for naval carrier aircraft will always be a thing until you design and manufacture totally impervious systems to saltwater and have a non-impact based landing system. They’ve shut off any open reports on Super Hornet FMC, MC, and CPFH figures as an example. Baby Hornet was far worse than I thought when I looked at all the rates from the 1980s to 2000. JSF operating costs are being reported with a lot of bias and cherry-picking of data to make operational units look bad by including very early lot LRIP birds, which were the most expensive hands-down. The RAG units, Pax River test aircraft, China Lake, and Fallon birds are all thrown into the total fleet figures to make it look really expensive, without breaking down what those aircraft actually are, when they were made, and what has changed for Lot 10-14 JSF variants.
@@bret9741 The thing that is really exceptional to me is that the F-35C matches the combat radius of the A-7E, while carrying a much heavier payload, and is capable of supersonic speed. Both single engine. Then look at the climb rate of the F-35C.
@@LRRPFco52 my biggest concern for the Navy is (1) Budget... or not enough of one, (2) Leadership being selected based on political correctness (3) China / Russia working together developing a multi pronged attack that overwhelms our ships ability to repel. (I don’t believe we currently have the ability to stop an attack by multiple swarms of missiles, subs etc).
TF30s. Mid compression bypass is a TF30 thing to prevent compressor stalls at certain scenarios (high AoA flight is one of them) at the expense of some thrust. The QIE dev report on the F-14 subforum has more info on it.
another Power hack is to turn off the bleed air ( means no radar either).. But that's only a TF30 trick Doesn't work on the GE110's , nor is it needed on those.
Heard a story about two RAF Phantoms versus two (new in service) USAF F15s in Sardinia. The Phantoms went low with radio silence at 0 feet beneath the F15s who never saw them. The F15s left contrails, and the F4s watched them go passed, then came in on their six and called the kills. Not sure if that was the only F4 win on that exercise, but up there for thinking, down there for dancing.
For all of you out there who play video games pretending to be fighter pilots, take note. Air to air combat isn't about 2 knights dueling on an even field. It's about jumping out from behind a rock and smashing the other guy's head with a rock when he's looking the wrong way. You lie, cheat, and steal and do whatever it takes to win. Guys like "Snort" Snodgrass and "Hoser" Satrapa are who you should be paying attention to.
Proof that AI (artificial intelligence) as we know it now will likely never replace the tactical role of a fighter pilot in combat. An AI will likely think faster and maneuver better than a human, but it cannot cheat. It has it limitations and SOPs programmed in, so by design it can only do what it is told is possible. This pilot is right. Sometimes you just gotta cheat better to win. On paper, his F-14 would be smoked by an F-18. But he dumps fuel to improve his maneuverability. On top of that he uses deception (he adjusts his wings to make it appear that he is moving at a higher speed when in reality he is much slower). To achieve this, he had to execute a prohibited maneuver (full flaps) and tweak his engine to get some extra thrust. By being risky, breaking the rules a bit, and being ingenious, he won an engagement that an AI would probably have predicted as a loss.
@@qiyuxuan9437 even if you couldnt program an AI to cheat, the "safe and legal" limits of a computer are far higher than a pilot when cheating. 14gs sustained makes the pilot leave the cockpit in a bucket. For solid state electronics, it's a Tuesday
BTW, a good F14 pilot can definitely win a dogfight against an average hornet pilot without cheating. In the story it was two good pilots. BTW, there are not that many good pilots and only a handful of great pilots. Most of us were adequate and could accomplish a mission and that is good enough.
@@LtRiot Jesus, really? I drive a Hornet so consider me skeptical: I can burn through 10k pounds in a hurry, but not in anything like 5 minutes even at low, heavy and on burner. If it were that inefficient, I'd never make it anywhere off the boat.
So dumping fuel is allowed for a practice maneuver? Holy shit pilots get away with so fucking much. As a lowly enlisted I'd get discharged for losing a damn wrench
Yeah, I can't believe he would dump fuel just for his ego. Total waste, fraud and abuse just so he can play with "his" toy and stoke his ego. I expected more integrity from him.
There's no such thing as cheating in military aviation. In combat, losers die, so take absolutely every advantage possible, not to merely win, but to absolutely destroy the enemy six ways to Sunday. That's not cheating. That's survival against others who're trying to kill not only you, but whatever and whomever you're defending.
Old age and treachery beat out youth and enthusiasm every time. As for how he won there is valuable intell to be learned from it: he proved the old bird was not to be taken lightly. A costly one time thing where no lives or planes were lost that may have saved others down the line from the experience. Just a thought.
Don't confuse rules with fairness. Something called war crimes, right? To quote Heinlein, "“War is not violence and killing, pure and simple; war is controlled violence, for a purpose."
Snort was fortunate to have a tomcrash that was operational or not broken. Spent most hours on the ground. someone should ask him about those tf-30 engines.....junk
Those "junk" put fear into the hearts of pilots who want to sink your carriers back then, while Chinese and Russian jets just laugh at your puny and oh! so slow Hornets nowadays 😂
@@jennyarriola324 Well the the rooskis and chinese don't have to fear anything now. they have a friend in the White House. btw, congrats on the transition.
Weird considering Russia and Ukraine aren't compadres and Trump is the only one with Russian ties.. Not to mention his clothing line is manufacturered in China.
@@breckfoster767even weirder that you believed in that russian hoax. btw my comment meant ccp and putin have hidenbiden as their personal puppet. C'mon man...CornPop gonna beat your arse...
