This photograph is personally signed by Captain Dale “Snort” Snodgrass, one of the most experienced Tomcat pilots in the world. The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft and is the world's premier air defense fighter. Captain Dale “Snort” Snodgrass was born in 1949. He grew up in Eastern Long Island NY as the son of a Test Pilot. He attended the University of Minnesota on a NROTC Scholarship and received All- American status as a member of the swim team, graduating with a BS in Biology. Snodgrass entered Naval Flight Training in September 1972. He got into the airplane straight out of flight school in 1974, when the F-14 was new and no other low-time pilots had flown it. Snodgrass was the first flight school graduate to be selected for F-14 Tomcat training. He soon became the definitive F-14 pilot. He was the first in that category to land it on a carrier, both day and night. In 1978 he attended Top Gun, the Navy Fighter Weapons School, which turns the best pilots into instructors. In 1985, he became the Navy’s Fighter Pilot of the Year. The following year, the film Top Gun turned the viewing public into crazed F-14 fans (Snodgrass did a little flying for it), and Grumman named him Topcat—Best F-14 Pilot of the Year. He trained so many young fighter pilots and staged so many dogfights in it that he became unbeatable. He also flew more displays over more years than any other military demo pilot. Flying the F-14 in war and in peace, he has racked up more than 4,800 hours, making him the highest-time Tomcat pilot in history. After 26 years of decorated service, Captain Snodgrass retired in June 1999. Certificate of Authenticity included.

Dimensions (inches): 16x13x0.5, (Photograph: 8x10)