Since I hadn’t been flying in a while I thought it was time to try out carrier ops in the F-14 Tomcat.
So, with TOPGUN Soundtrack playing on the stereo I fired up DCS, loaded the vUSN F-14, and went flying! I love the Tomcat in DCS, though it uses the F-15C Panel, it is still pretty ‘real’ feeling.
‘He’s going ballistic….’ 
Call the Ball 
Safely on Deck 
My Wingman successfully arrests
The Catapult shot was pretty ‘exciting’ with the Tomcat dropping off the bow of the ship and having to be quite literally ‘nursed’ up to flying speed. Then it was up to altitude for some maneuvers before descending to low level for some exciting tactical flying.
Finally it was time to get down to what I was meant to be doing; CARQUAL or ‘Carrier Qualification’. First couple of approaches were with the hook up, basically touch’n’goes on the deck, then with the hook dangling I made my first arrested landing in a Tomcat since I flew “Fleet Defender” on my 486!
I’ve always enjoyed Naval Aviation, and flying the Tomcat is pretty special. I suspect I will be flying it more in the future!
For more screenshots of tonight’s mission visit the Screenshot Gallery