F-111 Aardvark RAAF Final Flight 

I was there that day as a proud 6SQN member in service dress on the runway to salute them off. I worked on these babies from 2007-THE END. Aircraft Technician, loved every minute I spent with the pigs. Got into every engine intake and exhaust to check for damage, opened up the engine bays to service them and did regular 'Zone 3' engine runs at test cell which was the most amazing experience, 100,000 lockwires to do and used about 20 tonnes of goop to hold everything together. What a beast, what a pure beautiful aircraft. I love it. I'm on Super Hornets now .... NO COMPARISON!

Man, I miss that jet. I spent 9 years fixing them and they were the best years of my working life.

Very proud that as a teenager in 1985 I got to do work experience at Amberley and was all over the famous PIG. A rare privelage I'll always cherish.

The capabilities of this aircraft are exactly what we need now; a mid range bomber with a larger payload.

Great aircraft, very elegant. But their time did come, they've been working since '73. Retired in 2010, thats 37 years of great service to this country, a long life for aircraft.

Stunning bird. Aussie pride is well placed, you utilized the 111 to its fullest. Godspeed.

A few months before this vid, I was on the top of Mt Greville and an F111 was flying circuits around and over the peak, it was like having your own private air show. We all miss the F111s.

I worked on them from 75 to 81. Fond memories.

@BoneyardWrangler You are correct, and make a valid point. I really hoped you guys loved them as much as we did. I worked on the D and F models for years, and those were the best ones of my life. Skys without them are just not the same. I wish they could have done one more airshow circuit in the US one more time, before they retired them. It's nice to see you honor them in the way that your country did. Proud to call you allies. Good on ya.

Remember the USAF F-111E and F based at RAF Upper Heyford and Lakenheath,flying regularly past my school in Scotland,during the 1980s.

Vale the mighty "pig" I was lucky enough to serve on an F-111 squadron at RAAF Amberley and never got sick of watching them or the sound of their Pratt and Whitney TF30 engines!

It's not that the fuel was expensive, it was the amount of maintenance required to keep them in the air.

These were a regular part of my childhood living at Amberley airforce base as a kid. Miss these things :/ It was normal for class to stop talking for a few minutes while squadrons of these would take off. You couldn't hear each other any way, and the pictures used to shake on the walls from the rumble. Good times

Wonderful aircraft shame there gone. :((

What a jet ...I am sad to see her go,,such service will never be seen again i'm sure.

3rd of Dec is my fathers birthday and they ended on his birthday... these my my fathers FAVOURITE planes!

A sad day, fantastic aircraft

Still the best airframe the RAAF has EVER used. such a stupid decision to get rid of them.

F-111....it was also referred to as "Whispering Death" in some circles (I have a triangular shaped sticker from the 80s as a witness to that)

The RAAF suffered one of its worst peacetime accidents when an F-111G fighter-bomber from No 6 Squadron crashed on Pulau Aur, a tiny island in the South China Sea lying 65 kilometres off Mersing, on the east coast of Johor, Malaysia. The aircraft (A8-291) was one of two making a simulated night-time strike against British, Australian and Singaporean warships during a Five Power Defence Arrangement exercise, when it struck tall trees on a ridge line of the island’s peak. The aircraft tumbled through the air for a further mile before crashing into the jungle. Owing to the inaccessibility of the site, most of the wreckage of A8-291 was left at the scene, with a memorial established to the two crew members - Squadron Leader Stephen Hobbs and Squadron Leader Anthony Short - who were killed in the accident.

Found memories when I was a kid in primary school,back in Brisbane and the sound and sight of an approaching F1-11 was an awesome thing. We’d also see Schinooks reguarly as well.

This is the best part of my childhood!

@rampking1 Both the F-111C and F-111G had the larger wingspan and undercarriage, with the -G models being converted FB-111As.

Crazy aircraft. Low level pnetrator that also landed on a carrier once

I'll never forget those smartarses doing low-ish level runs over me on my farm west of Stanthorpe when I was on the tractor.... scared the crap out of me every time. I bet they knew I needed a change of strides each time too...

2:56 that's freaking cool with the fire and the tailpipe. Great gimmick

It is not an Aardvark in Australia!

Used to watch them fly at Plattsburgh Air Force Base. Great at night when they hit the afterburners

I LOVE TO SEE PIGS DO MACH 2

What a sad sad day.... even sadder when they got barred in the land fill.

@BoneyardWrangler, actually we did call them Aardvarks while they were still in service. Either way an Ardvark or a Pig it is sad knowing they are not in the sky!

@A234921 Don't blame the Aircraft, blame the military system that requires blind obedience to orders from superiors while being provided with little or no safety equipment to carry out the task.

Sad day for the aviation world. I will miss the sound of TF-30's.

farout i miss them :(

cheers mate

Heck of a weapon, it's so good , was never used!

suprisingly snappy roll rate!

