F111 retirement

[scedd]

An interesting topic on the radio here was the official retirement of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F111 fighter jets.
The RAAF orderered them in 1963 and they were delivered in 1973.
They have done a fine job for 37 years and had their final retirment flyover yesterday.
Amazing to think we could get that much service from them.

 

[FordDude]

37 years

that is nothing. The B-52 has been in service since 1955. But the Aardvark was also a great plane. Remember making a plastic model of the F111 when I was a kid, it had working swing wings. :thu

fd

 

[opentrackerSteve]

F111-B was to be the Navy's version of the platform that would house the AWG-9 weapons system that included the Phoenix (AIM-54) missile.

The aircraft was so heavy that they had to cancel the program, which produced the F-14 Tomcat.

Well done, Aardvark and I believe the F-111 was the first aircraft to have pylons mounted on swing wings.

 

[AzPete]

I think we....the US....phased them out in '98 or so. If Australia is the last of the free world to phase them out, the bone yard in Az. will begin scrapping anything they have left as will any other storage unit. Most fighters do last a number of years in service.

 

[ZFORCE]

Wow, didn't think those planes were still flying. My dad used to work on the radar systems. BTW, that bone yard is here in Tucson.

 

[KBMWRS]

One of my hockey season ticket co-owners flew F-111s in VN. He never flew again after that. He didn't like going slow, so anything other than AF jet power was too slow. That thing was a flying truck though.