Hi
For those of you who don’t know I live in Brisbane Queensland Australia and as I speak I am sitting on my back deck/ verandah watching 2 F111 Aardvarks of the RAAF doing one of the most amazing night time airshows I have ever seen. Brisbane has a famous River Festival where about half a million people crowd the riverbanks in the centre of the city to watch fireworks and lighted barges etc
These are the last flying F111s left in the world and tonight two of them flew over and along the river doing a dump and burn where the aircraft dump fuel from the rear of the engine jetpipes and produce a flame of truely huge proportions several hundred feet long and with a deafening roar the entire sky lights up like daylight!!!!!. I was able to see the whole show as the aircraft flew over at around 300 Ft very fast and then pulled up directly over my house releasing ECM flares as they went. When they pulled high up into the cloud it transmitted the glow for miles and looked like a gigantic lightning burst.
The show was very short but very memorable. Photos will follow – I wish you could all have been here – you will never see anything like it again when they are grounded in a couple of years time – I think they qualify as Warbirds anyway.
Regards
John Parker
By: setter - 31st August 2004 at 13:09
Hi Glen – thats true but there are 9 40Ks away on “rotational operational storage” (kept operational and rotated with others in the fleet). Soo we will be able to rock up and fly our pick away and the boys there can even warm it up before we fly it home!!!!!!
Kindest regards
John P
By: GDL - 31st August 2004 at 12:59
There are heaps in storage! http://www.f-111.net/AMARC-F-111s.htm
By: setter - 31st August 2004 at 11:48
Hi
A lot are already in the desert retired /stored to save money – I don’t think it would be too hard to nick one.
It would be a real highlight of WoW year after next ??
JP
By: turbo_NZ - 31st August 2004 at 11:24
Hi John,
Could cost a little more to run than my V6 Pajero (which isnt cheap to run !!)
Also, how do I get that one past the missus?? 😮
A-10’s are coming up for retirement in the USAF, could be a little cheaper to run and with that 30mm Vulcan we would get any airfield we wanted, let alone apron space !!!!!
TNZ
By: setter - 31st August 2004 at 11:18
Hi Turbo NZ
Lets form a syndicate through Classic wings and get a Warbird F111 flying when they retire them !!!!
I bet we would get apron space at air shows or else !!!
PS I believe we were offered some Ravens when they went out but we didn’t take them on along with Cobra gunships and A10 Thunderbolts – we only took them up on the standard F111s
Kindest regards
John P
By: turbo_NZ - 31st August 2004 at 11:07
Well I find the F-111 a fantastic aircraft no matter WHAT FORUM THEY ARE POSTED IN !!!!
Hi John,
Can’t wait, love looking at pics of the dump and burn.
THe Aussies did what the Yanks couldn’t, ie make something of this underrated baby !!
(Well I guess the EF-111 Raven was good too 😀 )
TNZ
By: setter - 31st August 2004 at 11:04
Hi Turbo NZ – photos are on the way- used the 35mm Nikon instead of the Canon 33D – I have to wait for processing Damnn.
Great Historic Military aircraft – well over 30 years 111
Go Boys Go !!!!!
Regards
John P
By: setter - 31st August 2004 at 11:00
Hi Cakes thanks for your attentive support and duff spelling,
Kindest regards
John Parker
By: turbo_NZ - 31st August 2004 at 10:58
Looking forward to the pictures of the “CLASSIC” F-111 dump & burn… 😉
Saw it as a kid once at a Whenuapai Airshow but would dearly love to see it again.
Those F-111’s must be getting on a bit now almost “HISTORIC” one would think…
TNZ
By: coanda - 29th August 2004 at 01:01
last time I saw it would be the last airshow of uk based f-111’s which i think was at mildenhall…..
By: setter - 28th August 2004 at 23:55
Hi yes I get to see a few of these every year but it is the nightime spectacle that gets me fired up – I don’t think I have seen it done anywhere else at night – the extra aspect last night was the dumping of the flares as part of the display – WOW – I was right under it sitting in my own backyard !!!
Regards
John P
By: GDL - 28th August 2004 at 13:58
I get to see the F-111 do this every year at INDY on the Gold Coast. Indeed, very impressive! This year, however, I have a good digital camera, so will try and get some good shots of all the aerial action. Just 7 weeks to go now.
By: oscar duck - 28th August 2004 at 11:31
As usual, it did look good….
By: DGH - 28th August 2004 at 10:41
I saw a F111 do a dump and burn at Fairford one year – very impressive
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August 28, 2004 at 10:35 am