I love the F-111 since i assembled the fighter in a model kit at scale 1:72 from airfix in my childhood by myself. You could get them in 2 versions Navy or Air Force and with fully functional undercarriage and swiveling main wing stick together. Bye Hans.

The F-111 is a special aircraft and a strategic tactical bomber dont know if the new F-18 is a match for it.

Sad day for Australia have to say

@jonesy97 War for war, conflict after conflict, in the last 100 years, no country in the world can equal the times that Australia has fought shoulder to shoulder with the USA. Yes, only the highest respect and admiration for our Australian Allies. Btw, wasn't the RAAF F-111 close in many respects to our FB-111? Thanks for sending me this link....a little sad though.

End of an era... cool plane👍🇳🇿

@rampking1 Not too sure about a link to the FB's, but they started out as the old A models. It's easy to tell, by the large plate separating the intakes from the fuselage. Pretty sure the Aussies upgraded just about everything on them, systems-wise.

Yes you are correct Hoobee26 My Maintenance crew were AWESOME TN148

This is an excellent video, well done

The ole doomsday machine. These things struck fear into all adversaries!!!

Awesome! Thank you for sharing Jason :)

Oh the memories of riverfire

@jonesy97 I thought I read somewhere that they had the longer wing-span and beefier landing gear of the FB-111...could be wrong. Thanks again for this video, to be honest I saw a F-111 do a high speed pass twice in my life, both at Mather AFB but never a air demo like in this video.

In Australian service they were known as "pigs" not "Aardvark"(which was their US nickname)

Is that actual ordnance on the hardpoints whilst they were allowing civies with to walk within touching distance?

Thanks for sharing your video!

No, they are pigs not aardvarks.

Everyone in the RAAF called them the Pig. Especially those involved in Deseal/Reseal

This is like the first time I have ever seen vapes off fighters in Australia. XD

Do you think they will ever add an F111 to DCS?

Excellent Aircraft

With all the debacles with getting the Super Hornets as purely an interim aircraft before we get the JSF (God knows when that will happen now, it was meant to be 2014 for the first one but has been pushed back to 2016 or to be advised because of production issues). The money they have spent could have been used to keep the Pigs flying.

what a legend

I am so jealous.

this was a horrible decision by the Australian governments to retire this aircraft.

Question why did they have to dump fuel like that, and what made it catch on fire? Such a beautiful plane!

I could've flown them, if I joined the RAAF in the mid 90s.

I want one but with the upgraded engines that the F-14 got. They both had the same engine when new then the tomcat got an upgraded engine with more thrust and fuel economy. I wonder if there are any engines that could push one to super cruse. It would be the coolest private exmilitary jet to own by far then and even without the upgrade it would be an awesome jet to own because it can cross the Atlantic without refueling and you sit side by side so your passenger will be more comfortable. But if you could somehow get engines to push it to super cruise then you could have a very decent range because of its internal bays that you can put fuel tanks into. And that would keep it as aerodynamic as possible so you'd have a decent range. I'm not selfish and I wonder so pls world granted me this wish. Lol. I'd have to win a massive lottery.

A sad day.

@VigilanteAgumon Thanks for the information. :-)

And What price do you put on your freedom Sir ??

No other aircraft can match the F111 .

lets not forget the poor goop-troopers left suffering from this aircraft.This may well be a unique aircraft now at the end of it's operational life, but what about the lives of the personel that were left scarred from it's carcinogenic fuel system eh????..

First of all they were NEVER called the Ardvark in the RAAF. It was the Pig, or the F111.

Probably below but we never called them Aardvarks, they were always Pigs.

why do they called it the aardvark

I know the Australian government had likability but couldn't keep a few in the air😞

Long Live the Mighty Pig!!!!

Still, one of the finest all weather, deep pentration, low level long range strike platforms in the world. A high capable, effective credible deterrent. A highly credible deterrent long range strike tool whch was respected in our region. Pensioned off by a socialist Labour Govt amd its policy lack lackey in DOD - Paul Dibb - which didnt want us able to keep the Chinese in line - Replaced by Rhinos with a third of the range, and, a third of the payload. I had the privelege to film at Amberley

The American Mig - 23

amazing dump fuel

This is the dream aircraft of many countries.Russian federation 's everyday fantasies .

2:40 I dunno! lol

Can't wait till we get the "F35 Flying Lemon".

IF PIGS COULD FLY? AND THAY STILL SHOULD BE!🇭🇲

Should have given the US the bird in the first place & gone with the TSR.2 !!!

some of this borrowed for this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-cuZ9c-AkMAQ.html

Nice dump and burn

@a8127 Not Angus' fault...purely political.

All based on the F-14 lol

"lost the plot"? Indeed, because you lost Abby Winters, lol.

I think you need to see the facts. The F111 was uneconomical amongst other things. It wasn't a stupid decision at all. Unless you're a senior adviser to the military and the government ?

They were way too expensive to run. I think it was something like 2million dollers just to take off. VERY HIGH FUEL CONSUMPTION!

Rubbish plane.