Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series
HA5230Grumman F-14A "Queen of Spades" 162689, VF-41 "Black Aces", Operation Desert Storm, June 1991
General Background
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a twin-engine, variable sweep wings capable of supersonic flight. The aircraft is crewed by a Pilot and a Radar Intercept Officer who share the tasks of navigation, target acquisition, ECM and weapons usage. The Tomcat was operated by the United States Navy and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force only. The name “Tomcat” is said to come from the call-sign used by Vice Admiral Thomas Connolly which conformed to the USN tradition of giving Grumman aircraft feline names.
The Aircraft
F-14A BuNo 162689 was built in 1986 and in 1988 it was transferred to VF-41 “Black Aces” and named “Queen of Spades” on the USS Theodore Roosevelt as 101 AJ. On December 28, 1990 they deployed to the Persian Gulf and remained there until June 1991. During “Operation Desert Storm” VF-41 led the first strike against Iraqi forces and locations. By the end of their mission VF-41 had flown 1,500 combat hours and completed 100% of scheduled operations. Next VF-41 sailed to the Turkish Mediterranean coast to support Kurdish refugees.
