F-14 Tomcat pilot and TOPGUN instructor tells the story of when he nailed a MiG-29 in a 1v1 dogfight

Captain Sam “Slammer” Richardson forced the MiG-29 pilot to call “Knock it off.” Afterwards, he said the Fulcrum pilot could only talk about how he lost the fight against the F-14 Tomcat.

Renowned former F-14 pilot and Topgun instructor retired US Navy Captain Sam “Slammer” Richardson recently appeared on the new podcast series the F-14 Tomcast. He told exciting and funny flying stories, and made comments sure to surprise some aviation enthusiasts. He provides insights that will benefit the flight simulation community and inform those interested in US Naval Aviation history.

I’m one of the hosts of the F-14 Tomcast (I was an F-14 RIO and Topgun instructor) and my co-host is former F-14 pilot and Topgun instructor Craig “Crunch” Snyder.

We started with Slammer’s background and experience in Navy pilot training. When he earned his Wings of Gold, there were no F-14 seats available so his commanding officer directed him to a program where he would temporarily instruct other students. He said this was a beneficial experience that gave him more air sense.

Moving to his early time in the Tomcat, he credits some of the stars of the West Coast F-14 community with teaching him and inspiring him to become a skilled pilot: “Pogo” Clark, “Nasty” Manazir, “KD” Bringle, “Killer” Killian, and others. “They wouldn’t teach you tricks. You had to learn the basics: energy management…where the Tomcat had the advantage…and the disadvantage.”

Slammer offered many pearls of wisdom, such as the benefits of using a lot of rudder to help the Tomcat roll when flying slow. “When you did it right, it as magic.”

He got Crunch’s attention when he said, “The Tomcat is a very easy airplane to fly.” It made sense when he followed up with, “But it’s a very, very hard airplane to fly well.”

During the discussion, Slammer provided valuable insight into topics such as the Strike Fighter Weapons and Tactics (SFWT) program of aircrew qualification, which substantially improved Navy fighter and strike-fighter training.

When I asked him about the much-maligned TF30 engines, Slammer said, “Those weren’t good engines. You had to fly the engines.” But he went on, “If I was gonna fight the airplane I liked the A.” Later in his career, when he was commanding officer of VF-101 (the East Coast F-14 training squadron), he preferred to fly in an F-14A when he was going up against instructor pilots flying the F-14D, which had more powerful engines. When Slammer won the engagement, it made the other instructor realize he had a lot to learn about the Tomcat and couldn’t rely on the engines to get them out of every situation.

The story sure to get the most attention is when Slammer describes a memorable 1v1 training engagement against a Luftwaffe MiG-29 Fulcrum in the late 1990s while he was attached to VF-14 Tophatters. “One day I was fighting a MiG-29. The first fight I’ll never forget did not work out well for me. I tried the aggressive pressure fight and failed miserably.”

After that first engagement, he says, “I’m scramblin’ through my mind. What do I gotta do? I realized I can’t fight the airplane, I gotta fight the pilot.”

So, at the start of the second engagement, Slammer says: “I intentionally flew directly under him. I knew he was aggressive as hell, and sure enough he bit. I saw his two afterburners. He is probably doing 500 knots, straight downhill, with both afterburners. And I thought, ‘Gotcha!’ I came up over the top, repositioned my nose, and I’m looking at an arcing MiG-29” [as the following image shows].

Slammer used his knowledge of his opponent’s aircraft limitations to get into a favorable situation. “It’s very impressive to see gun camera (video) with a MiG in the reticle.” He forced the MiG-29 pilot to call “Knock it off.” Afterwards, he said the Fulcrum pilot could only talk about how he lost the fight against the Tomcat.

Slammer said, “I got into his head.” Which is yet one more example of von Richthofen’s statement, “The quality of the crate matters little. What matters is the quality of the man inside it.”

Co-host “Crunch” Snyder reiterates the lesson, pointing out that Slammer had a gameplan for the fight, thinking two and three moves ahead. I’ve quoted Slammer extensively here, but believe me, I’ve only scratched the surface.

His interview is a very entertaining 90 minutes, not only for fans of Grumman’s big fighter, but aviation enthusiasts of all types. CLICK HERE for Slammer’s interview: https://youtu.be/mjASe3xCYcc . New episodes of the F-14 Tomcat are posted every two weeks (14 days) and can be found on the Air Combat Experience YouTube channel. The episodes already posted include F-14 Development, F-14A introduction, and AWG-9/AIM-54. Check them out and tell your friends!

Photo credit: U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force