02123 Hasegawa 1/72 F14A Tomcat Miss Molly Limited Edition

Additional Information

the History of the F-14 begins in 1968, when the Pentagon initiated a program of carrier-based fighter-interceptor VFX (Variable geometry Fighter Experimental), which was attended by all major U.S. aircraft manufacturers.

Grumman and McDonnell Douglas reached The final of the competition. Fighter MD with a fixed wing was good, however, the requirements of the Ministry of defense for the simultaneous achievement of high speeds and high maneuverability (at the end of the Vietnam war) for conventional aircraft of the time were vzaimootnoshenii. The only solution was the variable sweep wing, which was proposed in the brainchild of Grumman – and it won. In 1969, the company received a contract to create 3 prototypes.
Grumman initially had an advantage in this contract. The engineers had extensive experience with the US Navy, in addition, they developed a marine version of the F-111 with variable sweep wing. Even the name of the aircraft combines the name of the then naval commander Tom Connolly and the passion of the people and Grumman to give cat names to their aircraft: in the end, the F-14 was named Tom's Cat or Tomcat.
the Appearance of the aircraft was "frozen" in 1969 year. A year later, the first prototype took off, and by the summer of 1972, the aircraft completed a series of tests on aircraft carriers. In the autumn of the same year, Grumman began serial deliveries of fighter aircraft to the Navy.