Conference Paper

Author

Peake, Owen

Title

Pigs do fly - the F-111 in Australian science

In

19th Australasian engineering heritage conference: putting water to work: steam power, river navigation and water supply

Editors

Engineers Australia and Engineering Heritage Australia

Imprint

Engineering Heritage Australia, Barton, Australian Capital Territory, 2017, pp. 373-400

ISBN/ISSN

9781922107923

Url

https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.385154906913715

Subject

Chronological Classification 1901- Applied Sciences Engineering and Technology

Abstract

The F-111 long range strike aircraft was the most important strategic air asset ever deployed by Australia and certainly the most complex aircraft system operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

The aircraft suffered from early development problems, primarily relating to the use of a very strong but brittle steel in some key structural components, which led to significant developments in managing fatigue life of airframes. Once in service the F-111 proved to be reliable, had an exceptional safety record and served with the RAAF for nearly 40 years before retirement in 2010.

The great features of the aircraft were its extraordinary range for a high performance aircraft, its large and varied weapons load and, with its wings swept back, it was faster than most of the world's fighters. The F-111 achieved stealth by using its Terrain Following Radar to fly very close to the ground and thus avoid enemy radar.

The F-111 was loved by the community which flew and maintained it and was a great crowd-pleaser at air shows with its swing-wing demonstrations and its characteristic 'dump and burn' party trick.

Australia never operated the F-111 against an enemy however its mere presence provided a powerful strategic deterrence in the region.

Perhaps the aircraft's greatest benefit to the nation was the change it precipitated in the RAAF. It forced the RAAF to become more professional, to modernise and to become self-reliant.

Source

cohn 2018

Related Published resources

isPartOf

• 19th Australasian engineering heritage conference: putting water to work: steam power, river navigation and water supply edited by Engineers Australia and Engineering Heritage Australia (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Engineers Australia, 2017), 536 pp. Details