Grumman F-14A Tomcat – VF-33 Starfighters, US Navy, USS America, 1992

Hobby Master 1/72 scale HA5231: Grumman F-14A Tomcat AB204 of VF-33 Starfighters, US Navy, USS America, 1992. Production run of only 400 models.

Length 10.25 inches Wingspan 10.75 inches

Grumman F-14A 160395 was delivered to the USN on May 17, 1977 and later that month assigned to VF-32 “Swordsmen” as AC-203. The aircraft later went to VF-41 “Black Aces” as AJ-114 and then transferred to VF-84 “Jolly Rogers”. VF-33 “Starfighters” took possession of 160395 AB-204 in 1990 and saw action in ODS. In October 1993 VF-33 was disestablished and the next squadrons to possess 160395 were 102, 142 before being sent to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Florida who later loaned the aircraft to Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Experience, Michigan as VF-84 AJ-200.

Designed to carry the formidable long range AIM-54 Phoenix missile, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was first flown on December 21st, 1970. Made famous by the Hollywood film Top Gun, the F-14 replaced the F-4 Phantom II as the US Navy’s primary maritime air superiority fighter. Its design includes a variable geometry wing that can sweep back for high speed supersonic intercepts and forward for improved positioning in air to air dogfights. Nicknamed “Bombcat,” the F-14 spent much of its late career in an air-to-ground role, carrying the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) system.