Was the Navy’s F111 really that bad?

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Cacophonix
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Re: Was the Navy’s F111 really that bad?

#2 Post by Cacophonix » Wed Aug 29, 2018 12:05 am

Interesting article.

There is an F111 in the American Air Museum here at Duxford in the UK and I always marvel at the seating arrangement and pod/capsule style ejection system.

1280px-General_Dynamics_F-111A_cockpit_061003-F-1234S-015.jpg
1280px-General_Dynamics_F-111A_cockpit_061003-F-1234S-015.jpg (112.22 KiB) Viewed 444 times
I hadn't realised that the aircraft had such a gory record with respect to test pilots.

Here is a more "upbeat" take on the F111!



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Re: Was the Navy’s F111 really that bad?

#3 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Wed Aug 29, 2018 12:28 am

Whenever I intercepted a Target-Of-Opportunity aircraft in the UK that didn't appear to see me, it was almost always an F-111. I cannot recall an F-111 I attacked rear of the beam who saw me, on many exercises. Awful rearward visibility, and I fear the same for the F-35B.

http://pogoarchives.org/straus/ote-info ... 130215.pdf

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Re: Was the Navy’s F111 really that bad?

#4 Post by Pontius Navigator » Thu Aug 30, 2018 6:56 pm

The Navy never got the F111. The F111B was to be a navalised version

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Re: Was the Navy’s F111 really that bad?

#5 Post by OFSO » Sat Sep 01, 2018 7:04 pm

The pentagon had a history of bad decisions. Which brilliantly successful fighter was designed without canon as "all combat will be carried out with missiles in future wars," and was retro-fitted with cannon in a "home-made" belly pod when it arrived in a war zone ? Powered, if I remember correctly, by an air turbine/generator with a cable up to a strap-on push button on the stick.

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Re: Was the Navy’s F111 really that bad?

#6 Post by Pontius Navigator » Sat Sep 01, 2018 7:56 pm

OFSO, not a feature restricted to the Pentagon. Remember a fighter fitted for but not with a gun? It had to be fitted with ballast in place of the gun. The best ballast being a gun.

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Re: Was the Navy’s F111 really that bad?

#7 Post by FD2 » Sat Sep 01, 2018 9:06 pm

Here are a couple of photos of the F111B:
F111B.jpg
F111B.jpg (67.18 KiB) Viewed 370 times
F111B USS Coral Sea.jpg
F111B USS Coral Sea.jpg (54.38 KiB) Viewed 370 times
It was only flown to the deck after the Navy order had been cancelled - to see what 'might have been' perhaps. It might be that the people who would have to operate the aircraft had a say in the cancellation, as it certainly wasn't what the Navy wanted.

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