VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- The Navy officially retired its F-14 fighter jet Thursday at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia.

But first, two fliers gave a final salute and a final thumbs-up before roared into the sky for a ceremonial last flight.

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About 3,000 invited guests were on hand, mainly former pilots, mechanics, suppliers and builders.

The Cold War-era fighter jet with moveable, swept-back wings was glamorized in the 1986 Tom Cruise movie "Top Gun." It's being replaced by the F-A-18 Super Hornet attack fighter.

The F-14 joined the Navy fleet in 1972. The last 22 Tomcats returned home to Oceana in March after a support mission in Iraq.

The "Tomcatters" of Strike Fighter Squadron 31 and the "Black Lions" of Strike Fighter Squadron 213 were deployed on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.

The last F-14s will go to museums such as the Virginia Aviation Museum in Richmond, which received one last week.

The Navy said it decided to decommission the Tomcat and move to the Super Hornet because of the excessive amount of maintenance needed to keep the Tomcats operational.

"It takes about three to four times more maintenance man-hours per flight hour to maintain than the newer Hornet," Cmdr. Richard LaBranche said.

"Retiring the extremely relevant but maintenance intensive Tomcat was a way to save the exhaustive efforts of our people and better spend their labors."

He said that, for the pilots who fly them and the crews who keep them operational, the loss of the Tomcat hits close to home.

"I will miss flying the Tomcat very much," LaBranche said. "Saying good bye to the Tomcat will be like saying good bye to an old friend, but in the best interest of our people, it must be done."