F-111 Retirement, 03 December 2010

[Dean]

I will certainly be there for the final flight. I am also in the process of getting permission to photograph the F-111 "boneyard". However, as I am leaving QLD 5 days earlier than expected I may not get that permission in time but I'll see how it goes anyway.

[Dean]

The final day.

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[Dean]

The final taxi before shutting down the engines for the last time.

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[Dean]

Just one more dump and burn to thrill the crowd.

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[Mick Raftery]

Thanks for capturing the final moments, Dean - and the last stunning torch !

A farewell salute to the city of Brisbane.

Mick




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[Dean]

Thanks Mick. I was so thankful to have been at Amberley at that time because it was a once in a life time event. Brisbane, especially the people around Ipswich ACTUALLY love the aircraft.

I attended the (Ipswich's) Lord Mayor's Christmas Carols event that was held at the Ipswich Turf Club in Bundamba and when the F-111 commenced it's night time dump and burn the crowd cheered as the aircraft flew over. This may have also been because it was the last public dump and burn. The word is that it was the longest single dump and burn ever and the aircraft only just made it back with enough fuel to land.

An amatuer photograph, Mr Phil Rettke captured the event in a spectacular photo.

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[Rod Farquhar]

Great pics guys.
Rod.

[Dean]

But Friday 3 December, 2010 was an amazing day and there were at least a couple of thousand people there to farewell the beloved Pig

Under the awning at Boeing were 3 static F-111's where the book, From Controversy To Cutting Edge was lauched. The author, Air Commodore (Ret'd) Mark Lax, was there signing copies of the book which to give you an idea of its size is almost as large as the book The RAAF Hudson Story. The book was being sold at an introductory price of $20 and people had 3, often 5 books under their arm, which explains why I, and many others missed out on a copy. But I did fill an order form for it so I will still get it.

The flying display started with 6 pigs and 2 Rhinos took one at a time before forming up to the west of Amberley then in formation (with only 5 pigs) flew past the crowd before heading to the coast for the last fly past of the Sunshine coast, Brisbane and further south as well.

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[Dean]

The sixth aircraft some time later then performed a solo display over the crowd before being rejoined by the other five aircraft for a 6 ship formation flypast.

Immediately before landing 3 pairs of two aircraft then at low altitude screamed over the Boeing hanger.

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[Dean]

And as the aircraft landed for the last time they landed to the applause of the crowd The photo shows the last aircraft to land for the last time.

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[Dean]

And when the aircraft landed and taxied to their final positions the crowd continued its spontaneous applause until the crews exited their aircraft to be greeted by their families where the applause intesified.

And as the screaming engines, busting the eardrums of the nearby crowd not 20 metres away from the closest aircraft, were shut down their for the last time no one can say they will not miss the aircraft.

But with the withdrawal of the F-111 Amberley is still not a quiet place and everyone who was there on the day, and all who have worked on the Triple One, the echo of the TF-30 remains.

To the crews that flew the aircraft, thank you. And to the crews that never came home, Lest We Forget.

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[Dean]

Ok, now. Let's get serious. The serial numbers.

The F-18F's that flew with the formation were 202 ad 204.

The formation F-111's were: 109, 125, 129, 135 and 138

The solo display F-111 was: 126

The static display aircraft were: 113, 148 and unknown

[Mick Raftery]

Thanks for the final day images Dean.

The third static display aircraft was -147. Checking the parade photos it was also this aircraft being piped through the guard of honour.

Also good to see a fitting gesture on the last day. A8-125 was guided to its parking spot after the final landing by the person, who as an Airframe Fitter in 1973 marshalled it after the delivery flight. ( Source - Defence Media )

Nice bookend touch for the first to land on delivery and the last to land after farewell.





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[batman]

Dean

Why only 5 Pigs got airborne initially was that the sixth, A8-134, went U/S. The crew had to leap into another jet and got airborne late but managed to join up.

An excellent day out. Well done with the pics guys, and more available on the RAAF PR web site.

This post has been edited by batman on Dec 6 2010, 10:27 PM

[Dean]

Well, I'm sure it would not have been a fitting farewell if they didn't have a aircraft go U/S resulting in a last minute scramble to find a more serviceable aircraft. lol.

[Brendan Cowan]

Thanks for the pics!

The books did sell beyond expectation.

600 copies were available, but demand was much higher!

Jaunita Franzi told me that she was barely managed to get one herself!

Can anyone confirm the rumour that 2 Pigs will be held in flyable store as emergency reserve?

If true, I would tip that they would be RF-111C's given the probable ADF capability gap that they leave behind. I'm sure that it's not just for dump and burn practice!

