After a convoluted 15 year journey, the F-14A Tomcat went to sea for the first time in September 1974. This video goes deep into the Cold War Tomcat, one of my favourite fighters. It is both a fascinating and complex weapon system.

Primary sources:

In my view, the best book on the Tomcat is David Baker's "Grumman F-14 Tomcat", published by Crowood Press. Sadly it is out of print and a little on the pricey side.

Probably the best single presentation on the Tomcat is this incredible hour-long video. A must-watch:    • F-14 Design Evolution  

"Grumman F-14 Tomcat: Leading US Navy Fleet Fighter" by Dennis R Jenkins is an excellent but rather slimmer volume that contains some nice schematics

"Iranian F-14 Tomcats In Combat" by Tom Cooper and Farzad Bishop is a great piece of research and a fascinating insight into the most active combat user of the Tomcat

"F-14A & B Tomcat In Detail And Scale" is typically light on narrative but excellent for detailed shots of various components

I used the preliminary NATOPS manual for the F-14A for some of the schematics