Blast from the past. I was a crew chief on this same plane (67-113) from '77 to '79 when it was an F-111A with the 366th TFW. Seeing sitting in the museum, it looked right at home. This plane spent more time in the hangar than out on the flight line. Something was always broke on it. Thanks for a chance to see my old nemesis again.

The F-111F was my first bird out of avionics tech school in the USAF. The avionics systems on these birds was high tech at the time, but just barely past tubes (valves) and into discrete solid state devices. The central support computer (CENPAC) was programmed with punched tape, converted to mag tape, and would send signals to the test stations which in turn would evaluate the device under test. Pre-hard disk drive, but crazy sophisticated for a kid barely over 20 years old. Stationed at Mountain Home, I soon deployed to Korat, Thailand to support the A models that were there from Nellis. I followed them back to Nellis after the fall of Saigon. The Aardvark runs through my veins.

Interesting to think that from the Wright Brothers first flight until the design of the F111 was 59 years - and from the Design of the F111 until now is 59 years

I was a part of the TFX-111 program, for several years, in the late 60's. The screen, next to the laser display screen was the LCOS, or Lead Computing Optical Sight, which was my specialty. it could track up to 18 mixed threats and automatically respond to 8 of them, either by missles, chaff, electronic countermeasures, etc. Its so weird to see the display uncovered. Back in the day, you had to possess a top secret clearance to even look at it. We had to have a "move man" lock it in a vault when we went on break or the bathroom. The display was always covered with a red plastic cover...

The F-111’s debut in Vietnam during 1968 was disastrous. It’s return in 1970-71 was spectacular any remained a spectacular strike aircraft for decades thereafter.

I was a 19yo crew chief on this very aircraft in Thailand March-Aug 1973 and then back at Nellis later. During this time most of our missions were from Takhli Royal AFB into Cambodia and Laos. They usually launched with 24 250lbs bombs (6 bombs on each rack per pylon) or 4 2000lbs bombs. (1 bomb per pylon). Most missions were 4 hours long. One day after getting to work there was a crew module sitting in the hanger. 67-0111 crashed after being accidently run into by another F-111 (67-0094). One was leading the second aircraft like a Pathfinder. The pilots ejected in the crew module (we did not use the term pod) landing safely on a railway. The second aircraft landing back at another base missing about 25% of a wing. If I ever get back to Australia I will have to make a visit.

I flew 'varks at Lakenheath and Upper Heyford, and in Desert Storm from Taif. What a boss! Thanks for this trip down memory lane! BTW- with wings back at 72 degrees and in full mil power, it was not unusual to get to .97M in the F-111F. That's really something- nearly supercruise with '70s technology engines and a '60's airframe.

When I worked these as a crew chief in Mountain Idaho (82-83) we had Aussies there doing training. One flew in from Australia and in the bomb bay were cases of "Cordial" a local fruit drink from down under.

It may have been called the "pig" but this was a seriously fast airplane. So glad the RAAF gave this "beauty" an extended service life.

I gave 6 years to the F-111A and G model 81-87. Thank you for the memories. I spent many hours loading munitions and sitting in the cockpit running weapons systems checks. USAF👊🏻 Just a FYI feet on the seat entering was forbidden back then.

Ignoring any downfalls that this jet had, it's one of my favorite jets in existence

Well, I was a 462 weapons guy back in the day. (72 thru 78). 474th TFW out of Nellis AFB. My unit had two TDY's to Takhli, Thailand. 72 & 73. We had a lot of missions with only a couple of problems. Considering what they did, those pilots had some large huevos 🔥🔥 Imagine being 250ft above the ground, at night, moving at 500kts ! On total auto pilot using the TFR. (Terrain Following Radar). That has got to be some level of trust in the machine 👌

I was a Vark crew chief at RAF Upper Heyford on the "E" model from 1980 to 1983. Loved Heyford and the Vark.

I was a crew chief on the E & F models in the UK in the 80's. The canopies are manually operated and can lock in several open positions. With them completely open and the long nose it looks like an Aardvark. But, it was the most difficult airplane I ever worked on. It was indeed a pig!

