Century Wings 1:72 Wings of Heroes 782983
Grumman F-14A Tomcat Diecast Model
USN VF-41 Black Aces, AJ107 "Fast Eagle 107", USS Nimitz, Gulf of Sidra, August 19th 1981
1:72 Scale Length 10.25" Width 10.75"
Grumman F-14A Tomcat
In August of 1981, President Ronald Reagan deployed a large naval force to conduct "Freedom of Navigation" operations off the coast of Libya. Libya responded by deploying fighter-bombers and interceptors, resulting in a tense standoff that peaked when two VF-41 F-14A Tomcats from the USS Nimitzâ"Fast Eagle 102" and "Fast Eagle 107"âwere ordered to intercept a pair of Libyan Su-22 Fitters. One of the Su-22s fired upon the F-14s and missed, and when the Su-22s tried to escape the Tomcats returned fire. Fast Eagle 102 shot down the first Su-22 and 107 shot down the second. The incident was over quickly, but history repeated itself in 1989 when two F-14s shot down a pair of MiG-23s in the same region.
US Navy Fighter Squadron 41 (VF-41) Black Aces was commissioned on June 1st, 1945 flying the F4U Corsair. The squadron transitioned through the F2H Banshee, F3H Demon and F-4 Phantom II before upgrading to the F-14 Tomcat in 1976. The Black Aces deployed several times on the USS Nimitz, often sharing the deck with F-14s from VF-84 Jolly Rogers. It was during one of these cruises, on August 19th, 1981, that Black Aces Tomcats shot-down two Libyan Su-22 Fitters over the Gulf of Sidra. This was the first ever combat incident involving US Tomcats. The squadron's final cruise with the F-14 took place in 2001 aboard the USS Enterprise. Upon return, VF-41 transitioned to the F/A-18F Super Hornet.
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