![]() ![]() Sadly, Miller died on 30 June 1972 when its Tomcat crashed into Chesapeake Bay during preparation for an air display with the tenth FSD F-14 (BuNo 157989), while Smyth passed away this year.īoth Smyth and Miller contributed in bringing the last in a long tradition of Grumman Cats to life. The breakdown was caused by a fatigue failure of both titanium main hydraulic lines due to a coincidence of pump resonance and a loose connector: ironically, the F-14’s hydraulic system was fixed by changing from titanium to stainless steel hydraulic lines only.Īs you can see from footage (around 03:20 min), the crew ejected only few meters above the trees but, luckily, they suffered only minor injuries. However this last limited control system showed signs of failing as well, the pilot lost control all over the aircraft and the crew was forced to eject. Why dont other fighter jets use a flat piece of optical glass in the front of the cockpit canopy like the oval window in the F-14 Tomcat All related (32). While they were preparing to land, the secondary hydraulic system also failed, due to the use of the emergency nitrogen bottle to lower the landing gear: once it failed, the crew tried to rely on the Combat Survival System which had to supply the power to the rudders and tailerons only. Browse our comprehensive image library to see photos of Grumman F-14 Tomcat aviation and aircraft. It was during this flight that a chase plane noted that the Tomcat was leaving a trail of smoke: shortly thereafter the F-14 experienced a primary hydraulic system failure forcing Miller to head immediately back to base. Here’s how we described that second sortie in a previous article we published here at The Aviationist: This aircraft was ultimately accepted as the F-14 Tomcat, and the new fighter incorporated a number of advanced features. The second flight is quite famous in the story of the Tomcat, as the aircraft crashed due to hydraulic failure: a mishap that was caught on camera by a chase plane. DESCRIPTION: Following the cancellation of the F-111B, Grummans proposal for a new long-range air superiority fighter was accepted by the US Navy. 30 with the two test pilots swapping their seats: Miller sat in the front cockpit and Smyth in the back. The F-14 BuNo 157980 took off for the second test flight on Dec. The aircraft’s role evolved during the years and the F-14 also carried out the bomber mission in a variant also referred to as “Bombcat”. One of the major reasons for the F-14s ability in all missions was. An F-14 with bomb markings earned during Operation Desert Fox in 1999, aboard USS Enterprise. The cockpit had 360 degrees of visibility which had not been experienced in a fighter before. ![]()
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