Primary Operating Locations

Merry Christmas!  

FB-111A  Aardvark, 380th BMW, Plattsburgh AFB, New York.  Via FB-111A.net

The topic for today's post will be the primary operating locations for the F-111s.

As I've mentioned in previous posts on this blog, the F-111 was operated by both the United States Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force.

The primary operating location for Australia's F-111 Pig was at Royal Australian Air Force Base Amberly located in Queensland, Australia.  Amberly was home to No. 82 Strike Wing which operated two squadrons of F-111s: No. 1 Squadron and No. 6 Squadron. The Royal Australian Air Force operated the F-111 from 1973 until 2010.

In the United States Air Force, there have been many unit changes, re-designations and base closures over the years so I will touch upon only the primary F-111 operators.

The F-111A variant of the Aardvark was operated by the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada and later the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.

The only unit to operate the F-111D version of 'Vark was the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico.

The United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE) operated two wings of F-111s, the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing and 48th Tactical Fighter Wing at Royal Air Force Upper Heyford United Kingdom and Royal Air Force Lakenheath United Kingdom respectively.

EF-111A ravens, the electronic version of the '111, were operated by the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing at Royal Air Force Upper Heyford, United Kingdom.  Following major force restructuring and downsizing in the United States Air Force in the 1990s, EF-111s were consolidated initially at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho and then eventually at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico.

Strategic Air Command initially operated the 340th Bomb Group (Medium) at Carswell Air Force Base Texas with one bomb squadron and one combat crew training squadron.  After a number of years, Strategic Air Command closed the 340th and relocated all the remaining fleet of FB-111As to the 509th Bombardment Wing, at Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire and the 380th Bombardment Wing, at Plattsburgh Air Force, New York.

'111 Veteran

Recently, I realized that I haven’t been maintaining and nurturing this blog as much as I should be.  To help acclimate myself to the Christmas season, I decided to adorn this blog in festive colors of green and red.

During Veterans Day, I met a veteran FB-111  crew chief from the 509^th Bombardment Wing at Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire.  Murph served with the 509th from 1982 until 1990 with a brief one year stint at Suwon Air Base, Korea during that time. I was amazed by some of the war stories Murph told me.

For example he told me that after the April 1986 raid on Libya, Operation El Dorado Canyon, aircrew of the 509^th were placed on cockpit-alert in support of Strategic Air Command's Single Integrated Operational Plan (S.I.O.P.) and Emergency War Orders.  I suppose this was only a contingency to preempt any threats to national security as a result of the Libya raid.

An FB-111A Aardvark in the alert shelter at Pease Air Force Base,  New Hampshire. Via FB-111A.net

The second interesting story was about an FB-111 that came back from a mission.  Apparently the aircraft had flown such a low TFR (terrain following RADAR) profile that it came in contact with the top of pine trees.   Pine needles were actually found on the bottom of the aircraft.

The TFR patch.  Via CodeOne Magazine.

Thanks Murph, I salute you!

Saving The F-111

Accolades are in order! The Australian Ministry of Defence recently announced that six retired F-111 Pigs will be loaned to various air museums and air organizations throughout Australia. This is a win-win situation for helping to preserve the history of such a pivotal aircraft, which played such a vital role in the history of the Royal Australian Air Force and the national security of Australia. 

The six organizations to receive F-111s are as follows: the Aviation Historical Society of the Northern Territory (Winnellie, Northern Territory); the Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome Heritage Aviation Association (Evans Head, New South Wales); Fighter World (Williamtown, New South Wales); the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (Albion Park Rail, New South Wales); the Queensland Air Museum (Caloundra, Queensland); and the South Australian Aviation Museum (Port Adelaide, South Australia).  

Although we advocate restoring at least one F-111 to flying conditions for air shows and fly overs, we realize that it’s just wishful thinking.  The costs associated with operating and maintaining the forty-year-old F-111s are exorbitant and it’s unlikely if the Australian government and taxpayers would support such an idea, unless a private organization footed the bill.

The Royal Australian Air Force operated the F-111 from 1973 until 2010. 

See the press release from the Australian Ministry of Defence here:  Retired-‘pigs’-get-a-new-home

F-111 A8-125 completely reassembled after its trip from Amberley and sitting in its final resting place inside one of the RAAF Museum display hangars. As part of the disposal strategy for the retired F-111 aircraft, the Department of Defence is preserving eight aircraft for static display. The aircraft will be prepared for display at RAAF base Amberley (QLD), disassembled, transported to display locations, reassembled and handed over to the custodian unit. F-111C A8-125, one of the eight aircraft to be preserved, will be relocated to the RAAF Museum, Point Cook (VIC).

Byline  Australian Defence   BylineTitle  82TIF CBTCAM 87SQN   Credit  LAC Benjamin Evans   Copyright String  © Commonwealth of Australia   Last Modified  7/06/2011 12:13:13 PM Release Date

Byline	Australian Defence
BylineTitle	82TIF CBTCAM 87SQN
Credit	LAC Benjamin Evans
Copyright String	© Commonwealth of Australia
Last Modified	7/06/2011 12:13:13 PM
Release Date

Byline 

Australian Defence  

BylineTitle 

82TIF CBTCAM 87SQN  

Credit 

LAC Benjamin Evans  

Copyright String 

© Commonwealth of Australia  

Last Modified 

7/06/2011 12:13:13 PM

Release Date 

Diecast

Some of the best models of F-111s I’ve ever seen are die cast models produced by a company called Hobbymaster from Hong Kong.  Hobbymaster produces eleven different F-111 models, which are part of their 1/72^nd Air Power Series. These model F-111s range the gamut from Royal Australian Air Force F-111s, and United States Air Force F-111s from T.A.C. (Tactical Air Command), U.S. Air Forces In Europe and FB-111As from S.A.C. (Strategic Air Command). The Air Power Series has other scales including 1/32^nd, 1/48^th, and 1/444^th.  Hobbymaster also features other die cast models in their Ground Power Series and Airliner Series. Although, the die cast F-111s retails between $70-$90 each, which I find exorbitant, I’ve been told that their craftsmanship and quality are justifiable.  This post on this blog does not constitute an official endorsement of Hobbymaster.

 United States Air Force F-111A  474^th Tactical Fighter Wing, Thailand in 1972

     Royal Australian Air Force F-111C “Pig” No.6 Squadron, No.82 Wing, "A8-127"

 United States Air Force EF-111 Raven 42nd Electronic Combat Squadron, 
Royal Air Force Upper Heyford, 
United Kingdom 1989 
"LET'EM EAT CROW"

      
Royal Australian Air Force F-111G "A8-274 “60th Anniversary of 
Number 6 Squadron, July 1999

 United States Air Force F-111G "69-6506" 428th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, 
27th Tactical Fighter Wing, 
Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico

 United States Air Force FB-111A "AARDVARK" 68-0271, 509th Bombardment Wing, 
Pease Air Force Base,New Hampshire 1974 
"New Hampshire Special"

      United States Air Force F-111F "70-2390" 48th Tactical Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, United Kingdom. (CO., Nov 1991)

     Royal Australian Air Force F-111 A8-125,  "Final Flight"

United States Air Force F-111E "Aardvark" 68-0049, 79th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization Tiger Meet, 1991

    United States Air Force F-111E Aardvark "The Chief" 68-0020, 20th Tactical Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force Upper Heyford, United Kingdom. (Flagship, 1989)

     Royal Australian Air Force F-111C PIG A8-148, No. 1 Squadron,  (camouflaged scheme)