I can go with that.
Posted on 07/18/2006 3:14:58 AM PDT by Aussie Dasher
THE fleet of 26 F-111 aircraft has been temporarily grounded following an emergency landing by one of the RAAF fighters in Queensland today.
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said the grounding was necessary to ensure there was nothing structurally wrong with the planes.
Air Marshall Geoff Shepherd said the left-wing wheel of the fighter fell off shortly after take off, an event that had never occurred in the 30-year flying history of the planes.
Dr Nelson paid tribute to the pilot, support crew and civilian emergency personnel for the way they handled the incident, which occurred at RAAF Amberley air base near Brisbane at about 2.10pm (AEST).
He said that in light of the incident, it was prudent to temporarily ground the aircraft.
"I understand the chief of Air Force will be ensuring our F-111 fleet is properly examined to ensure that all of them are safe to continue flying," he said.
"In the meantime they will be temporarily grounded for reasons that most Australians would understand and respect."
Air Marshal Shepherd said the pilot of the fighter was one of the most junior with the F-111s, having graduated from the basic conversion course a fortnight ago.
He was doing an operational upgrade, and flying with one of the nation's most experienced F-111 navigators.
"The fact that he was able to bring the aircraft down in such a very good way, I think bears well the training that we do," he said.
Air Marshal Shepherd said the aircraft had suffered only superficial damage in the accident.
"The aeroplane has some superficial damage, we believe that there's nothing structurally damaged so far in the aeroplane that would cause it not to be repairable," he said.
"The rapid assessment we've done shows that there's nothing of an airworthiness nature that would cause us to doubt the longevity of the F-111 capability."
Air Marshal Shepherd said there were still no clues as to why the aircraft's wheel fell off.
"On takeoff ... what happened was when he retracted the undercarriage ... the left main wheel fell off," he said.
"That's an occasion without precedence in 34 years of flying the F-111 in the RAAF."
Air Marshal Shepherd said the F-111 simulator at Amberley was used to determine the best way to land the aircraft, which flew for about three hours to burn off fuel. As the jet landed, its hook was deployed, enabling it to pick up a cable that helped bring it to a halt.
Dr Nelson said the F-111 fleet would not be back in the air until it was clear they were safe to fly.
But he said the incident did not change the Government's longer term plans for the F-111 and its replacement.
"This is an outstanding aircraft, it has served Australia very well for more than 30 years. It's got another six years of great flying time in front of it, and of course we're on track to replace it with the Joint Strike Fighter," Dr Nelson said.
That is funny. LOL!
That is one wicked looking fighter. I had an opportunity to sit in one about 25 years ago. My parents were trying to set me up with a gent in OCS at Maxwell AFB who gave me a tour of his F one eleven. ;-)
For pure evil appearance you can't beat the B-1.
For unadulterated intent to do harm, I'd go with F-15, but the ME/BF-109 series looked the part long after they were obsolete.
For pretty, the F-101.
Raptor makes points on clean and effecient.
Finally, the A-1 stands at the head of it's very own class, utterly without competition.
Agreed. A close second is the F-14 or F-111. IMHO only.
The F-4 was proof that a brick can fly if enough power is applied.
I beg to differ -- for pretty, I go with the F-15 Eagle, followed by the F-14 Tomcat and the A-10 Thunderbolt.
Are you talking about the A-1 Skyraider?
I try to keep my picks in the modern jet range -- mixing props and jets is comparing vastly different aircraft.
But TIMHO.
Australia should never have had the F-111. The TSR-2 would have been a far superior choice (and less expensive as it turned out).
(Just don't try to punch out with the downward ejection seat at low altitude in the early models. Ivan Kincheloe got caught when his engine failed during take-off. He'd almost rolled inverted before ejecting, but his 'chute didn't fully deploy. Helluva test pilot...)
I can go with that.
Yeah but back then they built 'em solid so a little wheels up is no big drama
Viseop availsble: Watch footage of the F-111 making an emergency landing at the Amberley RAAF base.
Insufficient pre-flight???
That can happen to a car. Usually there is some warning such as a shriek from the wheel bearings, but sometimes there is metal fatigue in the axle--a crack left from forging that is not noticed in quality! control.
Yep, they use them for strike aircraft. Tell them to look out in the desert in Arizona, there are hundreds of spare planes just lined up out there.
But I'm a geezer so...
LOL
Hawker Tempest
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