Welcome to my quest to see as many F-14s as possible. I blame my sister for this, who really should have known better.
See my introductory post for more.
In Summary
Wikipedia lists 83 F-14s on display. It's worth noting that this list does not claim to be exhaustive. I'm also not seeing a specific citation for the source of the list.
Their fleet of four prototype SR-72s has been reduced to a fleet of three and Simon is so damn tired of answering questions about it. The NTSB Inspector-In-Charge finally flew back to DC after weeks of grilling them and if Simon never sees IIC Dr Robert McMahon again, it will be too soon.
He and the rest of the project team all clink their glasses and bottles together, half celebrating their collective parole from the inside of interrogation rooms, half mourning their beautiful bird who rapidly disassembled at 80,000 feet over southern Idaho.
“Anybody heard from Chief Coleman since shit hit the fan?” Jack asks, setting his beer bottle down on the bartop.
Simon hasn’t. A Jayhawk landed on the pad a few hours after SAR picked up Captain Mitchell, and Captain Mitchell and Chief Coleman both climbed inside. Where they went, Simon has absolutely no idea and he hasn’t heard from either of them since.
“Scuttlebutt says Cain sent Captain Mitchell and Chief Coleman directly to CNAF so he could deal with them personally. And I’ve heard Simpson’s a real hard-ass,” Rob chimes in.
“I have a few friends at Point Loma, and I heard COMPACFLT flew all the way out from Pearl Harbor to handle it himself.”
God, what a disaster. “I hope Chief Coleman doesn’t get slammed too hard for it. He told Captain Mitchell not to push it past the test point,” Simon says. Chief Coleman is damn good at his job and a great guy to work with.
There’s a moment of stilted silence before Jack says, “Maverick shouldn’t have pushed it that far, but, god-damn, was that a beautiful thing to see. I mean, I needed a cigarette just watching the numbers tick to double digits.”
That honestly sounds like the best idea Simon’s heard all week and he pats his pockets for his Marlboros. He pulls out the pack and shakes it in his hand, offering as he stands from the table and Jack’s the only one who follows him out.
It's been... how long since I said I'd make a post for this? (12 days, but who's counting.) But here you are, part 2 of 3:
Summary:
Maverick invites Iceman out to dinner. Afterwards, they go for the promised ride. Maverick grades out well in the end.
Read on AO3.
Series.
Listen, Maverick is just out there trying his best (he is only kind of succeeding). Ice is working for everything he gets and wondering why at the exact same time.
Thoughts? Don't hesitate to leave a comment.
I'm currently working on the third and final part. You can probably guess what's coming next, but it's the journey, not the destination, right?
Side note: I am having thoughts about Slider, long suffering best friend, observing this and trying to knock some sense into Ice. Will I write it? Not sure. But there are thoughts.
I have been very busy visiting airplanes, but I've also been writing again! And I actually posted this on AO3 over a week ago and completely forgot about tumblr...
Summary:
After Maverick is torn down by Charlie in class, he runs into Iceman, who has something to say about it, too.
Read on AO3.
This was originally conceived of back in April, first as a short piece with the premise that Ice follows Maverick after the scene in the classroom instead of Charlie, and then I developed it into a three part story, which I've organized as a series.
I believe the first part stands alone pretty well. The second part is already posted, too, if you click through the series on AO3, but I will make a separate post about that later.
Welcome to Project Tomcat, my quest to see as many of the remaining F-14s on display as possible. For an overview of the insanity project and links to all of the summaries, please see the master post.
Location: New Jersey Air Victory Museum, Lumberton, NJ
Date Visited: 3/14/2026
Website: https://njavm.org/
Why Is It Here?
Let me be honest, this place is more like somebody's intense hobby than a traditional museum. As near as I can figure, they asked the National Naval Aviation Museum what planes they had lying around, and this was the result.
What's Special About It?
The plane -- and several other of the planes in this museum -- has a ladder that you can climb up and see into the cockpit. The ejection seats have been removed, but most of the controls are intact. You can also get up close to it and see it from most angles, and they have an engine on display.
There's also a surprisingly detailed account of the history of the specific aircraft on display, as well as displays on the ejection seats.
What Else Is There To See?
This is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The museum itself has an extensive collection of model airplanes as well as displays on engines and military uniforms in history.
What Should You Know Before Going?
This might be like someone's garage if they happened to collect military jets, and the displays might look like they were printed off the internet in the late 90s, but they are actually very informative if you care to read.
I don't specifically recall if this place was climate controlled, but I don't believe so.
Fic: Do You Understand? (We Will Never Be The Same Again)
What is this? Some writing instead of another post about planes? Indeed, it is.
Someone put the idea of Carole cutting off Maverick after Goose's death in front of me, and my brain ran with it. Then somehow it also became IceMav?
Summary:
Iceman, Bradley, and Maverick in a universe where Carole cuts Maverick off after the accident that kills Goose, and the ripples that affect their lives.
Read on AO3.
And if you're interested in plane nonsense, I have plenty of that. I was going to go to an airplane museum today, but I was up late finishing this and then an entire hour disappeared from my clock...
Project Tomcat: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Welcome to Project Tomcat, my quest to see as many of the remaining F-14s on display as possible. For an overview of the insanity project and links to all of the summaries, please see the master post.
Location: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, VA
What's Special About It?
They say you never forget your first...
Joking aside, you can see this from most angles, though not from extremely close up in all cases. I didn't personally go up on the catwalk, but I think there is a view from above.
This specific aircraft is credited with an air-to-air kill of a MiG in the Gulf of Sidra incident in 1989.
What Else Is There To See?
