Posted on 07/18/2006 3:14:58 AM PDT by Aussie Dasher
I do hope our American friends remain ready to give us a hand if Oz is attacked over the next few days...
F-111's are supposed to be in the boneyard... :\
Wow, I didn't know anyone was still flying F-111s.
I wouldnt worry too much about that. I am sure America will be there for Australia. In the meantime it sounds like a maintenance problem to me. If I drove my 34 year old Buick out and the wheel fell off I would assume the wheel was fine when it was factory fresh 34 years ago
OK, who forgot to tighten the lug nuts?
Fair dinkum, Mite!
nice aircraft, just OLD technology. :)
What's the f for in a lot of planes (F-111, F-16, F-18, etc.), fighter?
On the off chance that you're series, yes F for fighter.
In the case of the F-111, the 'F' might stand for something else...
well, they are alot prettier than the f-4's, but give me a phantom anyday........
Like many USAF aircraft they were given the label F to impress Congress into more funding.
The F-111 would be more properly thought of as a light bomber.
It was designed to deliver nukes to the USSR while flying barely above tree top level.
The F-111 was originally (believe it or not) developed as a fighter-interceptor and ended up evolving into an attack aircraft and electronic warfare platform (EF-111 Raven). It was one of the last of the "Century Series" to be developed before the DoD changed the numbering system in the early 1960s and we started over again, ending up with the F-4, F-5, F-15, etc.
Basically, "F" is fighter, "B" is bomber, "A" is attack, "C" is cargo, "K" is tanker, "H" is helicopter. There's other letter prefixes that add up to a dizzying array of combinations.
}:-)4
I'd have to agree that the Phantom was one sweet-looking deathmachine, but for bad-ass-looking aerial death dealers, the B-1 is tops in my book.
Well, of late, the "F" designation has been "improperly" used to attract the best pilots, who are loath to fly attack/bombers. e.g. the F-17
On the off chance that you're series, yes F for fighter.
But it wasn't always so: Before 1947, fighters were "P" (for 'Pursuit') and "F" meant photoreconnaisonce, viz:
Republic F-12.
Variable Geometry like the Tomcat?
I was at an air show here in Kansas, when McConnell was home to a B1-B squadron.
The B1's all had the traditional bomber names painted on the noses, such as "Miss Lucy" or "Sabrina".
But my favorite was named "Peace through Urban Renewal"!!!
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