The Pig retires...end of an era for Aussie F-111

I have a bunch of photos that were taken on the final day at Amberley - was there. PM me if you are interested.

Regards,

Greg
 
GTX said:
I have a bunch of photos that were taken on the final day at Amberley - was there. PM me if you are interested.

Regards,

Greg
Click to expand...

Greg, why don't you at least post some of them, if not all (not sure how many we're talking about). I'd
love to see them. I loved this jet! It had A TON of innovation in it when it was born. I will mention some
of that below.


In honor of the F-111, its developers, its builders, testers, operators, airmen, and owners, in its retirement here,
and the design work that created it, I put this together. The F-111 deserves a better send off, but on short notice
this is what I came up with.

I took info from Convair/GD Fort Worh designer/engineer E. B. Maske, Jr., via his 1964 AIAA paper:
"The F-111 Development Program", AIAA 64-283.
I also used Jay Miller in "General Dynamics F-111 "Aardvark", Aero Series 29.
I'll indicate with [Maske] or [Miller] where I reference their work.

The F-111 was a continuation of the theme begun by the GD/Fort Worth designers on the B-58, of transforming
bombers from vulnerable, sluggish, easily detected monsters to sleek, Mach 2 champions able to penetrate radar
installations without detection. [Maske]

The prototype YF-111A 63-9768 (rolled out on Oct. 16, 1964), was more of a testbed than the forerunner of an
entire production series. So many new innovations were incorporated into its dense and complex airframe that it
was legitimately as much a research vehicle as a pre-production proof-of-concept prototype. [Miller]

Listing some of these innovations:
- first multi-service, all purpose, all-weather fighter bomber. (Even though the Navy version was not
adopted, it influenced many decisions in the USAF version). For example, the size of carrier elevators influenced the
F-111's length, causing a shortening of its length by going to side-by-side seating instead of tandem seating. This also
increased fuel capacity. [Maske]
- First airplane to incorporate an advanced terrain-following radar (TFR) and associated low-altitude penetration capability.
TFR was barely out of its infancy stage at that time. [Miller]
- First airplane designed from the start to have supersonic sea level performance and long range (in excess of 3000 mi.). [Maske][Miller]
- It had a variable sweep wing which had only flown experimentally before. [Miller]
- It had turbofan engines with augmentation in both the core stream and fan stream. That was a question back then. Also turbofans
had really never flown before except in a wind tunnel, and the attendant inlet problems were new to the industry, and therefore
both the engine manufacturer, and airframe vendor. [Miller] [Maske]
- A fully encapsulated ejection module had never been used in any operational airplane. [Miller]
- The ability to takeoff and land in short distances, from unprepared fields [Maske]
- The ability to handle large, variable payloads [Maske]
- F-111 possessed long subsonic range and endurance. [Maske]
- F-111 utilized NASA's concept of blended-wing fuselage to a maximum degree. This provided superior drag characteristics. [Maske]
- Inlet was positioned under and bolted to the wing where it was protected from flow variations caused by angle-of-attack changes.
This is of particular importance and advantage during supersonic flight. [Maske]
- A high maneuver load factor and moderate wing area, required a very rugged fuselage structure. But the goal was to use
proven construction techniques and materials, so structure is basically an aluminum airframe with steel used in areas of load
concentration and high temperature (wing pivot area and engine area). [Maske]
- Many supersonic structural techniques developed for the B-58, such as honeycomb sandwich panels, also applied to the F-111. [Maske]
 
So ends the F-111 yesterday. Underground which is kind of ironic because of its TFR capability and Pig nickname. Snouts buried!
 

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Gimme a break: why are they burying the airframes ? :eek: Don't tell me all that metal isn't worth a recycling... I'm sure the chinese would gladly turn those airframes into building or ships or razor blades...
 
Abraham Gubler said:
So ends the F-111 yesterday. Underground which is kind of ironic because of its TFR capability and Pig nickname. Snouts buried!
Click to expand...

It almost seems disrespectful - it also seems funny, because I'm here typing & feeling as if the burial needed a priest, casket, a stand of mourners, etc.

That said, tis a shame to see them go.
 
As a consolation: At least for future archaelogists it really may be a godsend !
They probably will interpret it as a sacrfice to archaic gods ... :-\
 
OK before the howls of indignation fuelled by a heavy dose of ignorance get out of hand here are a few facts.

Some 13 of the ex RAAF F-111s have gone to museums and the like. All ex F-111s except a few ‘special’ aircraft (ie RF-111s) were made available to charitable organisations who might have wanted them for public display. The catch was it costs about $1 million to remove all the asbestos and other hazards and demilitarise them to make them safe for public display. Without much surprise no one took the Aus. Govt. up on this ‘generous’ offer so the unfunded demil F-111s had to be disposed.

Shipping these aircraft back to the USA for reclamation at Davis-Monthan was too pricey so they were buried. Sending them to a third party for scrapping was against the conditions of sale. I’m sure China would have loved to get their hands on former USAF FB-111As… Whatever value is in their 500+ tonnes of aluminium is just not worth the effort of scrapping.

If you can’t dump them in the ocean or cut them up or bomb them on the range burying is an effective means of disposal. The thing I find most surprising is how shallow the hole looks. Zombie F-111s?
 
Abraham Gubler said:
OK before the howls of indignation fuelled by a heavy dose of ignorance get out of hand here are a few facts.
...
If you can’t dump them in the ocean or cut them up or bomb them on the range burying is an effective means of disposal. The thing I find most surprising is how shallow the hole looks. Zombie F-111s?
Click to expand...

From what I understand, they are being used in a landfill site, so there will be lot more garbage put on top of them before a new ground level is obtained.

Unfortunately, burying them was the cheapest option....

There are at least two YouTube vides up about them. Warning: They may contain images that could distress some viewers.

One from Theiss (the company that got the contract to dispose of them)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNIAtygtUds

and another from a Channel 10 News report
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEBa5UtsYk4
 
Little off topic, but could the RAAF or Boeing modify a centre line fuel tank and a fuel dispenser in the aft near the engines, so the RAAF's Superhornets could still do a "fuel dump and burn"?
 

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