Shame its an ageing aircraft that was becoming too expensive and difficult to maintain. Its capabilities in speed distance and many other performances still exceed alot of or most modern jets. It was the perfect jet to have for this vast country, the legacy the F111 will leave behind is one of the most capable and outstanding jets ever developed and Australia kept them right to the end.
@@jbizzle9984 That wouldn´t surprise me at all that the military and government would use that as an excuse. Carn´t say I´m a fan of the F-35, bloody ugly looking thing, reminds me of a matchbox with wings.
@@ironmantooltime 89 million for airforce version, 100 million for the navy version and 150 million for marine one. Flight cost per hour a little higher than the F14.
Getting replaced by the f35 which is super expensive to buy and just as expensive to maintain.. While being inferior in almost every way but stealth, whuch doesnt matter much because in order to have any real payload, it has to use exterior pylons and that nulls stealth.
I have spent many an hour working on the FB-111A and EF-111A in my USAF career. It is sad how few people know about it's capabilities and ground breaking technological advances. Quite amazing for an airframe first thought about in the late 1950's and accepted in 1966 for combat readiness.
@steven6161 Some of the things that made the F-111 airframe amazing was some of it's "firsts". First terain folling radar, first to effectively utilize LRU's (line replaceable units) for the avionics equipment, first military aircraft to have a functional crew escape module, first production aircraft to have variable geometry wings, first fighter aircraft to use turbofan jet engines and that's just the short list of major ground breaking developments and it all was perfected in an airframe that realistically couldn't be touched be any contemporary aircraft even up to the ones developed in the early 70's like the F-15. Down low and fast it truly was untouchable.
When I was young I went to a guys house with my parents who was anF111 pilot . This was 1986 probably. His kid was about my age. It was fun looking at his Airforce stuff. 13 yrs later I would be in the Airforce.
Great aircraft that was brilliant to watch at any airshow. The dump and burn was something to see. Loved working on them and being associated with this iconic plane. Gone but not forgotten
God I miss these beautiful aircraft. I was in the car parking line up that day and they were the absolute best seats in the house. Right over the top of us. Awesome display and the sound just ripped through your chest.
Living in Brisbane and being in the flight path of these amazing planes they are sorely missed, nothing compares to the vibration through your body of a low level, high speed pass of a "PIG" at an airshow or riverfire.
If I remember right they were pretty scary above Sacramento. Worked on simulator for it. My boss said it was one of the top simulators in the world. I thought a video game was probably a better simulator.
The F-111 has more range than the F-18, F-16, F-15, even the F-22. The F-111 has more payload than all of these aircraft. It can drop more precision bombs than all of these other aircraft. Why in the world would you want to retire it? Its the perfect design that just cant be beat, even with todays frontline fighters. Upgraded avionics and engines, this thing is unstoppable!
While driving a drilling rig Across middle of New Mexico desert I was Buzzed By by 2, f-111's and a B-1, flying low in formation, don't know how fast, but they were gettin it, wings swept back, sonic boom. scared sht out of me. but it was beautiful. I loved it. Saw them twice.
Awesome seeing the Aussies take an American jet and totally embracing it and making it their own. I totally want to visit Australia one day and our friends down under
I remember being a kid and my dad took me to watch an F111 take off from Hobart airport the day after an open day there where people could see the jets up close. It was the most mesmerizing thing, watching it take off over my head and then circling back to do a fly-by of the airport with its wings swept in, the noise and the glow of the jets I'll never forget. A jet well ahead of its time in capability.
Heck of a roll rate for such a big lumbering, flappy-winged bird. Starting at 2:31. Man if I only knew how rare a treat it was to see these aircraft at airshows back when I was a kid. F-111's, F-14's, F-5, F-4's, A-4s... even the F-15c is rare these days. Good ole times.
This is so awesome! I would love to see an air show that has demonstrations done by planes like the F-111, F-105 Thunderchief, and other aircraft from the past. I love seeing the F-16s, but I can see those anywhere. Great camera work and editing, thank you for posting this!
I remember growing up as an 80s Air Force kid, and the first model plane I ever remember having was an F111. I wore out the teeth in the wing pivot gear from playing with that thing all the time. Aardvark or Spark-vark, this will always be a beautiful aircraft to me.
