Wes Snyder

@RSE_VB @TexSandlin You got it ! The whole experience in words! I was imagining it as I was reading it. Wow what I would have give to do that but it had to be the Tomcat . What a great experience and memory for you and now nothing comes close to it. Thank you both for your service 🇺🇸🫡

#TomcatTails Number 76 #TomcatTuesday "Transcendence." (I started this post as a quote tweet of @TexSandlin's post below. I think I'll make it my #TomcatTail for this #TomcatTuesday.) Sitting at the pointy end of an F-14 Tomcat under tension in full glorious grunt for the 3-7 seconds it took for the "button dude" to push the button was an otherworldly experience. It was similar to what's known as a "limnal space", a physical or metaphorical "in-between" zone. You weren't flying, but you weren't not flying. It seemed to simultaneously last forever and for a millisecond. Time stopped and accelerated at the same time. The roar of the engines combined with the intense vibration of two TF-30s spinning at 15,000 RPM right behind you creating a sound/feeling you could hear, feel, taste, smell....all senses fully immersed. And the tension between that thrust striving to push you forward and the catapult shuttle pulling the launch bar against the holdback fitting, isn't something you should be able to feel, but you could. You could feel it in your heart, soul, and mind as a palpable and colossal compression of energy in one place and time, ready to be freed. And I think everyone around the jet, Cat Officer and crew, Troubleshooters, and Maintainers felt it too. We were all in the presence of a massively powerful chained beast. Standing near, kneeling right next to, or sitting in 35 tons of Grumman Iron Works pumping out 34,000 pounds of thrust. Every human fortunate enough to have done this can remember it like it was 5 minutes ago: Sound so loud that the term "hearing" has no meaning. Vibration so profound that every cell in your body resonates in harmony with the frequency of "Tomcat." The sensation of heat completely surrounding you, bathing you from every direction, inescapable. And the light. A wavelength of light reserved just for this moment. Painful to the eye but you can't look away. No one can. Bewitching. Surreal. And then. Release. The beast is unchained. The button is pushed, the Tomcat clunks down a bit as the shuttle and two screaming TF-30 motors in full afterburner join forces to accelerate the fiery monster forward. From zero to 165 mph in 300 feet. About 1.8 seconds. From the cockpit, a jolt and then the acceleration. Forcing you back hard. Really hard. Uncontrollable. Undeniable. Immutable. Along for the ride. No control. And then the wheels bump off the deck edge and you return to the land of the living. You're in control now. You've regained your agency where there was none. Time to get to work. And on the deck, the fiery beast accelerates away from the people there, increasing the heat 2 fold.....exhaust buffeting bodies like a tornado. Relentless, violent, and then gone. Retract the shuttle, lower the JBD, taxi the next jet forward. And do it again. And again. And again. Heaven and Hell in the same place.

@BLackgold_5 Hellfire

How many targets do you think this aircraft could engage in a single sortie? What type of weapon is this?

@TOMCATCO71 Happy birthday old man……lol

Well.. I finally hit 55. Today's my Bday and to be honest I didn't think I'd make it to 23 if that..but here I am..Lotsa memories, lessons and a few healed bones and scars and stuff but..not so bad! Feel free to wish me a Happy birthday..sat alone all day so wtf. Appreciate y'all

@kadonkey Some Vietnam birds please

A USAF F-4E Phantom II assigned to the 3TFW 27SEP82 (usaf)

@RyukyuanRipper Vietnam planes please? 🙏🏻

One of the earlier, piston-engine Blue Angels aircraft the Bearcat.

@Ruby_331 I had a wagon

Anyone who has heard of it??

@RyukyuanRipper Please do Vietnam war aircraft 😊

Continuing this trend with the Flankers. This time from China. Reposting because of a damn typo. The J-11BG, it is a 4.5 generation twin-engine fighter of the People's Liberation Army Air Force and Navy. Copied from the Su-27SK. #SukhoiSaturday

@violetpilot1 More of these Fleet air Arm please 🙏🏻

UK2 JT383 Vought Corsair MkII 1944-10 ex USN 56166 F4U-1A

@F14TomcatTurkey Yes, Yes we did..

This was 6 months before the F-14 Tomcat was removed from service and sent to the scrap bin. Did we really shred our inventory of amazing Naval fighters because we were afraid Iran would smuggle parts?

@Gabriele_Corno Drake

This is the story Drake's handler told in a flight. A woman glanced at my dog and said he looked "dangerous." She even questioned why a German Shepherd like him should be allowed on a plane at all. Let me introduce you to Drake. The same dog she felt uneasy about spent six years working with Marine Special Operations. Drake is a highly trained Multi-Purpose Canine. While most people instinctively move away from danger, his role has always been to run directly toward it. ®¿ Here's what he's done: He has tracked high-value targets during critical missions. He has located hidden explosives before they could harm anyone. He was shot twice while protecting the team he served with. That scar on his shoulder? It came from shrapnel during an IED blast in Helmand Province. Even while injured and bleeding, Drake kept going and identified four more explosive devices nearby, helping keep his team safe. And that slight limp you noticed? It's from taking multiple rounds during an ambush while shielding his handler. Because of him, a young Marine made it home alive to his child. Drake has been awarded a Navy Commendation Medal and a Purple Heart. He's also credited with helping save over forty lives. And here's the part that truly matters — he has never bitten a single person. The only things he's ever gone after were threats to the people he was trained to protect. So no, I won't be moving my seat. But if you'd like, you're more than welcome to thank him for his service. If Drake's story changed the way you see him... Comment "Drake" below. I'd love to show you what Drake is like now - the calm, loyal side of him, and the way he still quietly watches over everyone around him.

@Pj27271111 Sorry to see you go I enjoyed your content come over to tumblr

@RyukyuanRipper Do more Vietnam Aircraft please 🙏🏻

Here's an F-8E Crusader from the mid to late 1960s. Unknown where they're flying above. Called "The Last of the Gunfighters."

@RSE_VB @TomcatJunkie Never saw anything like that, thought at first it was patches that would have cost$$$

Latest attic find amongst all my service “debris” as my wife calls it. No. It’s not for sale, @TomcatJunkie!

@RSE_VB @TomcatJunkie What’s that book you’re thumbing through?

@JamesJo56909490 I did

🖐😁👍

@RealitySalesman 👍

Dogs for life! 🫡

@oStLxy0Lab8cuUz Wow nicely done 👍

トランペッター32分の1F100フーパーセイバーもう少しで完成。 色々な銀を試してみました。

@Pj27271111 Vf-213 black lions

@Pj27271111 This is Vf-213 black lions….