There was an RF-4 and an RF-8, but no RF-14. And yet the F-14 performed photo reconnaissance missions like its predecessors with the Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS).

On this episode, former #f14tomcat RIOs “Rooter” Root and “Santa” Noel join “Kodak” Tennyson, a TARPS technical expert, to describe this dynamic mission and the massive pod that made it possible.

0:00 INTRO
2:37 Guest History
16:05 What is TARPS?
28:04 How Rooter was selected for the TARPS mission
34:07 How much training Santa got for TARPS
36:03 How did you prepare for a TARPS flight?
39:19 Digital TARPS
48:57 Soviet ship TARP missions story
55:26 Photographing process
59:36 Are these cameras reliable?
1:03:19 How was the intel used?
1:06:42 Derbies
1:12:01 TARPS CD
1:14:50 Stories
1:21:55 OUTRO