Cheers

BC

[batman]

<!--QuoteBegin (Brendan Cowan @ Dec 7 2010, 03:16 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Can anyone confirm the rumour that 2 Pigs will be held in flyable store as emergency reserve?BC <!--QuoteEnd-->

BC

Rumour and wishful thinking I would say. Just not practicable - how do crews stay current, and the jets leak in storage. No, it's gone.

The book is available at the RAAF Air Power website:

http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/Forms/PublicationOrderWorkFlow.aspx

This post has been edited by batman on Dec 7 2010, 03:41 PM

[Brendan Cowan]

Tend to agree,

Apart from the logistics, support effort and infrastructure, there is also the matter of maintaining aircrew currency.

I'm just happy to get the rumour confirmed or denied!

Cheers

BC

[Aardvark]

That was the end, they are now out of the carports and parked adjacent to the graveyard, and on the old air movements tarmac. They now await their fate.

The infrastructure that has supported the F-111 all these years is currently being dismantled, simulator, test stations etc. The spares and repairable items are being prepared for disposal. A lot of ground support equipment has already gone - out on the back of trucks or in scrap bins.

Friday was the end, accept it , live with it , get over it, you will only see them in a limited number of museums, in books and in your memories.

This post has been edited by Aardvark on Dec 7 2010, 08:25 PM

[Aardvark]

So what has happened to that particular jet in the graveyard? Martin you were getting a bit warmer then went off the boil. Unfortunately the subject jet has been turned around but you know the number already. Martin you need to read a reply to an earlier post you made.

Maybe one of our newer members ,Sydhuey, could answer the question, he works very close to the graveyard and could possibly see what has happened to it.

This post has been edited by Aardvark on Dec 20 2010, 07:19 PM

[Martin Edwards]

Aardvark.

Is this the photo you are referring to?

Is this the aircraft you are referring to?

Could this be 63-9768 in the dump?


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[Aardvark]

No Martin they are all C Models nothing to do with 63-9768, you cropped the subject aircraft out of the picture.

Read my post of 30 Nov @ 07:47. I told you the number.

Unfortunately it has been turned around since the event and it can't be seen from the back gate. We may have to wait until the satellite flies over again, then you should see it.

[mark]

...and so the saga of A8-140 continues. Will we be put out of our misery
with an answer or will "140" but put out of her misery first?

[Aardvark]

We have established the tail number.

Whilst the other C models in the graveyard could be recovered the event that has occured to 140 has sealed its fate with the scrappies claw, there is no going back for it now.

Come on Martin you have been so close, you have talked about it but not actually said it.

[Luig]

Special PIG Edition RAAF News: Edition 5223, December 09, 2010

The PDF version of the above edition is here (thanks McM): (11Mb)

http://www.defence.gov.au/news/raafnews/editions/5223/5223.pdf

OR here until next edition rolls along:

http://digital.realviewtechnologies.com/default.aspx?xml=defencenews_airforce.xml

[Dean]

Yup, got me a couple of hard copies of this edition.

[Martin Edwards]

Calling Aardvark......

OK mate please let us in on the secret :D


Has anyone had a chance to get some photos of the dump and its inhabitants?

[Aardvark]

It begins!

It appears that the first F-111 for disposal is in place ready for scrapping as well as several wings and other bits.

They are in an area adjacent to the old 12/38 tramac.

132 is now repainted in its ARDU colour scheme of SEA camo and white.

140 has againt turned around and may soon be on its way to the scrappie without its crew module.

[MaYHeM]

Seems they have quickly slipped this one in the tender process.
Very quick tender period, I suspect they're attempting to avoid much publicity on it and have likely already decided on using the same contractor who has the tender for the F-111G destruction :(

So, that pretty much answers any doubts and dashes any hopes that many people have held for these (or some of these) F-111C's being offered for public tender...

Very sad indeed...

https://www.tenders.gov.au/?event=public.advert.show&AdvertUUID=07C7F820-DF9B-A1D5-85A16AEE0A4F8718

[Aardvark]

Now 2 X C's and 2 X G's plus large quantity of engine containers (probably with engines in) as well as wings at the disposal area.

[MaYHeM]

All those hundreds of millions of dollars spent maintaining them, all the pride they represented for so many Australian people, all the open admiration of what an incredible piece of technology they were from their conception to their last days...

Just to have it all unceremoniously destroyed - scrapped out of existence by the unstoppable government machine that doesn't take into consideration anything except the black and white, the dollars and cents.

Part of me wants to witness it... part of me knows there's a good chance that if I did, I would never know frustration like it....

