[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

Was going through my old RAAF Photos and found these....kinda sad to see them "mothballed" now. I was at Amberley when the very first batch of F111C Models arrived in 1973.

I can remember when Squadron Leader Kelloway returned to Base one afternoon and both main wheel tires " blew " on landing. There was a " massive " bang ....both landing gear disc brake rotors were " glowing " red hot....fire trucks scrambled...etc....etc.

Aeroplane spent about a week in the hanger for a " refit " at 482 Squadron. It's a great aeroplane to work on.... and still brings back lots of good memories.

OF the original 24 we purchased .... we lost 6 due to " bird strikes " , Mechanical failure , Failure of the Terrain Following Radar ( TFR )...which caused 1 aircraft to impact a mountain in the Philippines in bad weather.

All in all over the 37 years we had them....all up about 36 F111 Aircraft.

Kinda sad to see these " pensioned " off....
To me they are still a " formidable " aircraft to be reckoned with in today's Military Hardware.

The best bit I used to get a kick out of was when they would " sneak up " on people at Airshows... you'd never hear them coming until they were right on " top " of you.... It was a real buzz.

Cheers .... FlashDrive.