Living in Brisbane. Seen the afterburner nearly every year at sky fire. A great site to see

My dad flew the F model out of Mtn. Home AFB 70-72. He enjoyed that plane very much.

I was at cannon in74 thru 79. When they tied the plane down at the Trim Pad. And adjusted the engines was a memory you canr forget. I lived between clovis an the texas border. When they ran the afterburners it would rattle the dishes in our kitchen 7 miles away.. i will never forget the whine of the engines .as they taxied around the flight line! Hey anyone remember the little white light up on the tail that blinked when the engines were running ? God bless us all. F111 alumni. 27 ems A G E ......

Right on Que Paul you hit the Nail on the Head. The Fantastic F111, I doubt Biased or not that This Aircraft was the Ground Breaking all Weather TFR (Terrain Following Radar) genius Aircraft and when the Ball as we called it Photo, Infrared and Laser Guidance system was fitted it enabled us to Deliver Weapons on Target with the Desired Effect. She would still be in the Top Tier of High Quality Strike Aircraft and why didn't we improve on them, We were sorry to see them go from 82 Wing / No's 1 & 6 Squadrons and the only Country outside of the United States to fly the type, we called it the "" C "" Version in our original Airframe Version because she had a Wider Wing Span than United States Airframes but we lost some Aircraft on low level practise run's and their Sadly Missed in Terms of the Crews, Mark, Shorty and others Rest In Peace, I Often when in the Tenterfield Region drop off at a Stone Wall marked with Two Names who died their one night place Flower's there. The incident report shows what I thought on Radar System it looked like a low but thick mist but not at that level with the solid feedback I saw and I said up Full Afterburner 085 to the Vertical but it was to late for them as they hit what i yelled over the Radio Bats, they ingested Flamed, out, We looked for a Beacon sound that would come from both the Crew and the Escape Capsule but their was none forthcoming and time was now the essence of an end of story for them, We all know and respect that flying close to the ground brings Inherently dangerous situations and that was one of them another was at Evans Head Live Weapons range when one of Aircraft hit a flock of Pelicans and they think the Two Crew were Dead before the plane hit the ground as post Incident records show Penetrating of Cockpit by these bird's as well as ingestion and the belief is they were killed by the shear impact speed in the Air. In terms of Tenterfield they being the Air Force should have known at around that time of year fruit was plentiful and bats were there in the Thousands, We some time after purchased ex the United States Air Force some replacement F111s That we called the "" G "" Model. On a very positive note though this Aircraft would not look out of place in today's environment of flight envelope for this type of Aircraft especially with a Structural upgrade and the latest LGB or Laser guided missile defence systems incorporated into a totally new Cockpit environment and power plants upgrade would still have made this Aircraft A truly unique Aircraft that in the main would not let you down. She was always forgiving in terms of being tossed around and to say we besotted with them is an understatement. Her External Weapons Loads made it all the more unforgiving of the enemy. They say in a nutshell that with a little bit of work and refits she would still be one of the Deadliest Aircraft around. Thankyou Paul for the insight into our Swing Wing Aircraft and again your excellent Narrative and Visual of this beautiful but deadly strike Aircraft. I know that they being General Dynamics Vaunted around a new concept Aircraft basically Built on that if the F111 but I think at the time and I am totally not sure could have been General Dynamics entrant to the Bomber program which later saw the B1 Lancer evolution but that's for another time, Well produced Paul and my Congrats as usual

Great ! Had the pleasure of working D models straight out of tech school at Cannon in the late 70's, still remember engine runs on the trim pad ,the vibration and sound was like no other ,pure awesomeness!!!!

Fantastic loved watching F-111F's flying out of Raf Lakenheath with the 48th Tfw in the 80's & early 90's

Had the privelage as a work experience student working on these at Amberley in 1985. Best jet ever made....

Great vid mate. I'm from Texas and was a contractor at Cannon AFB, New Mexico way back in '92. There was a spot just north of the runway not even 150 meters that you could see these majestic birds take-off from runway. The sound of an F-111 on initial take-off is deafening in MIL power. Once they kicked the after burners it was pure joy. You could feel it in your chest.

Let me tell you, flying low altitude on TFR at night in the mountains is a life changing experience! 500kts, 500ft, on NVGs and TF. It is so scary. But the systems are well designed with many built in fail-safes. But still. It is a harrowing experience.

