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The G-models are (or were) nuclear capable and under the terms of the SALT treaty conditions they are to be scrapped.
Surely the US Gov't would allow them to, though, if only they would ask the question.
Not as if Al Qaeda is going to steal a static display F1-11 and bomb something is it !
I've just raided all the pic threads on the work forum...
Pics to be uploaded later.
OK Dave it's later NOW !
ok, so its later click for the full size image.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...010/12/774.jpg
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Go on ask me to put them up full size, I dare ya.
Thanks for the pics Dave - good stuff but can you please put them up f....
no. Don't.
The good news is that I forgot to put the words "click for the fullsize image" on the post
the best news is when i did the pillage the last post was"more to come when I get back from leave jan 11."
The F111's are too hard and expensive to maintain - As much as I love them the whole deseal / reseal thing is the final nail in the coffin.
Temora Aviation Museum etc could simply not afford to finance them in a safe way.
( http://f111.dva.gov.au/ is interesting to read as well )
funny thing is,,,
there has been a real F111 nosecone/cockpit assembly out front of the museum in Toowoomba for years and years, The day they retired them its gone!
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hmd0BMMOks&feature=related]YouTube - Australian F111 and the Hollies[/ame]
Unfortunately it would take a similar amount of money to keep a pig in the air as the vulcan.
Having not long ago finished spending 8 years working on them, I cant see it being a plausible endevour. It used to take a crew of around 50 assorted tradesmen a year to do the major servicing, Thats engines, airframes, metal workers, tank dogs, painters, engineers, logistics, electroplating and avionics. It was 8 to 10 weeks for the test team to do the final rigging, leak checks and functional tests to get it flying again. Most of this man power have been been given their marching orders and are spread to the 4 winds, not to mention the dismantling of the required logistics train, parts servicing etc.
All of the above skills and processes are volitile, once you turn it off, its gone. Even to keep one of the last serviced birds going would be possible but difficult for a short time, and about 60 man hrs work of 1 hr of flight, if nothing drastic goes wrong.
I always felt the F-111 was an engineering thesis that got put into production by mistake, it was an impressive bit of thought, planning and engineering espicially when you realise it was designed in the days of blue prints and slide rules, no computers. And as much as the pilots and navs loved flying it and it performed well, it was a complete bastard to work on, it was called the pig for a reason and it had little to do with arrdvarks.
Cheers