Many, many airplanes. And space planes! Space ships? Fun fact, when I was telling my sister about my visit, she told me that space ships weren't real, like I was earnestly describing getting taken up in a UFO and not seeing the USS Discovery, an actual space shuttle that has been in actual space (if you believe in that sort of thing, I guess).
What Should You Know Before Going?
If you should, like me, happen to go on the day after a government shutdown ends and nobody is aware that the museum is open again, there will likely not be any crowds. I cannot vouch for any other time.
Welcome to Project Tomcat, my quest to see as many of the remaining F-14s on display as possible. For an overview of the insanity project and links to all of the summaries, please see the master post.
Location: NAS Wildwood Aviation Museum, Cape May, NJ
Date Visited: 12/30/2025
Website: https://usnasw.org/
Why Is It Here?
Other than the fact that this museum is Navy-centric, and all aviation museums seem to understand what their audience is, no clear reason.
What's Special About It?
The plane is not roped off. You can get up close and walk all the way around it, under it, and even see it from above from an observation point.
What Else Is There To See?
This is a fairly small museum, but it does allow you the opportunity to get into the cockpit of several of the aircraft. You can also learn about the history of the dive bomber squads that trained there during World War II.
They also have an A-4 Skyhawk in Blue Angels livery and an F-5E Tiger II, which are the two aggressors flown in Top Gun.
In the area, should you choose to visit during a time which is not the dead of winter, is the Cape May Zoo, and also Cape May itself.
What Should You Know Before Going?
The hanger is indoors, but not climate controlled, so if you should choose to visit when it is cold out, wear appropriate outerwear. They also don't serve food during the winter.
Welcome to Project Tomcat, my quest to see as many of the remaining F-14s on display as possible. For an overview of the insanity project and links to all of the summaries, please see the master post.
Location: USS Intrepid Museum, New York, NY
Date Visited: 3/1/2026 and 3/25/2026
Website: https://intrepidmuseum.org/
Why Is It Here?
I couldn't say. The F-14 had its first carrier deployment the same year the USS Intrepid was decommissioned (1974). But at least it's not as out of place as the Air Force F-16 sitting across the deck from it.
What's Special About It?
It's painted white with red and blue detailing.
What Else Is There To See?
An aircraft carrier, a submarine, a Concorde, and also this absolutely beautiful Corsair (which I have described to my sister as an aircraft that folds up so you can stick it in your pocket):
And also Manhattan, if you're feeling generous.
What Should You Know Before Going?
Portions of this museum are outdoors. When I went, the end of the flight deck was still covered in snow and there were puddles to walk through. The indoor portions, however, were heated and warm.
Seeing the entire aircraft carrier, especially the tower, requires a lot of stair climbing, as does the submarine.
Over Christmas, I made my sister go to an aviation museum with me.
Because she knows that I am a reasonable person with a totally normal level of interest in Tom Cruise, Top Gun, airplanes, and the Navy (in that order), she asked me if I was going to go see every single F-14 in the country.
I don't remember this conversation clearly, but it involved me telling her a story about the guy who did a video about visiting every single Rainforest Cafe in the country.
So naturally, I went on Wikipedia, where they have a listing of F-14s on display and I made a spreadsheet. There are 83 of them on the list, of which about 75% of which are in museums. Some of the others may be accessible to the public or may be on closed military bases.
I'm probably not going to visit all of the rest, but I am going to visit some.
More SarIceMav progress from the For Better Or Worse universe.
Summary:
Three times Maverick is anxious about telling Carole something about his relationship with Ice and one time that he's excited.
Read on AO3
More can be read on this tumblr tag or on the AO3 series, but briefly and with few spoilers, the main story starts with Ice - who identifies as gay - and Mav in a relationship when Ice meets Sarah and agrees to fake date her. This leads to him marrying her for convenience, the three of them agreeing to have kids together, and eventual polyamory.
“Hey,” came a voice from Maverick's side. “Careful.”
He stilled and let the nausea settle before attempting to blink open his eyes. The light in the room was dim, but it still hurt his head. It took a minute for the blurry smear of color in front of him to coalesce into an image.
A hospital room. Navy? He wasn’t sure. He’d been—deployed, he thought, but the details wouldn’t come, and he definitely wasn’t on a carrier now. When he looked to his left, he didn’t recognize the man sitting in the chair by the bed. He was in uniform, though, a flight suit unzipped to the waist, blue polo underneath.
Read on AO3.
I was inspired by a prompt. The prompt was:
After a head injury, A forgets they're dating B
That is not what happens in this story. This is a story... not exactly about amnesia, but it is a story involving amnesia. With most if not all of the medical details handwaved.
See below for extra tidbits about the story, with spoilers for same.
The original notes I wrote down on the idea before I decided I was just writing an entire story -- I saw the prompt last Friday and started writing later that day:
IceMav amnesia, Maverick doesn't remember him, wants Goose. Ice tells Maverick that their first meeting didn't go so well and he wants to do better this time.
Subversion where Mav thinks they're together and they're not?
Ice has to tell Maverick about Goose.
I tried lying to myself about the fact that I didn't set out to write another story about Goose's death, but that is very clearly a lie.
Some other things:
I imagine that Ice has taken the exactly two psych classes that the Naval Academy offered and thinks he can reprogram Maverick's brain with positive affirmations.
Ice knows Maverick's kitchen better than Maverick does because Maverick invited him over the weekend before when he got into town. Ice definitely cooked dinner for Mav.
I completely forgot to assign Maverick footwear during his motorcycle crash, and once I realized this it seemed too wordy to add in. So either he was wearing his cowboy boots and they're (unfortunately) fine, or something else and... probably also fine?
How close were Ice and Maverick before? Well, maybe I should maintain some mystery here.
i just did this. i regret it immensely upon spying my old works but uh. they are in fact numbers that contribute to a rare pair so i guess they are there to stay