There doesn't seem to be a number specified of F-111C's to be scrapped... I wonder if thats on purpose? I know several were beyond economical recovery for even static museum pieces, so maybe they are the ones being scrapped?

Let me know if you happen to see A8-148 anywhere near the scrapping machines plz :(

[Aardvark]

Now 4 C's and 2 G's, can't see the numbers but 140 is one of them, it is quite obvious by its appearance.

[Ron Cuskelly]

Folks

In addition to the previously announced 13 F-111Gs that are to be destroyed, the tender documents are now identifying an "Optional Scope" of 1 F-111A and up to 14 F-111C that may be included in the destruction without further reference. Given that the Gs have been prepared for destruction we need to keep a close watch on the Cs as the destruction appears to be proceeding with indecent haste.

Rgds

[Aardvark]

5C & 2 G.

148 is in a group of 6 maybe awaiting demil or preparation for destruction.

[Ron Cuskelly]

Latest from the QAM website:

[QUOTE]In December last year, the Royal Australian Air Force finally retired its F-111 strike aircraft after 37 years service to the nation. The event was surrounded by a blaze of publicity and rightly so. The select group of aircrew who flew the F-111 were fiercely proud of their aircraft right to the end. Similarly, specialists from many disciplines who had kept the aeroplane in service for all of these 37 years with many challenges along the way maintained their pride in the aircraft right to the end. It wasn’t just the RAAF that had a genuine affection for the F-111. The aeroplane was well known to the average citizen who otherwise had no interest in aviation. This was largely due to a quirk of the F‑111s design. When it was discovered that dumping fuel while using afterburner produced a spectacular torching effect, a star was born in the eyes of the public. It was because of this “dump and burn” capability that the Australian public took the F‑111 to their hearts as it became a showpiece at many public ceremonies and sporting events. An aeroplane which was designed as a killing machine and which was born amidst political controversy was now the darling of the people. The F-111 was recognised and adored by everyone. Probably no military aircraft in history has attracted such affection while it was still in service. Most aeroplanes had to wait for years after their retirement for such adoration, if it came at all. By the time the adoration finally came it was usually too late as most of them had gone. But this time it’s going to be different isn’t it? We have 35 surviving F-111s and a public ready and willing to provide them with an honourable retirement.

Australia has a number of museums which might be expected to be obvious homes for an F‑111. Foremost is the RAAF Museum at the historic Point Cook RAAF Base in Melbourne. There is also the famous Australian War Memorial in Canberra. In addition to these government owned museums, there are also a number of not-for-profit aviation museums run by community groups.

The Queensland Air Museum (QAM) at Caloundra on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is one such group. QAM was inaugurated in 1974 with the unveiling of a Canberra bomber (predecessor of the F-111) which it had purchased from the Australian government with funds donated by its members. QAM’s second aeroplane was a Meteor jet fighter which arrived the following year as an outright gift from the British government. Nearly 40 years later, QAM is still waiting to receive an aeroplane from its own government!

As early as 2005, QAM began planning for the retirement of the F-111 by approaching the Australian government with a request that an F-111 be gifted to the museum, not only as a means of preserving an F-111 but also as a means of recognising QAM’s thirty-five years service to the educational needs of the community. During the ensuing years, three different Ministers for Defence assured QAM that it’s interests would be taken into account at the appropriate time.

As the F-111’s December 2010 retirement approached, it was announced that four F‑111Cs would be preserved on RAAF Bases at Point Cook, Amberley (2 aircraft) and Edinburgh (SA). Earlier it had been announced that one of the remaining F-111G models would be preserved at the RAAF Museum at Point Cook. However, the rest of the G models would be scrapped in accordance with international treaties as they were technically deemed nuclear capable. Although preservationists generally don’t like to see aeroplanes scrapped, this was accepted as inevitable, despite the apparent anomaly of allowing one F‑111G to escape destruction.

Subsequently it was announced that three F-111Cs would be retained for “RAAF Heritage use” but four aircraft would be scrapped as they were determined to be unsuitable for display. The clear implication of this is that the estimated eleven remaining F-111Cs are suitable for display. Indeed it was announced in Air Force News that:

The remaining aircraft are then to be offered for general sale by tender for other groups or organisations to use as static displays. Any such group will be required to agree to pay the costs to make the aircraft inoperable (estimated to be in excess of $1 million) so as to meet US Government approvals to transfer them from Defence, as well as the costs to remove asbestos from the aircraft and to restore them to displayable condition (estimated at up to $1.5 million) before approval is given.

