RAAF F-111 History page 2

The RAAF's F-111 ... Pre-delivery

Photos and descriptions by GRAEME SEMKEN
Reference - http://users.chariot.net.au/~theburfs/aardvark2.html

Part 2: THE AIRCRAFT

A8-127 in Flight over Texas

Part 2: THE AIRCRAFT

A8-127 taken over Texas during flight testing, it was used by GDFW as a PR shot and printed on fantastic paper sometimes framed depending who you were and given to visitors to the project.
Notice the tail flash colours on the aircraft - they're the wrong way around. That's the way the French paint their flash, I noticed the error on our aircraft and they (GDFW) hastily repainted them.
But they forgot to correct the photo before printing - they recalled most of the photos, they had printed a couple of thousand or so - but not all - they sent them back to the printers and overprinted the tail flash - next shot reveals.

The USAF F111A - 60057 painted white was the aircraft that GDFW & the USAF removed from the production line after the losses in Vietnam - they then proceeded to dismantle the aircraft to analyze and see if they could find out any problems - of course they did!
So F111A - 60057 was actually a very delayed completion (some 2 years) - it was painted white and going to be used as an R & D aircraft - but it sure looked great!

A8-142 After Painting - Before Flight Testing

The picture is of A8-142 After painting, I arrived at GDFW after the first 6 were off the production line & at flight testing, the paintwork on our aircraft was to say the least - not to our standard. After discussion with GDFW & the USAF we managed to have No's 1 to 6 returned to the paintshop & refinished to RAAF standard. Numbers 7 to 24 were perused by the RAAF and the USAF before they left the paint area.

Our last F-111C after painting. The paint facility at GDFW was especially built for the F111 Project, the facility had the ability to bake / soak each aircraft after painting and consisted of 3 separate bays thus enabling different aircraft paint schemes to be painted at any one time. When the extracting fans were going full speed (the filters are in the rear wall of the shot) it was impossible to hear anything - even if you had ear muffs on or not !

The last F111C rolls off the Production Line at GDFW. Notice the cameraman in the shot of No 24. The number on the front undercarriage door is not the Aircraft Number but number 24 off the production line - the aircraft actually is A8-148.

COMMENT: All three of the RAAF F-111's shown here were delivered in the last half of 1973, and survived into the 1990s.

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