Why did the USAF scrap the F-111's? I looked at them and they performed outstandinging combat! what gives?
Yes they did. They were a great aircraft. From a maintenance stand point they were a mess though. Sometimes and I hate to say this, Pork Barrel politics enters into things. Also some newer aircraft preform a larger part of the mission in one package. Some aircraft like the BUFF, KC-135, C47, C130, Navy A-6 live on for more than a normal lifetime even though newer aircraft come out. In a lot of our minds and hearts they start to become legendary. The Navy and the Air Force today even look at having the same aircraft but they do modify them for the specific mission and the Navy has to get them aboard the carriers, so landing gear have to be different. The F-18 of today is here and I'm glad about that. In the seventies it flew against the YF-16 as the YF-17. It was an excellent aircraft but the Air Force wanted a single engine aircraft. Luckily for us the Navy modified the landing gear for carrier landings and put it into service. Today it has progressed to the F-18 E/F model and served very well. I know this has gotten long winded but this is all in a general sense from what I saw from the maintenance stand point.