Built by Grumman Corp. and later Northrop Grumman Corp., the F-14 Tomcat served for more than 30 years before its official retirement on Sept. 22, 2006. Palmdale's aircraft, serial number 164350, was acquired in October 2006 on loan from the U.S. Navy and arrived from Fighter Squadron 31 at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia, where pilot Lt. Cmdr. David "Superfly" Faehnle reflected on leaving behind an aircraft that had been his office for much of his life. In September 2005, the Tomcatters made the final Tomcat deployment aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt, and after the last F-14 deployment ended on March 10, 2006, VF-213 and VF-31 joined 22 F-14Ds in a historic fly-in over NAS Oceana. Produced from 1970 to 1991 in F-14A, F-14B, and F-14D series, with 726 built, the aircraft was a supersonic, twin-engine, variable-sweep-wing, two-place fighter for U.S. Navy fleet defense, air superiority, long-range strike, tactical reconnaissance, and attacking enemy aircraft at night and in all weather conditions. Depending on model, it could reach 1,544 miles per hour, fly above 53,000 feet, range 1,600 miles, carry a Vulcan 20mm cannon, AIM-54 Phoenix, AIM-7 Sparrow, and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles and assorted bombs, and was crewed by a pilot and radar intercept officer. Its advanced weapons control system gave it the ability to track up to 24 targets simultaneously and attack six of them with the AIM-54A Phoenix missile.