I was at Upper Heyford. When your Lakenheath birds took off at night, the glow of their afterburners was glorious. We had the J30 engines, I believe, and you lot had the 100s... or something like that. I enjoyed the sights but never got used to the exhaust fumes!
I did some engineering work on the F-111 when it was still being used in the United States. I grew to really appreciate this aircraft. It delivered a huge punch at high speed. The guys who flew it loved it. Miss it. I'm of the opinion that it died an early death in the US dues to politics. There really wasn't something ready to replace it when it was mothballed.
Great to see the F111 flying in this video at Williamtown airshow, it was an awesome aircraft for sure! It was based at RAF Lakenheath and RAF Upper Heyford here in the UK with the USAFE, during the 70s and 80s. Although sadly the dump and burn part of the flying display wasn't permitted in the UK, and watching the wings variable geometry in action was just fantastic. 👍
While stationed at Barksdale AFB a few decades ago I used to watch the B52's do touch-and-go's - certainly not fast but watching those ominous birds up close made me glad I wasn't on the wrong end of them.
got so used to the sound of these engines growing up in bris and having the f-111s at amberley coming and going; will certainly be missed! looking forward to seeing the f-35s in action one day! ps the pilot was pulling some gun moves in that old thing!
Geez, imagine having one of these on your tail if you were the enemy!! Shitting bricks is an understatement😎😎. Without a doubt one of the most brutal and beautiful aircraft ever, up there with the b52 and f16, what a shame they don't grace our skies anymore👍👍👍👍👍
@@byronbailey9229 Nope, the F111C was modified to carry both an M61A1 and AIM-9B/L sidewinders if needed. However, aircraft with the 'pave track' modification have neither.
imagine standing in the jungles of vietnam and seeing one of those badboys screaming through a valley dropping a shit-ton of bombs. or in the gulf war being some hapless tank driver for saddam and watching in fear as your platoon pops one by one in the middle of the night. Im devistated we will never see these machines fly again.
Outside of the F-14 this is probably my favorite jet and it's not because of the cool "swept wings" it because of the speed this was just slightly faster :-)
Awesome footage for camcorder 2010 wow you can do then I thought you couldn't I've seen worse with newer cameras anyways amazing show thanks for posting wish I could have been there! PS love the aardvark F111
I spent 2 years as an assistant crew chief on a FB-111A. I was never more proud to be an American than when I saluted those pilots to launch those aircraft. People say they were ugly but man could they haul a$$. Looking back I couldn't wait to get out, now I wished I'd stayed in and retired. I was in the 509th bomb squadron (SAC) Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire. 1972--1974. Man ole man if I could do it all over again, things would have been much different now. The patch on my sleeve said FB-111 Mach 2.5+
@@willisix2554 I was offered TDY at Nellis Air Force base for 3 months and I turned it down, had I known it was so close to Area 51, I wouldn't have missed it for the world to just be near there for 90 days would have been quite a trip to remember. Congratulations and thank you for your service.
Woow. This video made my jaw drop. F-111 looks huge even high above in the air. And deadly, even without armament. Maybe F-111 was not very successful jet, but it was certainly impressive-looking like very few airplanes.
Reminds me of seeing F111's when I was a kid growing up near Upper Heyford in the UK during the 80's... I used to run outside to see them every time they flew over (usually in pairs)
I used to make spare parts for these in the 80's at BAe Filton...There were no ejector seats... The whole cockpit was designed to eject on rockets & it could float.... Used to watch them take off... Fantastic
I was a crewchief at Upperhayford AFB, England 1979- 1980 ot this Aircraft the Ardvark ... ANYBODY know anyone from Upperhayford RAF ! i 'd Llike to talk to them ...send them to me! Thanks!!
Got to sit in a Vark capsule at the Air Force Museum. A real contrast from the F-16 for example in terms of space and crew comfort because of that side by side seating.
The F111 was not a fighter or a ground support aircraft... It was a long distance rapid deployment bomber. It did its job pretty well. Australia used it until quite recently. Big open country, well suited to this kind of aircraft
