05-11-2010, 09:56 PM
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(05-11-2010, 01:22 PM)ralgith Wrote: The Tomcat is such a great plane...
I think it holds the record as the longest serving fighter aircraft in the US Military...
Just as I'm pretty sure the A-6 Intruder holds the record for the longest serving Attack aircraft too. Not sure if its Electronic Warfare configuration (The Prowler) or its Aerial Refueling configuration are still in use or not, but I think so... We don't use it as a attack craft (what they call fighter sized Navy Bombers these days) anymore, since we use the F/A-18 Hornet and SuperHornet in that role now. But yeah...
Both the F-14 and A-6 are great aircraft and very long serving regardless
While, I do have to agree that the Tomcat is a great plane, the F-15 will take the title of longest serving fighter in about 2 years, with no end in sight. Why they decomissioned the Tomcat, I'll never know. I loved working on this jet, be it humping chains up and down the flight deck as a line rat, to being the final yea or nay flight deck trouble shooter, to simply working on her electronics. Sucks that 'Anytime Baby' is now 'Bye Bye Baby'!
Now, the A-6 was retired in 97' if you are including the EA-6B, you might be right about longest serving, but the A-6 itself had a rather short history with the Navy.