'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!

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.