Song in the Key of Tomcat

TOP GUN! JUST SAY THE WORDS AND KENNY Loggins instantly slams a mental soundtrack into your head, and if "Danger Zone" doesn't give you goose bumps, you haven't seen the movie. And if you haven't seen the movie "Top Gun," you've missed what is possibly the best opening 60 seconds in movie history.

Loggins pumps us up as we watch the ritualistic deck dance of crews readying Tomcats for a dawn launch. Music fades, and we close in on the unmistakable outline of an F-14 and are introduced to the film's lead character-the Tomcat-with "Maverick" (Tom Cruise) and "Goose" (Anthony Edwards) playing supporting roles. Within weeks of its opening in 1986, the world of the fighter pilot, as seen by the public, was changed forever.

In this issue, Ted Carlson's article, "Top Gun Icon Retires," takes us on a bittersweet trip to the Navy's Top Gun school, where he chronicles the last Tomcat class to graduate from that legendary institution. The Tomcat is destined to be removed from inventory over the next few years, so the Navy feels it's no longer necessary to train pilots to fight in what is arguably still one of the world's most versatile fighters.

Ignoring the controversies, the politics and the opinions, the fact remains that when the Tomcat is no longer around, two nearly unbelievable events will have transpired: for the first time in nearly 70 years, American carriers will no longer have a Grummani fighter on deck. Also, U.S. forces, Navy and otherwise, will no longer have a "big" fighter that can carry an immense lethal load over long distances largely unassisted.

Afghanistan proved that aircraft such as the Tomcat are necessary for the U.S. to navigate its way around neighboring countries that won't provide it access to their airbases or airspace. Afghanistan has also shown us that inserting modern technol- ogy into tribal warfare centuries old isn't always the answer. In "Afghan Frontier," Geoffrey Morley-Mower proved that, when he flew combat patrols over Afghanistan a few years before the Tomcats did-60 years before, to be exact.

If you read between the lines of Morley-Mower's misadventures in RAF biplanes in exactly the same areas as where Tomcats recently operated, you'll realize that the problems he and the British faced in the late 1930s are mirrored in our own problems today.

Jim Farmer's "Over the YaIu" bridges the gap between wars old and new by giving us an unexpected glimpse into the politics of becoming an ace during the Korean War, and Tom Cleaver takes us along for lowlevel B-25 raids in the Pacific in "Raid on Rabaul." To round things out, Jan Tegler's "Triumphant Triumvirate" provides insight into fighter operations, as he shares his conversations with some of WW II's legendary aces.

Still, when you think "jet fighter," it's hard to get "Danger Zone," "Maverick" and the F-14 out of your mind. In fact, it seems inconceivable that the F-14's reign is drawing to a close. Unfortunately, all songs eventually end-even the one that's played in the key of Tomcat.

-Budd Davisson, Editor-in-Chief

Copyright Air Age Publishing Aug 2004
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