LT. David Westley McCall

The F-18 is available as a Limited Edition or a poster print.

Limited Editions are signed and numbered by the Artist and autographed by the Aviator.

Poster prints are not autographed.

LCDR David West McCall

F-14 Tomcat Pilot

Operation Enduring Freedom

Fighting 103

By Sir Ernie Hamilton Boyette

Aviation Art Store

Lieutenant David Westley McCall flew the F-14 Tomcat with “Fighting 103” over Iraq during “Operation Enduring Freedom.”

Print number thirty six in the series of “Famous American Aviators.”

$60.00 plus $6.00 shipping anywhere in the world.

Limited Edition Prints are signed and numbered by the artist and autographed in graphite pencil by Tomcat pilot David McCall. There were only 350 Limited Edition prints published in this series.

Poster Prints sale for only $14.95.

Poster Prints are not autographed. There were only 400 Poster Prints Published.

Lieutenant David Westley McCall

U.S. Naval Aviator and Fighter Test Pilot D. Westley McCall was born in Miami FL in 1971 and grew up in nearby Homestead. Following two years of training in the Navy’s Nuclear Power Program, West received a Secretary of the Navy nomination to the United States Naval Academy for the class of 1996. Ensign McCall graduated from the Naval Academy in May 1996 earning his degree in Aerospace Engineering along with a position for pilot training at Naval Air Station Pensacola Florida. West earned his wings of gold on November 12, 1999 and was designated a Naval Aviator. While in training, West excelled in air combat, dive bombing and carrier landing aboard the USS Harry S. Truman earning three Navy “E” bombing awards and Top-Hook. This placed him in the top 10 percent of his class and made him eligible for pilot training in the Navy’s premier fighter aircraft: the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. Training in the “Turkey” began in January 2000 with the VF-101 Grim Reaper’s at NAS Oceana’s Tomcat Alley. Following carrier qualification on the USS Theodore Roosevelt in November 2000, West joined the legendary Jolly Rogers of Fighting 103.

During his time with the Jolly Rogers, LT West McCall accumulated over 750 hours in the F-14 including combat missions in the skies over Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. In their first deployment since the September 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, the Jolly Rogers sailed with the USS George Washington Battle Group in the summer of 2002. Major fighting in Afghanistan had passed, but the U.S. led coalition was actively engaged in OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM. The U.S. Navy provided support from aircraft carriers based in the North Arabian Sea requiring extended missions routed over Pakistan. These missions were typically six to eight hours in length, requiring multiple refueling events over hostile territory. LT McCall’s missions over Afghanistan included tactical airborne reconnaissance (TARPS) for use by command and control units, and air alert close air support (XCAS) providing direct support to coalition ground forces throughout the region.

Combat missions continued into December 2002 when the Battle Group moved from the North Arabian Sea into the Persian Gulf. The Jolly Rogers re-opened the enforcement of the southern no-fly zone over Iraq in OPERATION SOUTHERN WATCH patrolling the skies south of the 33^rd parallel. Flights between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were especially hazardous and often avoided due to the numerous Iraqi radar, surface-to-air missile, and AAA emplacements. On September 5^th 2002 West and his flight of F-14’s were tasked with a reconnaissance mission covering several high value targets between these rivers. The mission required them to penetrate a well structured area of the Iraqi air defense system at low altitude during daylight hours. After acquiring several targets near Nasiriya, their section was engaged by anti-aircraft artillery fire. The flight immediately performed defensive maneuvers to avoid the fire that was detonating at and above their altitude. As they accelerated away from the threat, they moved back on course and acquired the remaining targets before returning to the USS George Washington.

Upon return from deployment the Jolly Rogers continued training for the next deployment onboard the USS John F. Kennedy. West remained with the squadron through this period as their Air to Ground Weapons Training Officer until being selected for the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. Upon graduation he was assigned as an F/A-18 Weapons Test Pilot with VX-31 at NAS China Lake. During this tour West deployed a second time to Afghanistan with the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division. Between ground operations, he participated in airborne combat missions in the EA-6B Prowler operating from Bagram Air Base targeting Taliban improvised explosive devices (IEDs). In January 2008, West transferred to his final assignment at the Boeing factory in St Louis MO as the Chief of Flight Operations. Here he served as the Navy’s senior acceptance Test Pilot for all new production F/A-18 Super Hornets and T-45C Goshawks. Having flown 1839 hours in 22 aircraft types, LCDR McCall left active duty in April 2010.