What's In A Name?


This blog was established to meet the requirements for a university level communications course and to pay homage to the venerable General Dynamics F-111 and the veterans who maintained and flew the aircraft.  The goals of this blog are to satisfy the needs of this course and to act as a catalyst for dialogue for those associated with the F-111.


"Call me Ishmael" are the well known words which started Herman Melville's famous novel, Moby Dick.  Well, what is the connection with this blog, you may ask.  Absolutely nothing other than our discussion about names.

Aardvarks and Pigs

FLTLT Steven Stewart and SQNLDR Terence Deeth put on a spectacular display in their F-111. Photo by LAC Andrew Eddie. Via defence.gov.au.


The General Dynamics F-111 was affectionately called the Aardvark by Americans, owing to its long nose, which resembles an Aardvark or ant eater. After all, Aardvark is Afrikaans for Earth Pig. In Australia, the aircraft was known as the Pig, because it spent much of its time near the ground. Other nicknames were associated with F-111, but sometimes varied depending on the various versions of the aircraft.


The EF-111A received the official name, Raven, but was more commonly referred to as Fat Tail or Spark Vark. 

In Strategic Air Command, the aircraft was known as the Strategic Aardvark, FB, and the Dark Vark.  The Dark Vark moniker was as a result of the Strategic Camouflage applied the FB-111s in SAC in the mid 1980s.


There were some less than flattering, derogatory names associated with the F-111 such as The Flying Edsel, GD Switchblade Edsel, McNamara's Flying Edsel, and McNamara's Folly.  The Edsel was a car, which wasn’t very popular, and McNamara was the former Secretary of Defense, who advocated for commonality in the TFX program, the forerunner of the F-111.


Nicknames run the gamut: Earth Pig in Australia, One-Eleven, Swinger, Swing Wing Coffin, Swing-Wing, Supersonic Side-By-Side Voting Booth, Switchblade, Triple One, F one eleven, Whispering Death, and 111.


Interestingly, although the United States Air Force operated the F-111 from 1967 to 1996, it wasn't until the aircrafts' retirement in July 1996 that it received the official name, Aardvark.