Close Pass by F14

[Ty'97Cobra]

Originally posted by Hammer
Ty97...

Unless you were the Tomcat driver who supposedly did this... I wouldn't take one ounce of truth from the quote above.

I served with VF-103 on the USS Saratoga for 2 cruises in the Med and during Desert Storm as an avionics tech (AT).
I am also licensed private pilot.

I can tell you without a doubt that the image is a photoshop job.

First of all, there's no way in hell the air boss is going to let a bird go that slow and that low right next to the boat doing a high angle of bank turn.... even during an acrobatic display....

First of all, look at the wings... they are fully swept forward.... which means the aircraft's airspeed is low (for a tomcat at least)....

Look at the right wing... the navigation light at the end of the wing cannot be seen because it is below the line of sight of the deck!!

For those of you who are not aware of general flight dynamics...
Throw in speeds 300 knots or slower and high angle of bank turn and you get a loss in altitude... Considering the tip of the wing is already below the deck, the next second of footage would be of the Tomcat cartwheeling taking out about a hundred flight deck crew.

If this photo was real... it would have meant the death of sailors and a crippled ship. In the real Navy, flight Ops are performed with only ONE thing in mind.... SAFETY.

Even during a demo.... an aircraft will not be allowed to perform unsafe maneuvers that close to the ship.

Unless someone can barf up a naval officer... I call BS...

I don't know if it is chopped or not, I wasn't there. I've gotten mixed answers from different people. Got it in an email. Best way to find out if it is a photochop or urban legend is to put it on the net.

Anyway, if it is a photochop, it is a good one!