@ Simi Valley, CA
September 2022
Standing guard at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is this loaded F-14 Tomcat. Developed for the U.S. Navy after the collapse of the F-111B project, the Tomcat would be the first of the Teen Series fighters, designed incorporating Vietnam air combat experience. First flown in 1970, these movie-star aircraft served in the US Navy until retirement in 2006.
During the Reagan administration there would be two combat incidents involving F-14s. In August 1981 two F-14s from the VF-41 “Black Aces” flying off the USS Nimitz shot down two Libyan Su-22 “Fitters” over the Gulf of Sidra. In January 1989 two F-14s from the VF-32 “Swordsmen” shot down two Libyan MiG-23 “Floggers.” To honor these events in the Reagan Presidency, the Reagan Presidential Library obtained an F-14 for display on the library grounds. Since the actual aircraft involved in the shoot downs were not available, the F-14 displayed at the Library was painted to represent one of the F-14s (160403) flown during the 1981 event. The actual Tomcat displayed is 162592. With over 700 produced, an estimated 26 are still in service with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force. Fuji X-E2s w/18-135 mm.