Image via U.S. Navy

(Image in public domain)

What ever would Maverick say about this? An F-14 Tomcat like the one he flew in Top Gun making its final journey – by road! Once it was roaring off aircraft carriers and thundering through the valleys of the Nevada Test Range. Now it’s holding up traffic, no longer feeling “the need for speed”.

Images via U.S. Navy

(Image 1 and 2 in public domain)

This early F-14A – the same model used in the 1980s blockbuster – was last operated by the “Checkmates” of VF-211. In August 2004, it was towed from San Angelo Airport in Texas to nearby Goodfellow Air Force Base. Top Gun film makers paid $75,000 an hour to cover the operating costs of each Tomcat. Less than two decades later, the entire F-14 was bought for just $20,000 – cheaper than a new Volvo. Admittedly it won’t take you far. Its engines, weapons systems and avionics have been removed, making it little more than a shell, but it still looks the part!

Image via U.S. Navy

(Image in public domain)

Goodfellow Air Force Base bought the stripped-out Tomcat as a training prop for its Fire Training Academy. This could be an ominous sign, as the words “aircraft” and “fire training” in the same sentence usually spell trouble. But it’s an impressive site travelling down the freeway, clearing bridges by inches. As the first F-14A to be decommissioned, it’s somehow odd that this most capable of Navy fighters is now an engineless shell, trailing cars in its wake with a top speed – once supersonic – now no faster than its tow truck. It’s a far cry from the over-confident duelling days of Maverick and Iceman.

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