Posted on 08/27/2022 6:52:19 AM PDT by whyilovetexas111
Pity the poor F-111, the veritable “redheaded stepchild” of the Western jet fighter-bomber world. “What’s in a name?” quoth young Ms. Capulet to young Mr. Montague in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but in the case of this warplane, the choice of name seemed to create some bad juju from the get-go.
Instead of a regal bird-of-prey moniker like “Eagle” or “Fighting Falcon,” the warbird was instead officially dubbed “Aardvark,” after one of the more ungainly-looking mammals out there; accordingly, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) nicknamed her “The Pig,” which shouldn’t automatically be viewed as an insult (“Pride-Integrity-Guts,” to quote Vietnam War hero turned bestselling author and motivational speaker Lt. Clebe McClary). Writing for Forbes in February 2021 journalist David Axe titled his article “The F-111 Was The ‘F-35 Of Its Day,’ But Its Failure Was A Boon To U.S. Air Power.” Talk about damning with faint praise. But was this aerial Aardvark truly a failure, or merely misunderstood?
(Excerpt) Read more at 19fortyfive.com ...
Tom Clancey called them Varks in Red Storm Rising. They played a very cool role as a very underestimated asset.
This was a case of 100% lucking-out. This was supposed to be a “joint” fighter, showing the silliness of trying to conform an airplane to both runway and carrier requirements.
Turned out to be a pretty good medium AF runway bomber.
Spawned my ‘ride’ — the F-14 Tomcat.
We called F-4s pigs. It ain’t necessarily a bad thing. Used to enjoy watching the swing-wings come in.
Seems like the B-58 Hustler of the fighter world.
The F-111s were stationed at Mountain Home AFB when I was a much younger man. I was on leave from the USAF (not associated with the F-111) and was driving from my hometown in Idaho to visit my grandmother in Bend, OR.
I had a radar detector and was driving a bit over speed for the, at that time, 55 limit on Oregon's highways. All of the sudden the detector went nuts. I lifted off the throttle and realized that there was nothing out there. Nowhere for a cop to hide and no one ahead of or behind me for miles. Then two huge shadows briefly blotted the out sun. It was two MHAFB F-111s about 300' off the deck running their terrain-following radar. That was cool.
Ping
I’ll say this for that bird, night takeoffs with full afterburners were spectacular.
It became a very capable plane. Most (but not all) weapons systems out of the gate change roles and capabilities significantly and find their niche over time.
The F-111 is one of those. I salute it.
If I were an Air Force pilot, I could be happy flying a C-130, an A-10, or F-111.
My understanding is that they worked over the F-111 until it transformed from an Aardvark into a TomCat!
There used to be video up on the net of an F-111 tearing down some canyon at night in terrain following mode. That took some brass ones on the part of the crew.
Very cool... would have like to experienced that... I did get to see a ever flyby years ago.
I was a small part of a larger group that upgraded the TFR for the F-111 before, during and a bit after the first Gulf War...
We had a two star visit and tell us a couple of cool stories about them during that same war.
We used go hang out by the runway, and under the approach at Homestead. The roar and shaking ground added to the fun. I’m surprised they never came out to shoo us away.
I knew an AF pilot who found himself in the “F111 funnel” and immediately volunteered for VietNam as a FAC.
He told me the plane was a classic compromise. It was supersonic, had a 2500+ mile range and could carry more bombs than a B52. Problem - it couldn’t do any two of those at the same time. He was also very skeptical of the terrain following radar.
Side-by-side seating works in cargo aircraft, refuelers, and bombers but is a liability in a fighter airplane.
You would have to have complete trust and confidence in the equipment. Because at that altitude there is zero recovery time. Just sit back, let go of the stick, close your eyes and try not to barf.
I used to ride in the back of the EC-130H Compass Call. I never got sick during the worst of the maneuvers the crew put the bird through. The only time I actually got sick was due to a slight bucking headwind that made it feel like we were on an undulating ship on the water. Funny thing is, I don't normally get seasick, either. When you fly there are only two types of people. Those who have gotten sick and those who will.
We had them at Ellsworth. Loved watching them.
Yah, whatever they did, it was a very good fighter bomber.
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