We lived under the flight path of Nellis AFB and used to watch these F-111’s fly over our house every day. Very impressive.

Thank you for showing an F111 THAT I know my dad would have worked on , as he was the lead Tec avionics that was in Vietnam when the F111 was used there . My Father was in Vietnam between red 67 through to the 69 , and yes the f111 was there so thank you for showing one that he would have worked on .

AHHH the pig. Many a night watching these beautiful birds doing touch n gos at RAAF bases we lived on. I miss the good old after burn show they always put on, the sound and the wow, they always bought to any training run.

I was stationed down the road from RAF Upper Heyford in the early 70's where they had F-111's. What a tremendous aircraft.

This aircraft has always intrigued me. Big, fast, unmistakable looks, great in its role.

Great video Paul... thank you! Love the "Vark", USAF service, or the "Pig", as it was affectionately known in RAAF service. What an Awesome bird... hated to see them retired from both respective air forces, but that's the way it is. Saw the D model for the first time in the mid 1970s, at Cannon AFB, New Mexico. The F model is my favorite, and it carried the load in the raid on Libya, Spring of 1986, with Operation El Dorado Canyon. Lost one Vark, and her crew, during that raid... Karma-52... God Bless em! I believe those USAF F-111 crews that transfered, and trained up for the Varks eventual replacement, the F-15E, soon missed the low, fast and smooth ride the F-111 offered. A big thank you to the RAAF for giving all F-111 fans better than another decade of thrills, after the the USAF opted to retire the Vark in the late 1990s. All the best!

I worked on F-111 when they were brand new, still had that new aircraft smell. Stationed at Mountain Home AFB Idaho, with the 366th Fighter Wing, the "Gun Fighters". The F-111's replaced F-4's. My AFSC Machinist was to repair/manufacture replacement parts and to fix everyone screw ups. Removing stripped fasteners, the Torg-Set Titanium screws were difficult to remove and the screw head stripped easily. The hydraulic ram for the landing gear door/air brake required a machining modification. The 366th FMS Machine Shop received a new big lathe to perform he modification. The new lathe was a dream to operate, no back lash in the machine. What made me feel old was when I visited Mountain Home Idaho 40 years after discharge. In the the city park was a F-111 on display on a stand. I am sure I worked on the same plane when it was new.

I was friends with an Air Force general who thoroughly loved this jet. He said that it was a dream to fly. I had another friend who was an Air Force mechanic who hated it because of it’s maintenance issues. To me it looks fast just parked on the ground. I think it’s cool!😎

My dad was one of the engineers who designed it, worked for GD for 40 years. After the F-111 he went on to work on the F-16 project.

Spent a week working on this legend while doing work experience at Amberley. What an eye opener working on this unique machine. Great to see them still in the public eye.

My dad helped design the ejection pod in the early '60's.

I was a Avionics tech at RAF Upper Heyford in the 80’s. Had sooooo much fun working on FB’s and E models

I loved working on this aircraft in the RAAF, despite blowing a disc at L5S1 in my back while removing hydraulic lines from a spoiler actuator, these birds gave me the best years of my career. I thoroughly enjoyed every challenge it could present to a fresh faced technician and I especially enjoyed changing spikes in a time nobody else could beat (LH or RH). Five serials to the US in 1983 for 2.5 months and we didn't drop a single sortie at the bombing competition at Mountain Home AFB or Red Flag Las Vegas. I'll cherish the photos I have with me flying A8-126 with the CO.

I was crew chief on this bird at Cannon aft 73-74 then moved from the D to the A model in Thailand Lots of Good memories.

I love this plane. My father was in the USAF and we were stationed in England where they had the F111E. It was great seeing if flying around and getting up close during air shows

I was surprised to learn after desert storm it was the #1 tank killer.Strategic bomber & tank buster.Who knew?

Worked on these for many years; F-111F, FB111A, and the D models during training. I still remember many of the panel numbers and more. Great Plane

Fantastic video Paul. I'm having a 1-1 guided tour of the last F111-C to fly in Australia next week by Air Vice-Marshal (ret) David Dunlop, who flew F-111's for the RAAF. It's at least a 2.5 hour tour that has been told to have gone on for over 5 hours for those interested in getting into the weeds! I can't wait!

