General Dynamics F-111C Aardvark (The Flying Switchblade) - Pacific Aviation Museum - Pearl Harbor

When the USAF was developing its specifications for the F-111, Australia also needed a new strike aircraft. Indonesia, which represented a major potential threat in the early 1960s, had Soviet Bombers that could strike Australia, but Australia’s existing Canberra bombers did not have the range to strike back. The F-111 would allow Australia them to take out aggressor air forces on the ground and then turn to other targets. The Royal Australian Air Force ordered 24 F-111Cs off the drawing board. These were based on the F-111A but were redesigned for the needs of the Royal Australian Air Force. One change was to give the Australian Aardvarks an anti-shipping role by allowing them to strike with AGM-84 Harpoon missiles. In addition, the C's had the heavier landing gear and wider wings created for the F-111B and FB-111A.

After prolonged development, General Dynamics finished the F-111Cs for Australia in 1968. However, the Royal Australian Air Force would not accept them until concerns about aircraft longevity had been worked out. The most important concern was the strength of the wing carry through box, which failed in a test. Finally, the wing carry through boxes were replaced at great cost. In 1973, Australia accepted its two dozen F-111C, which its crewmembers nicknamed the Pig. These aircraft were upgraded several times. In 1979, the RAAF modified four to carry reconnaissance pods.

Although two dozen aircraft would serve the needs of two full squadrons, this did not provide any spares. Inevitable attrition led to the purchase of four refurbished F-111As from the U.S. Air Force. These were upgraded these to the general F-111C specification. When the United States retired its FB-111As, it converted some to F-111Gs, as noted earlier. The RAAF was able to purchase fifteen F-111 Gs in 1983. This gave adequate replacement aircraft for several years. In the 1990s, the RAAF purchased ten Pave Tack target detection, tracking and designation pods.

Fortunately, Australian pigs never saw combat. However, in the East Timor crisis of 1999, Australia stationed its F-111 fleet in striking distance of East Timor. The Indonesians knew that the F-111s could devastate their ground forces if they took unacceptable action. This and the other threats posed by the Australian naval fleet kept the Indonesians in check.

In time, however, the high maintenance burden of Australia’s F-111 fleet led to the retiring of the fleet. The F-111Gs were retired in 2007, the F-111Cs in 2010. After 37 years of service, the RAAF held a moving farewell ceremony for its beloved Pigs.

In place of the long-range fighter/bomber, the RAAF has purchased 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets. It plans to upgrade to F-35s as these become available. Neither has the phenomenal range and loitering time of the Triple One, but both are modern superlative airplanes.

After decommissioning its F-111s, the RAAF needed to dispose of its aircraft in ways permitted by the SALT treaty. Eight had crashed while in service, and 23 were buried in in landfills. Six were retained at RAAF bases, and the others were made available to civilian museums where all but one was delivered by truck. The final Triple One, F-111C A8-130 (seen in the photograph above), was delivered to Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum in September 2013.

This last aircraft, A8-130, is one of the original two dozen F-111Cs purchased by Australia. This bird, with construction number D1-6, began its service on June 1, 1973. It left service on December 3, 2010. During its long career, many pilots flew this aircraft, including the Chief of the RAAF, Air Marshall Geoff Brown OA & Deputy Chief of the RAAF, Air Marshall Gavin “Leo” Davies. Getting the aircraft to Hawaii presented a real challenge. So, the aircraft was divided into components and shipped to Hawaii by the RAAF in a C-130. Early in its career, the aircraft flew in camouflage. Prior to the being divided into components, the RAAF restored the aircraft to its camouflage paint job as seen above to commemorate its early history.

www.pearlharboraviationmuseum.org/blog/general-dynamics-f...

Technical Information (or Nerdy Stuff):
Camera - Nikon D7200 (handheld)
Lens – Nikkor 18-300mm Zoom
ISO – 1250
Aperture – f/6.3
Exposure – 1/640 second
Focal Length – 30mm

The original RAW file was processed with Adobe Camera Raw and final adjustments were made with Photoshop CS6.

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Taken in: United States / Hawaii / Pu‘uloa (show map)

Taken on: May 4, 2019

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Camera: Nikon D7200, f/6.3, 1/640 sec, 30mm (=45mm), ISO 1250 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D7200
Lens:	18.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6
Aperture:	f/6.3
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/640)
Focal Length:	30mm (35mm equivalent: 45mm)
ISO:	1250
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	High gain up
Saturation:	High
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)
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