What this means is that any group wishing to display an F-111 would be required to find an estimated $2.5M just to buy the right to submit a tender! The only way a museum such as QAM could find such a fortune would be to approach a sponsor and what sponsor in his right mind is going to hand over $2.5M knowing that it will go to the government for nothing in return? Indeed, no museum would insult a potential sponsor with such a request. When QAM advised the Minister that no community group in Australia could afford that sort of money it was probably seen as confirmation that the government’s inflated estimates had served their intended purpose.

The latest development is that the original tender for the destruction of the 13 remaining F‑111Gs has been expanded in its scope. The 13 G models are now identified as the "Core Scope". To this has been added an "Optional Scope" which provides for the destruction of up to another 15 F-111s. What this means is that if the so-called "Optional Scope" is fully invoked, all remaining F-111s can be summarily destroyed without further reference or tenders being called. It would appear that this “Optional Scope” may include aircraft previously set aside for RAAF heritage purposes.

As previously announced, any organisation wishing to display an F-111 would be required to pay $1M to have the aircraft demilitarised. Apart from confirming that the aircraft can be demilitarised to the satisfaction of the U.S. government to permit transfer to a non-government recipient, one has to wonder who will be paying to demilitarise the aircraft that are to be destroyed? If the scrap merchant has to pay the demilitarisation cost then obviously the scrap value of the aircraft would be negated, so it is no surprise that Request For Tender documents make no provision for these costs to be passed on to the successful tenderer. What this means is that the taxpayer will have to absorb the cost of preparing the aircraft for destruction while a private individual or company will make a significant profit from destroying taxpayers’ property! Clearly it would make more sense to gift the aircraft to established museums which have indicated interest in displaying an F-111. At least then the taxpayer would have something to show for the huge investment that has gone into acquiring and maintaining these aeroplanes to say nothing of the potentially huge cost of destroying them. The people who have flown and maintained these aeroplanes with pride for 37 years should be appalled that their years of effort are held in such low esteem by their own government.

Work that needs to be done to demilitarise the aircraft is defined in a “U.S. Government Demilitarisation Manual” which is freely available online. Currently the Defence Materiel Organisation is actively discouraging potential tenderers from referring to this manual because “reference to the Demilitarisation Manual on its own can be confusing and misleading.” The only thing confusing about the Demilitarisation Manual is that its requirements are significantly less stringent than those imposed by the Australian government!

Because of the deterrent factor of the F-111, it was never used in anger by the RAAF. This deterrent factor is now working against the aircraft in that it is deemed to be an ongoing threat. The well-equipped RAAF stopped using the F-111 because the aeroplane was proving difficult to keep in the air. How could a non-nuclear configured, demilitarised airframe, out of the maintenance schedule, and minus engines, pose the slightest threat to anyone, particularly when no other nation on earth operates F-111s?

The US government has already allocated F-111s to community museums in the United States. How would Australian museums differ? Perhaps the Australian government could show some initiative in preservation by working with the US government to identify equally acceptable organisations in Australia that would meet the standards of the National Museum of the United States Air Force (NMUSAF) for the placement of such equipment?

The project to destroy the remaining F-111s would appear to be moving with indecent haste. Why this is so is difficult to understand when even the U.S. government itself provides for the demilitarisation of defence assets to facilitate their placement in museums. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that the Australian government believes that only their own museums are worthy enough to receive F-111s and that community group museums should remain unrecognised as they have been for decades.

In allocating four aircraft to RAAF Bases, the government doubtless feels that they have fulfilled their heritage obligations and that four is enough. Of these four aircraft, only one (Point Cook) will be accessible to the public in a currently operational aviation museum. The other three will be subject to the stringent security restrictions which are now unavoidable at military establishments. Indeed there have been recorded instances where people attempting to photograph aircraft on display at the front gates of an RAAF Base have been unceremoniously chased away by security staff on the premise that any photos taken will show defence establishments in the background. Only in Melbourne will Australian families be able to turn up unannounced with their cameras to view an F-111 (which they effectively paid for). An F-111 positioned at the front gate of a military establishment is not publicly accessible and does not meet the heritage expectations of the community. They want to see an F-111 displayed as part of a collection of aircraft and above all they want to be able to touch it. No, four aeroplanes is nowhere near enough.

To be using taxpayers’ money to destroy taxpayers’ property is a scandal.
[/QUOTE]

[Luig]

Iconic F-111s to be sold as scrap - Ian Mcphedran - The Courier-Mail March 14, 2011

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/iconic-f-111s-to-be-sold-as-scrap/story-e6freooo-1226020717321

"PUBLIC aviation museums have been virtually banned from acquiring any of the RAAF's retired F-111 strike jets.

