Close Pass by F14

[Hammer]

It's not risky at all with practice…it was my opening pass to a Tomcat tactical demonstration at sea. I started from the starboard rear quarter of the ship, at or slightly below flight deck level. Airspeed was at about 250 knots with the wings swept forward. I selected afterburner at about 1/2 mile behind and the aircraft accelerated to about 325-330 knots. As I approached the ship, I rolled into an 85 degree angle of bank and did a 2-3 g turn, finishing about 10- 20 degrees off of the ship's axis. It was a very dramatic and, in my opinion, a very cool way to start a carrier demo. The photo was taken by an Aviation Boson's Mate who worked the flight deck on the USS America. Just as an aside...the individual with his arms behind his back is Admiral Jay Johnson, the immediate past Chief of Naval Operations for the Navy."

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...