VF-31 received the F-14 Tomcat in early 1981. The squadron's first cruise was on board USS John F. Kennedy. In 1983, VF-31 embarked on its fourth cruise with Kennedy.

VF-31 (VFA-31) is the second oldest active US Navy squadron, topped only by VF-14, the Tophatters. The squadron started out on July 1, 1935, as VF-1B, the Shooting Stars, flying the Boeing F4B. Shown below is an F4B-4 (A9029) on display at the Naval Air Museum on the grounds of NAS Pensacola.

VF-31 received the F-14A Tomcat in early 1981. The squadron's first cruise was on board USS John F. Kennedy. In 1983, VF-31 embarked on its fourth cruise with Kennedy. The cruise took the carrier and its air wing to the southern Mediterranean off the North African coast.

However the biggest change was in terms of planes, VF-31 (and VF-11) trading their A model F-14's for the new and improved D. The D Tomcat has a huge increase in capability over the A, featuring new engines, radar and ejection seats.

As with all squadrons at this time VF-31 received the F-14A. The squadron's first cruise was onboard the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) as part of CVW-3, beginning in January 1982. By September of 1983 VF-31 was to embark on it's fourth cruise onboard Kennedy.

Feb 16, 2020 · VF-31 Tomcatters: F-14A and D, January 22, 1981, VF-31 gets its first tomcats and goes on board the John F. Kennedy in 1982 under CVW-3. When the Tomcatters converted to the more powerful F-14D, they boarded the USS Carl Vinson with the sister squadron VF-11, later this squadron flew on the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS John C. Stennis.

Early 1986 VF-103 participated in Operation Attain Document, the confrontation between the US and Libya on the Gulf of Sidra. Later followed by Operation El Dorado Canyon, the bombing of Libya. Just before the Gulf conflict started, the Sluggers start transferring to the F …

VF-31 flew the F-14A for ten years before switching to its current aircraft, the F-14D Super Tomcat, in 1992. Fighter Squadron (VF) 31 "Tomcatters" is the second oldest fighter squadron...

crashed 14.09.1994 when two Tomcats from USS Dwight D. Eisenhower collided off the North Carolina coast while conducting a routine training mission. Two aviators were lost at sea when their aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, the other F-14 landed at MCAS Cherry Point.

13.01.1995: crashed after mid-air collision with BuNo 164340 (VF-31, NK200) south of San Diego: A section of F-14Ds was on a "photoex," taking pictures of each other. A goal was to photograph the underside of a fully loaded Tomcat in vertical flight.