Yes, they used to call it the F What A Lemon. I was an avionics tech on the F-111A during the Vietnam era. Spent most of my time at Nellis.
I was curious why the D was so ridiculed. From Wikipedia:
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The F-111D used the new Triple Plow 2 intakes, which were located four inches (100 mm) further away from the airframe to prevent engine ingestion of the sluggish boundary layer air that was known to cause stalls in the TF30 turbofans. It had more powerful TF30-P-3 engines with 12,000 lbf (53 kN) dry and 18,500 lbf (82 kN) afterburning thrust.
More significant– and problematic– were the Mark II avionics. These were digitally integrated microprocessor systems, some of the first used by the USAF, offering tremendous capability, but substantial problems during introduction. The main radar was the General Electric AN/APQ-114, with Doppler beam-sharpening, moving target indicator (MTI), and continuous wave mode for guiding semi-active radar homing missiles (which the standard AN/APQ-113 set lacked). This was matched with an Autonetics inertial navigation/attack radar system, Marconi Doppler radar for navigation, a horizontal situation display, an IBM processor, and a Norden integrated systems display, with modern multi-function displays (MFDs). These last proved to be a major source of trouble, serving to multiply the development problems experienced with the individual systems. Considerable acrimony between the contractors resulted, and it took years before the problems were solved. F-111 crews considered the -D the most capable (and user-friendly) version of the aircraft when everything functioned, but that was rare before the 1980s.
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Nothing like the systems on today’s warplanes. Looks like you were paving the way. Thanks for helping make us the lone superpower!