Awesome Jet, I loved being a C-Shopper on the D's, E's, and EF Models in the 522nd, 524th, 55th, 79th and 42ECS (Deployed). I So Miss the F-111, that Roar on take off, The People that made the Aircraft a Legend. Too Bad Hollywood missed a serious opportunity, the personality of the Aircrews, Ground-crews and the Airplane. Now would be a good time to go down to the Three Shoes for a Pint.

I recently checked out the F-111 at Evans Head, NSW. By chance I was able to sit in the cockpit and was given a personalised tour by a retired F-111 navigator who had over 1000hrs on type with the RAAF. He also said that the Yanks were jealous of the sheepskin covers us Aussies had. Absolutely incredible aircraft! One thing that I don’t know you mentioned - they had an arrestor hook for high speed aborts, assuming the airfield had an arrestor cable off the end of the strip. Maybe they were originally designed for carrier ops for the US Navy? Great video!

I remember one Friday afternoon in the mid 90's I was out with a mate of mine and his 3 young kids picking up his Jetski from his parents place right near RAAF Amberley. We were out the front of the house and an F111 was coming into the area lining up to land. The pilot must have seen us because he rolled the plane over to come our way, right over us - which was awesome. but then it got better. We got a private airshow for about 10 or 15 minutes with the pilot doing a few loops and rolls etc for us before he flew over us slow one last time and waved as he went past. It was dead set ******* awesome. I was way more excited than the kids. I wish we had mobile phones back then :)

My father was career US Air Force and we were stationed at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho while I was in high school (in the 70's). At that time the 366th TFW was flying F-111Fs there. 3 of my high school buddies' fathers were F-111F pilots.

Saw a pair of F-111s fly over our house in Perth in 1978 and as they came directly overhead they both lit up their afterburners. One of my favorite memories along with seeing a Vulcan, and two F-105s flying just subsonic about 200ft above me.

Colonel Thomas C. Germscheid was a Captain on the initial Combat Lancer deployment in1968 at Takhli RTAFB. He was an Instructor when they went back in 73 - 74 at Takhli and Korat RTAFB where I was stationed. He retired as the Wing King at Canon AFB, and then started a career working on them as a contractor with Access Research Corp. where I was the Classified Contract Manager. We worked on them through the Pave Tack installation and Desert Storm. It's STILL the most efficient strike aircraft EVER in the USAF. Love that bird. There's one of the F-111F models at the Santa Fe Airport, near Angel Fire, NM where my friend Tom retired finally. Hammer

This plane cockpit seems so calm to be in, imagine just looking out of the window

I was stationed at Mt. Home when this, and the other 3 F-111A's were transferred to RAAF. I was in Green section, the 390th. I was responsible for "cleaning" the avionics, making sure it had everything required, and removing avionics that were USAF specific items. Funny thing, these were the top 4 tail numbered A models in existence, and the original contract between the RAAF and the USAF specified the US would provide replacement aircraft if needed, and since there weren't any more "new" F-111C's, the AF provided the RAAF with the closest thing it had, which was the F-111A. So, I actually had my hands on this aircraft right before it left MT. Home AFB.

Loaded the F-111F at RAF Lakenheath and the F-111D at Cannon AFB. Great plane!

My father was in charge of the advanced electronics on the F-111. This plane was very much modified and improved by the crews at McClellan AFB. Especially the E model.

My brother was a WSO on an Aardvark. He flew in Operation Desert Storm and his squadron had the most ground kills of any USAF squadron (including the A10s at the time). While the EW variant got most of the attention during that period, it was the F111A that took out more Iraqi armor than any other airplane.

Growing up, this was one of the jets I dreamed about flying.

The "Maneuver Kill" in the first gulf war was an EF-111, and unfortunately wasn't officially counted. Leaving the F-111 platform without a single air-air kill in its service life.

