Tomcat Fury

A Combat History of the F-14

By: Mike Guardia

Narrated by: Johnny Heller

From the Gulf of Sidra to the skies over Afghanistan, Tomcat Fury is the complete combat history of the F-14 Tomcat, as told by the pilots who flew it.

For more than three decades, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the US Navy’s premier carrier-based, multirole fighter jet. From its harrowing combat missions over Libya to its appearance on the silver screen in movies like Top Gun and Executive Decision, the F-14 has become an icon of American air power.

Now, for the first time in a single volume, Tomcat Fury explores the illustrious combat history of the F-14, from the Gulf of Sidra to the Iran-Iraq War to the skies over Afghanistan in the Global War on Terror.

©2020 Mike Guardia and Johnny Heller (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

I read this when it came out, also good as an audio.

I was surprised to see this was made into an audiobook as I have the paperback on my shelf. Heller’s voice suits this and the book itself is a great combination of development considerations, variants, operational histories, and accounts. I would be really excited to see Guardia’s book on F-15s put on Audible as I do not have that one in paperback and they are a tad on the expensive side. Nevertheless the scope of the book is covered well and I am surprised how well it translated to audio. A lot of that is helped by Hellers tone and cadence. It makes the book flow well. This makes it more accessible then reading it. I feel like casual “Top Gun” lovers would enjoy listening to this, while only die hards would be willing to slog through it on paper.

not the most comprehensive history, but not bad

The author certainly understands the subject matter, but not the excitement that goes along with the Tomcat. The book really fails to encapsulate the cultural significance of the vaunted F-14 but goes very hard on the paint for the historical and operational facts about the plane.

The narration is good, with only a few small errors in nomenclature, but certainly competent.

F-14 Tomcat

I like how this explains why the us tomcat was never challenged really Iran did it for us they showed how lethal a tomcat could be even with all its problems it still dominated now can you imagine our Tomcat that received engine avionics upgrade and the last versions of the Tomcats were D known as super tomcat it's too bad they never saw their true potential

Pretty Okay

It is written a little too flowery and sounds like a used car salesman. "[smacks canopy] This baby can carry so much ordnance!"

You don’t like Tomcats if you don’t have this.

This was a great listen, the epilogue sort of choked me up a little. It’s hard to really think about that a plane that you’ve never flown could have such a large impact on you. The Tomcat is Iconic and not just because of Top Gun, but because of everything talked about in this book. New fighters are amazing with their tech and capabilities. But I think they would be hard pressed to have the same iconic recognition as the Tomcat. This book really encapsulates the importance to me as a Naval aviation fan. Thanks so much for this book.