The iconic planes, that never fired a shot in anger but spent years entertaining crowds with their spectacular dump-and-burn routines, will only be displayed at secure RAAF bases and inside RAAF museums due to cost, red tape and asbestos concerns.

Five of the 34 jets will be preserved as museum pieces at bases at Amberley, west of Brisbane, Point Cook in Victoria and at Edinburgh, South Australia.

Three more could be preserved for ``defence heritage'' and two may be given to a US Air Force museum.
The remaining planes will be scrapped and sold as lumps of metal.

It is understood one was offered to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra but it declined due to the $1 million or more cost to ``demilitarise'' the aircraft.

The Defence Department said providing aircraft to public or private museums would require US Government approval and the removal of all asbestos.

The recipient would have to pay remediation, demilitarisation and placement costs, which could amount to several million dollars, putting them out of the reach of museums such as the Sunshine Coast's Queensland Air Museum at Caloundra airport.

Museum vice-president Ron Cuskelly said the Defence Department had created a ``smoke screen'' to prevent the aircraft from being displayed at non-military museums.

Queensland Air Museum already has a Canberra bomber, two Meteor bombers, a Vampire, a Sabre and a Sea Venom, two Hunters and one Sea Vixen in its military collection.

``We have never been given anything by the military or the government who would rather see them scrapped than displayed for the public to see and touch,'' Mr Cuskelly said.

``It would be a disgrace if these wonderful aircraft were simply destroyed.

``An F-111 is something people would pay to see and we need all the help we can get up here since the floods and cyclone.''

The museum has written to Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Premier Anna Bligh to plead its case before the F-111s are destroyed by scrap merchants.

Australia has 42 aviation museums located across all states and territories."

[Mick Raftery]

Browsing the Defence Image Library this week, noticed a dozen images of the graveyard.

Zooming in on the red stencil under the cockpit, it reads :-

"THIS AIRCRAFT HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR DESTRUCTION AND ALL ACCESS IS DENIED "

Keep fighting the good fight Ron.

Source credit - Defence Media

This post has been edited by Mick Raftery on Mar 18 2011, 10:13 PM

[Mick Raftery]

Apologies - failed to resize. ( Tough week ! )



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[Joe Barr]

I see that the Queensland Air Museum has started a petition to have an F111 donated to them as a representative of all the aviation museums. If you want to sign, enter :
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/pig4qam/ .

Joe

[jeep1943]

Good luck with the petition.
However the only issue I can see is that by demanding that one be gifted, DMO will then have to gift one to all the others museums that have an interest.
Therefore I think the scrappers will be the only logical outcome.

Hopefully more will be saved regardless.

[Ron Cuskelly]

jeep

The real question is how many established aviation museums have requested an F-111? If you eliminate all the applicants who want to stick one up a pole in a park and the "entrepreneurs" who want to start a new museum around an F-111 there should be enough aircraft to go around the legitimate claimants.

Rgds

[jeep1943]

True,
once you get rid of the unrealistic bids, what left should be achieveable.

Even a cockpit section would be better than nothing.

[Aardvark]

Whilst not as impressive it would be better than nothing at all.

I am sure that QAM would have had that as a second option on their bid for a complete aircraft.

[jeep1943]

I am aware of a couple of Museums who have this option listed in their expressions of interest.

[Aardvark]

Nearmap has done a pass over the base on 28 Feb and the state of the Boneyard and the aircraft and bits in the disposal area can be seen.

You can now clearly see 140, it is quite obvious which one it is.

Now 6C & 2G at the site.

[Martin Edwards]

Aardvark, I am totally confused as what we are looking at as far as -140 is concerned. Which one is it in the nearmaps image?

How do you save the nearmaps image as was done on an earlier post?

[Aardvark]

Martin

140 is the one with its Crew Module removed.

That is what it was all about.

[Martin Edwards]

I was looking at the boneyard without realising there was another location up behind the C-17 hangars.
Looks like they aren't wasting any time preparing them for destruction :(

[Aardvark]

Now 6 C & 5 G

[Grumpy Cobra]

Well chaps todays 90th Anniversary Edition of Airforce news details the following preservations; in addition to the Bone Yard Wrangler at Point Cook, four C models have been approved for preservation so far - 2 for Amberley, a C model for Point Cook and one painted up in ARDU colours for Edi (up to 7 Cs in total may be preserved) with no intention of providing anyone with a flyable pig. see pg 8:

http://digital.realviewtechnologies.com/?xml=defencenews_airforce.xml