My years working on the F-111 was great! I spent ~20 years with the Aardvark, or as it was better known by our enemies 'Whispering Death', and have fond memories of those days. I remember when the RAAF was buying the airplanes from the USAF. And I traveled to Amberley several times after working on the conversion with Rockwell. My favorite Aussie F-111C engineer? Stork, of course.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane! I'm a retired USAF F-111 pilot. I remember the Aussies coming to Mountain Home AFB, Idaho to train with us and fly in Red Flag exercises. It was interesting to see in your video some of the upgrades for that A model. Side note, I cringed when you stepped on the seat cushion. Crew chiefs would skin us alive if we did that. An F-111 loaded with live munitions burned to the ground at Mountain Home with explosions all night long when an oxygen leak in the capsule hit a greasy footprint on a seat cushion.

Thanks for sharing! I was raised in Brisbane in the 70's and 80's - F-111's were a regular sight in the sky back then. They had a distinctive roar and you could hear them coming before you could see them.

My dad flew these in Desert Storm, Bosnia, & other places I don't know about. E for sure, and another model or models before that. I always loved the planes, and him and his friends spoke fondly of it. Many fine memories with the F-111 in them. What a powerful jet to have taxi up to you, especially if you pulled the muffs up or an earplug out. Thank you, Paul.

Great memories flying the F-111 during our final years in Vietnam

Watching "The Pigs" do a dump and burn was awesome to see here at RAAF Base Curtin. Still remember the post show after Exercise Kangaroo 95' where everyone watched 2 F-111's take off then come over for a Dump and Burn next thing I was watching a dot get bigger and bigger from the West coming in under the F-111's it was an F/A-18 he pulled up right over the crowd catching most off guard it was epic.

I worked on the TFR, ARS, nav and bomb computer system, doppler and hud systems on the F-111As, EF-111s and FB-111As. I was stationed at Plattsburgh AFB in '80 to' 81 before being stationed at RAF Upper Heyford in England and Pease AFB in NH. Spent 8 years working on that pig, but I enjoyed the challenge. I enjoyed my tours.

There’s another reason for the side by side configuration of the cockpit. It’s a long plane and front to back configuration would have made the aircraft too long. When the capsule ejected it did have the ability to float but some of the bags were for impact shock absorbing.

I've always been impressed with the complex engineering that went into this magnificent aircraft. I would've torn a groin tendon trying to enter or exit this aircraft! Good for you for not having that problem, Paul.

This brings back memories of when I was younger. I lived outside the back gate of Pease AFB N.H. I remember when they had a scramble they took off full afterburners followed by the tankers. We use to go to the golf course at the end of the runway to watch them fly. One of the incidents they had put the plane into a housing development and the pod into the Piscataqua river. Seeing those afterburners at night was a site to see. I remember an airshow were they came in on the runway with terrain following swept wing. It was an incredible aircraft. One of my favorites. Take care, Be safe.

One of the most impressive jets ever

While serving in the USAF in the late 70's early 80's on B-52G's and KC-135's (SAC) I was called to the other side of the base (TAC side) when a transient F-111 landed with engine issues. I wasn't an engine guy but since the problem was the tachometer and I was an Avionics Instrument's tech, I was called to help find and fix the problem. Got to the TAC side and met up with a senior crew chief and we crawled into the port side engine intake and reached the front of the engine -- a not insignificant distance I might add. The crew chief had things pretty well figured out but wanted someone with deeper Avionics experience to give a second look -- he'd done well and the plane took off without issue the next day. Kind of showed the level of professionalism that many techs have that they would ask for a second opinion before signing off on the work.

The escape pod was developed by McDonnell Aircraft! Before the merger with Douglas Aircraft

Another impressive video of an impressive aircraft. Thanks for great footage and commentary Paul and I learnt a lot about this military plane capable of 2.5 times the speed of sound.

In 2011 I saw some of these aircraft go to their final resting place, to be crushed and covered in dirt. such a beautiful aircraft, an icon of the 70's in my childhood.

I was a boy scout in Sacramento, California, in the 1980s. McClellan AFB (which serviced the F-111) was located there. Someone's father worked at McClellan and arranged for some of us to go out there one evening when they conducted a post-servicing engine run up inside some sort of hangar (sorry, I don't know the terminology). I got to sit in the righthand seat, next to the guy who was operating the engines, which I though was pretty cool. However, the other scouts got to see all the flames shooting out the back; I'm not sure who had the better deal.

