3168 hrs after flinal flight into Cranfield in June 1988 is the info I have. Don’t know what it’s FI was though.

thanks Firebird, i seem to recall reading somwhere that a lightning lifed to 4500 flight hours, then theoretically she has 1332 hours remaining

One of the good points about the Russian aviation industry, everything’s for sale!

Whilst at the Avalon Airshow a RAAF mechanic told me that all of the F-111’s that were not going to the main museums were going to be shredded due to some agreement with the US. Has anyone else heard this? I would have thought it would be relatively easy to make them unusable (cut the wing hinges for example) and it is not like the F-14 where an unfriendly country could obtain spares from the airframes. I would certainly like an escape module if any were to be broken up.

Cheers Paul

not 100% sure about the C models as i believe we purchased them outright, if we did then they arent subject to the “scrap-at-end-of-life” clause very common to US FMS sales contracts.

However the G model was sold under an FMS contract so i believe any examples that are not marked for preservation by a military or government institution must be scrapped/destroyed in some manner

The reason the aircraft was trucked down was that is was cheaper. The equipment and personnel required to remove various pieces of equipment and a number of harmful substances from the aircraft were based at RAAF Amberley. It would have been very expensive to fly the aircraft to Avalon (couldn’t get it into Point Cook) and then transport the team and equipment there to do the job.

It would have had to have been dismantled at Avalon and trucked to Point Cook in any event.

Add the fact that it hadnt flown since December 2007 and had been in open storage

No, I don’t know the rationale behind why this particular F-111 was chosen.

It was the 1st G model delivered to the RAAF and also the first F-111 returned to flight after entering AMARG/AMARC

Flynz: Thanks very much for the two pics of Canberras in NZ, particularly of A84-240. I’ve got a number of pics of that plane taken in the 60s when she was with 2 Sqn RAAF at Butterworth in Malaya.
240 was one of the Aussie Canberras that served in the war that they fought with the Americans..that we stayed out of, Vietnam.
Operating as part of USAF 35th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phan Rang Air Base. 240 in April 1967 arrived after a 2 hour flight from Butterworth.

2 Sqn RAAF Canberra A84-228 was also based at Phan Rang in Vietnam.
The RAAF serials website has the following info on this one:
On March 14 1971 A84-228 had just started it’s run in on a target north of Khe Sanh when it was hit by a SAM and both crew members were forced to eject, although suffering some injuries in the ejection Wing Cdr Downing and Flt Lt Pinches evaded capture by the Viet Cong and were eventually rescued by a US Army helicopter 27 hours later.

This one is A84-247 that survives at the Australian War Memorial, fittingly in Canberra.

A84-226 survives at RAAF Wagga.

A84-203 was converted from Mk20 to a Mk21 trainer as pictured here.It also survives.
The RAAF serials site says:
Struck off 1985 at Amberley. In RAAF Amberley restoration hangar for most of 2002. Rolled out 12/02 and is waiting to go to PNG Museum. On static display Amberley Airshow 10/04.
Currently at RAAF Amberley, Qld.

A84-225 here at Changi in late 1961, has the tail markings of Nos1 OCU.
It’s history is:
Took part in flight of 5 Canberras on good-will trip to USA 13/05/56 to 06/06/56. Established Perth – Brisbane Record of 3 Hours, 20 Minutes and 5 seconds 01/08/56. Painted in camouflage 06/11/64. Fitted with target towing equipment 27/01/70. Final flight 19/11/70 (crack found in wing spar during routine ultrasonic inspections 17/12/70). Aircraft removed from flight duty with 3395 hours and 15 minutes flight time. It had also completed 636 landings. Struck off 27/07/73 at Amberley. Its final days in service saw orange bands painted around the fuselage just aft of the rear of the nose-wheel doors and to the rear of the wing. These may be to signify a 2g limit placed on airframe (as on A84-224) or may have been added due its target towing usage. Sold to Queensland branch of the Aviation Historical Society of
Australia for $1360.00 21/11/73.
Moved to Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra, Qld. 13/06/86. Repainted in No.1 Sqn colours 10/86.
Currently on display Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra, Qld.

That’s the Aussie ones that are of special interest but I’d love to see pictures of any of them today.
I have a few pictures and some more questions about RAF Canberras from that era…I’ll leave those to later!

I have quite a few recent-ish ones of A84-232

One of the prime candidates for noisiest has to be the Tornado. Considering the relatively low power of its engines it produces a noise level totally out of proportion to its installed power.

Ever been near an F-15C or F-111? two very noisy critters there

A84-232:
“We never used Gannets”

One from HMAS Melbourne…but no idea what the seats were like!

(reminder to myself-I must feed you Oz Canberra freaks some pics of the Butterworth Canberras-pre-war…you Aussies know which war..the one you fought with the Yanks that we stayed out of!)
David T

Gets coat with incredibly large amounts of egg on face….