Thread: Interesting, Odd or Funny Pics II.

Originally Posted by cripesamighty

I remember finding the Hansard from the mid-1960's which showed why Australia chose the F-111 (lots of promises) over the TSR-2 (nearly perfect aircraft from the outset). In the end it boiled down to who would give us the best deal on nuclear weapons, USA vs UK. We chose USA but then the government changed and all talk of nukes was immediately dropped. The TSR-2 vs F-111 debate is still alive and strong in some online circles though. Kind of the same as the Canadian CF-105 Arrow!

I recall talking to a RAAF officer involved with extending the service life of the aircraft around the time of the F-111's retirement from RAAF service. He said there were strong rumours it was prematurely let go due to the disaster of resealing the fuel tanks and injuring so many people. Apparently the people up top who were responsible wanted it gone soonest, so as to minimise the tarnishment of their careers...

It was let go because they ran out of spare parts. Recognising that spares were going to be a future issue as the US were retiring their aircraft they had bought a lot of spares by the container load with the second hand ones. Then had been working their way through the US stores system seeking out anything that was a fit by part number. There was nothing left so flying had to end as limited production of parts that were no longer in use for the RAAF as was not economically viable for the hours left on the airframes

Originally Posted by Homestar

Johnno just discovered where he'd misplaced his level a few weeks back...



level.JPG

If it's actually level then the builder may have some questions to answer.