Great video as always! One small correction here though; the fuel dump has nothing to do with afterburner. It’s there to dump fuel in an emergency situation, like landing with too much fuel onboard making it too heavy to land. The fuel for AB is injected directly in the exhaust/AB section by a nozzle inside the exhaust. 👍🏻

Thanks Paul....slightly different aircraft, but I remember hiking in the Yorkshire Dales back in the 1980s when two Panavia Tornados came through the valley BELOW where we were sitting. You could see them slightly rise as they approached a hedge or drystone wall, one of our party was a RAF Navigator, and explained it was the terrain following radar in action, making adjustments of just 3 or 4 feet as necessary.....incredible to see in action.😀

Have an F-111 on display here in town, just about a half mile away from where I live. Hard to miss it as it sits on an island in the middle of the main road.

I did NDT on these at Sacramento Air Logistics Center (SMALC) in California in the 1990’s. Fantastic aircraft and the flame cones from the engine outlets are an amazing thing to see and feel in person.

...and the trauma of those suffering on-going medical issues from their time spent in fuel tank deseal/reseal is a legacy that will never be forgotten.

Thank you for the tour. The aesthetics of the F-111 is a beaut. One of my favs as well as the B-58 Hustler.

I grew up at Amberly. Next to the base for the F111 spent my whole youth watching them fly. And do some amazing displays. Will always tresure those younger memories.

My grandfather was a mechanical engineer and he was the chief designer on the landing gear for the F-111.

Supposedly, when they worked as advertised which was rare, the D models at Cannon AFB in New Mexico were pretty amazing.

Flew the D & E models @ Cannon AFB & RAF Upper Heyford in the late 80’s. Nice presentation with essentially correct facts. For the stats fans I’ve personally seen > 2.5 Mach at altitude. With its bigger motors the F model could go faster/higher. However, it was low level where the F-111 stood out. In that regime no other plane was faster, and it could do that in any weather at night. Lots of videos showing F-111’s doing “high speed” air show passes. However, those aren’t even close to what the plane could actually do. Otherwise many broken windows, damaged buildings and blown-out ear drums would have occurred. There’s an excellent Aussie range tower flyover video that shows the effects of a pair of them flying over at what I’d call medium altitude. Nice job with the video.

The Ozzies ended up operating the F-111 about a decade longer than the USAF. The F-111C model they mainly used was actually a hybrid of design elements from various F-111 models; it was probably most like the F-111K model the RAF was going to buy but canceled. The F-111C features a basic F-111 A-model airframe with FB-111A/G-like wings (extended span which held more fuel) and landing gear later retrofit with F-model engines (25,000lb thrust TF30 turbofans; the most powerful TF30 model built) and the F-model's PAVE Tack targeting pod which was also used by the F-4E Phantom. In the end, the F-111C was refit close to F-111F model standard but without the air intakes the F-model had. There were at least 3 types of intake designs for the F-111 fleet and that along with different engine models and avionics fits complicated spare parts for USAF service. The F-111F which entered service after Vietnam was the most optimal F-111 in service and the fastest with a top speed of Mach 2.73 clean at altitude. (At low level, the F-111F was stated to be capable of Mach 1.4 and could "almost" supercruise at altitude.) In practice, the F-111F model ended up being the preferred model the USAF employed for missions in Libya and the Gulf War. The Gulf War was the last combat the F-111 saw for the US. The F-111 was quickly retired after the Gulf War with the last F-111F's retired in 1996 and the EF-111A Raven EW model retired in 1997. The other USAF F-111 models were gradually retired between the late 1980s and 1995. Representing something like 10% of the USAF tactical aircraft fleet, it was nonetheless the most expensive fighter-bomber to support and consumed 25% of the annual USAF/TAC budget! There are examples of all USAF F-111 models preserved in the mainland United States and an F-111C preserved in an air museum in Hawaii. There is one sole surviving F-111B stored at NAS China Lake that has been awaiting restoration for many years so that it can eventually be put on public display. After the F-111F was retired for good, spare wing sets, engines, and PAVE Tack pods become available to support the Australian fleet and the RAAF acquired enough surplus PAVE Tack's to equip all its F-111Cs. By the early 2000s, all but the USAF F-111 airframes allocated for museum preservation or gate guard duty had been scrapped at the Davis-Monthan AFB storage facility. In total, there were 563 F-111s built for the USAF, USN, and RAAF. As noted before, the UK had plans at one time to buy the F-111 but they were canceled before the (3?) F-111K prototypes were finished. It's believed the incomplete F-111K airframes were broken down and their parts were reused in F-111 production models.

