F-111F Aardvark

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You can tell by the tail codes where I was stationed, Mountain Home, 366th TFW
 
An underappreciated warrior. Pushed into Vietnam before it was ready it developed a reputation of disappearing. But it matured into an effective war plane. I am sure it open plenty of enemy eyes in 1986 when it flew from England to Libya and delivered a precision strike, then the longest fighter combat mission in history, against a formidable defense. In the 1980s while we were designing the B-2 cockpit avionics, two USAF crewmen both from the FB-111, one pilot the other a Weapon System Operator, were assigned to my working group. This was because the FB-111 was two man crew as the B-2 was going to be and would represent an accurate workload model, verses the six man B-52 and four man B-1. We learned a lot about FB-111 capabilities including the fact that at that time it was the go-to plane for deep penetration nuclear strikes, something that surprised me. The aircraft is very fast with a top speed of 2.5 Mach, 1650 mph, at altitude, and an amazing 1.2 Mach, 915 mph at SL. For comparison, the F-4 had a top speed of 1470 mph at altitude, the F-106, 1515 mph. The F-15 is rated at about the same speed as the F-111 but is probably faster.
 
We used it in 71 later in Viet Nam to bring the Vietnamese back to the Paris peace talks.

 
Wildr1 said:
We used it in 71View attachment 499026 later in Viet Nam to bring the Vietnamese back to the Paris peace talks.

View attachment 499025 View attachment 499027
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Flying for a commuter airline right next to an FB-111 base led to some interesting experiences. A number of our pilots were retired FB drivers who didn't want to move to the big city to fly for the majors, and it took some of them awhile to shake their FB habits, such as over-rotating on takeoffs and landings and rolling sharply into steep banked turns.
Apparently the FB flew like a Mack truck, and the light and quick controls of the 1900 took a little getting used to. The 'vark rotated to a sharp deck angle but then climbed a shallow gradient with its nose pitched way up until it got up to cruise climb speed.
If you rotated that way in a 1900 it would rocket skyward with a disconcertingly steep climb gradient to the accompaniment of screams from the cabin. If you were departing a back country airport with no revenue onboard it had been known for crews to do that just for fun. As long as you made sure to achieve V2 speed before getting too steep. Light, it would accelerate to VYSE even in a steep climb.
Cheers,
Wes
 
mikewint said:
Then there were the geniuses that decided the F-4 did not need guns as all engagements would be via missles
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They believed all that Sparrow and Falcon propaganda about no-see-um BVR kills 200-300 miles out from the carrier. Never contemplated operating in a "mud mover" environment, especially a defended one.
Cheers,
Wes
 
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