The F14 Tomcat - Air Superiority

F14 is a term that at one time caused enemy aircraft to turn and run when they heard it was airborne. The F14 Tomcat was the premier air-to-air fighter flown by the United States Navy for over two decades. The F14 had the ability to launch the AIM-54 Phoenix missile from vast distances then turn and leave as the missile homed in on its target. It could also fire the shorter range radar-guided Sparrow as well as the heat-seeking Sidewinder missile.

I flew the F14 for ten years and learned how to land on an aircraft carrier, shoot missiles, and drop bombs. I experienced the thrill of flying twice the speed of sound in an F14 as well as the tragedy of watching friends crash, and sometimes die. It was experiences such as these which eventually led me to write West of the Rock where I describe just what it is like to live the life of a Navy fighter pilot flying an F14.

This book gives a rare, illuminating look into the elite world of Navy pilots and the F14.  In a series of powerful and often harrowing narratives, I present their life trajectories, from looking up in awe at the power and glory of warplanes, facing the ordeals of even “routine” landings at night on a pitching carrier deck, interacting with the comparatively unremarkable world of civilians, and reaching the point they no longer have the edge needed to be fighter pilots.

There was always so much more to flying an F14 than just the flying itself. This book gives the rest of the story. The stories they never want you talk about and what it was like living the life of an F14 pilot. It is a story only a former F14 pilot can tell.

Want to know more about the life of an F14 pilot? Get your copy of West of the Rock today!