USAF records show, That after 500K flight hours the F-111 had the lowest accident rate, lowest major accident rate, and LOWEST FATALITY rate of any fighter built since the 1950's (ref. Wings Mag., April 1992). Only SIX F-111 were lost in Vietnam giving it the best survivability rate of ANY aircraft in the theater (ref. Discovery Wings Video, 1991).

Great video Paul I think that’s a very cool plane

I worked on the D model at Cannon AFB, N. Mex. 522nd AMU a.k.a. Red Section, 27th TWF, 1984-87

Pigs do fly! Thanks for the video.

Back in the mid-1970s I spent my summers in Las Vegas & North Las Vegas, NV and used to watch the F-111s in pairs ignite those afterburners towards dusk with the blue flame and they were gone. I also remember the Aussie pilots from down under coming in to gas up at the service station I worked at as they were training there at Nellis. Thanks to all our service me and women here in the U.S. or Australia and New Zealand for serving in peacetime and in war. Thanks for the video.

Thank you, Paul, for sharing another interesting video with us.

Wow, what strong memories I have of the F-111. I was a USAF crew chief stationed at RAF Lakenheath from '76 to '79 during the switch from F-4Ds to F-111Fs.

A friend of mine and sometimes drinking body flew the first batch of f111’s to Australia. During training the yanks made them fly over the Grand Canyon using the terrain following radar at night. He ended up as a squadron leader and an Air Marshal with many good stories to tell.

Worked on the F-111E at raf upper hayford in 1977 thru 1978.theres some things u left out like it capable of carrying cruze missiles in its bomb bay.it also carried a 20mm gattling gun in the bomb bay as well.both the gun and the missile rotisserie could be swapped out on the ground very easily.fantastic aircraft.

We had them in Plattsburgh, NY on alert with Nukes. I remember one that crashed during training and as security, I saw the parts that were recovered. The pod had a tree sticking right up in front of one seat. They brought it back like that for investigation. That guy was lucky. Very lucky…

My all time favourite jet. F111. First TFR,First turbo fan and First swing wing.Hence 111. I understood the term pig was from sniffing through the weeds with its snout,not the nose shape. I like to think their beaks look like kookaburras or kingfishers with that flattened slightly up pointiness. Then out swept wings for landing like a magpie swooping. I am a brissy boy and fondly remember that empty pipe sounding roar that you had to learn by ear which way it was going in order to catch a glimpse of the jet itself that was waaaay in front of the sound. Also I hear of Mach 3 plus dives from these things and that RAAF would get a what are you doing pH call from Indonesia if long range tanks got slapped on. Moscow hated these things and always brought them up at political summits. I certainly would love to chat for weeks with an ex pilot about the rest of what I've heard. I'd like to go to Amberley museum or Darwin to have a good gander

I used to work on the A model, lots of memories with this video! My job was maintenance on navigation snd Radars...the main navigation computer weighed around 90 lbs (40 kg) and was installed in the center of the instrument panel, just to the right of the engine gauges. It’s not present here, looks to have been upgraded to a digital system. Imagine climbing into the cockpit carrying a 90 lbs object roughly the size of a 19” television! Good times, good times!

I have always loved the F-111, technically, the last of the Century Series. What a beast!

Thanks again Paul for another great video.

It's a badass bomber.

This was a goodun. The dump and burn was always something special to see at airshows!

You have all the flexibility of a gymnast the way you enter and exit the cockpit Paul :-) I'm loving the new videos too....but still looking forward to watching first/business class travel which I can't afford!

Beautiful plane thanks for the tour Paul

Wow. Didn't realise how huge this beautiful machine was!