Meet Grant Begley, Former F-14 Top Gun Pilot Who Dodged An Apollo Size Missile Like A Boss

Even if the F-14 is already retired, the memories it has left us with are numerous. Tomcat is only used by the Iran Air Force nowadays, but we can still talk about the great days it had.

Capt. Grant Begley is a former Navy Top Gun pilot with thousand of fighter flight hours. Now for those who do not know, Top Gun teaches fighter and strike tactics and techniques to selected naval aviators. Later these aviators return to their operating unit as surrogate instructors.

The F-14 Tomcat in its 32 years of service served superbly. According to Capt. Begley more than the ability or the number of aircraft It shot down, it prevented many conflicts. The F-14 has been in combat in the Gulf area twice in its 32 years of service. Throughout its service period, it was a superb aircraft in protecting aviators as well as carrier battle groups.

In the following video Capt. Begley explains a particular instance where he could dodge a deadly missile, with the help of F-14’s amazing technology.

During this particular instance Capt. Begley was flying above neighboring country and they did not appreciate the F-14 presence in their airspace. With the help of avionics and computers in F-14, Begley found out that not only they were being monitored but also his aircraft was picked as one of their targets. When he looked in the direction of threat with the help of the Tomcat’s systems, he could see an Apollo size missile has been launched towards him.

This particular missile’s flight path is designed in a way, that it first fly to an altitude much higher than the target and then come down towards the target. The F-14 with its great engines, high airspeed, and with its defensive systems, the pilot could dive down, take evasive measures and fly away from the threat.

The F-14 had one of the world’s most powerful radars by the time and it performed magnificently to save the pilot’s life and also the aircraft itself.