Four Australian F-111Cs in 2006

This is a list of the General Dynamics F-111 aircraft operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) between 1973 and 2010. The RAAF's fleet of F-111s included 28 F-111Cs (of which four were converted to RF-111C reconnaissance aircraft) and 15 F-111Gs. Several more F-111s were purchased from the United States and used for ground training and testing purposes, or as a source of spare parts.

Background

The Australian Government purchased 24 F-111Cs in 1963.^[1] These were completed during 1968 and early 1969, and the first of the RAAF's aircraft was handed over to the service on 4 September 1968. However, the entire fleet was grounded in the United States shortly afterwards while serious deficiencies with the F-111's design were corrected. The RAAF finally accepted the 24 aircraft during 1973, and they flew to Australia in four groups between 1 June and 4 December that year.^[1][2]

Four of the F-111Cs were modified to RF-111C reconnaissance aircraft. The first, A8-126, received these modifications in the United States between October 1979 and April 1979; the other three were converted in Australia between July and September 1980.^[3]

The RAAF purchased four ex-United States Air Force (USAF) F-111As in 1981 as attrition replacements. These aircraft were delivered to the service in 1982 and were subsequently converted to F-111C standard.^[1]

In 1992 the Australian Government decided to purchase up to 18 ex-USAF F-111Gs in order to extend the type's service life. 15 F-111Gs were eventually acquired, and they were delivered to the RAAF during late 1993 and early 1994.^[1][4] Three more ex-USAF F-111Gs were also held for Australia in the United States, but never delivered.^[5] Other ex-USAF F-111s were also held at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AKA The Boneyard) in Arizona as sources of spare parts for the RAAFs fleet of aircraft.^[6]

The Australian Government announced on 7 November 2003 that the RAAF's F-111s would be retired from 2010, and on 16 March 2007 it was announced that the type would be withdrawn by the end of 2010.^[7] The F-111Gs were retired before the F-111Cs, with the last leaving service on 3 September 2007.^[8] The F-111C fleet was drawn down, and the type was finally retired on 3 December 2010.^[9] Eight of the RAAF's F-111s (seven F-111Cs and one F-111G) were destroyed in crashes during the type's service, with ten airmen being killed.^[10]

Following the F-111s' retirement, 13 of the surviving aircraft (12 F-111Cs and a single F-111G) were preserved in aviation museums and RAAF air bases. The remaining aircraft were buried at the Swanbank landfill site outside of Ipswich, Queensland, between 21 and 23 November 2011.^[11]

Aircraft

Variant	RAAF serial number	Delivery/acceptance	Fate[12]	Comments	Image
F-111A	N/A	January 1995[12]	Buried 22 November 2011	Ex-USAF aircraft used as a training aid. USAF serial 63-9768[12]
F-111A	N/A	November 1999[13]	Tested to destruction by the DSTO, with the teardown of the airframe being completed in late 2003[14]	Purchased for airframe testing purposes[13] USAF serial 67-0106[12]
F-111A	N/A	N/A	?	Stored at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group in the US for possible RAAF use from 1981[13] USAF serial 67-0108[15]
F-111A/C	A8-109	13 August 1982[15]	Preserved at the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society	Final F-111 to shut down its engines.[16]
F-111A/C	A8-112	13 August 1982[15]	Buried 23 November 2011 Fin and rudder preserved at RAAF Base Amberley
F-111A/C	A8-113	1982[15]	Preserved at the Australian Aviation Heritage Centre
F-111A/C	A8-114	1982[15]	Buried 24 November 2011 Fin and rudder preserved at RAAF Base Amberley
F-111C	A8-125	16 March 1973[2]	Preserved at the RAAF Museum	First F-111C to arrive in Australia, and final aircraft to land at the type's retirement ceremony[9]
F-111C/RF-111C	A8-126	6 September 1968 & 6 April 1973[2]	Preserved at the RAAF Amberly Aviation Heritage Centre	Accepted in 1968, but grounded while major structural problems with the F-111s were resolved. Accepted for a second time in 1973.[17] Prototype RF-111C, converted to this variant between October 1978 and April 1979[18]
F-111C	A8-127	6 April 1973[2]	Destroyed in a crash at Guyra, New South Wales on 13 September 1993 Both aircrew killed[10]
F-111C	A8-128	30 April 1973[2]	Destroyed in a crash at Tenterfield, New South Wales on 2 April 1987 Both aircrew killed[10]
F-111C	A8-129	18 April 1973[2]	Preserved at the Queensland Air Museum
F-111C	A8-130	27 April 1973[2]	Preserved at the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor
F-111C	A8-131	? 1973[2]	Buried 23 November 2011 Crew escape module preserved at the Australian National Aviation Museum
F-111C	A8-132	8 May 1973[2]	Preserved at the South Australian Aviation Museum
F-111C	A8-133	27 July 1973[2]	Destroyed in a crash at Evans Head, New South Wales on 29 September 1977 Both aircrew killed[10]
F-111C/RF-111C	A8-134	8 June 1973[2]	Preserved at the Australian War Memorial[19]	Converted to RF-111C during 1980[18]
F-111C	A8-135	29 June 1973[2]	Buried 23 November 2011 Crew escape module preserved at the Caboolture Warplane Museum
F-111C	A8-136	27 July 1973[2]	Destroyed in a crash at Armidale, New South Wales on 28 April 1977 Both aircrew survived[10]
F-111C	A8-137	? 1973[2]	Destroyed in a crash at RNZAF Base Ohakea on 24 August 1979 Both aircrew survived[10]	Crew escape module, rudder and fin preserved at the Amberley Aviation Heritage Centre
F-111C	A8-138	26 July 1973[2]	Gate guardian at RAAF Base Amberley
F-111C	A8-139	? 1973[2]	Crashed into the sea and destroyed off Moruya, New South Wales on 28 January 1986 Both aircrew killed[10]
F-111C	A8-140	3 August 1973[2]	Buried 24 November 2011 Crew escape module preserved at the Aviation Heritage Museum, Fin and rudder preserved at RAAF Base Amberley
F-111C	A8-141	? 1973[2]	Crashed into Auckland Harbour and destroyed on 25 October 1978. Both aircrew survived[10]	Crew escape module preserved at RAAF Base Amberley
F-111C	A8-142	22 August 1973[2]	Preserved at RAAF Base Wagga
F-111C/RF-111C	A8-143	6 September 1973[2]	Buried 24 November 2011 Fin and rudder preserved at RAAF Base Amberley	Modified to RF-111C standard in 1980[18] Suffered damage in a belly landing at Amberley on 18 July 2006 and never repaired[12]
F-111C	A8-144	18 September 1973[2]	Buried 23 November 2011	Carried special "city of Ipswitch" scheme on tail and forward section
F-111C	A8-145	27 September 1973[2]	Buried 23 November 2011	Repair of Fatigue crack in lower wing during 1996. The fatigue crack was a chordwise 48 mm crack in the critical, non-failsafe, port lower wing skin at approximately 2/3 semi span. The crack had reduced the wing's residual strength to below Design Limit Load and the repair was therefore critical.
F-111C/RF-111C	A8-146	? 1973[2]	Buried 24 November 2011 Reconnaissance pallet donated to the Australian War Memorial, fin and rudder preserved at RAAF Base Amberley	Modified to RF-111C standard in 1980[18]
F-111C	A8-147	26 October 1973[2]	Preserved at the Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome
F-111C	A8-148	4 December 1973[2]	Preserved at Fighter World, RAAF Base Williamtown
F-111G	A8-259	?	Buried 22 November 2011
F-111G	A8-264	?	Buried 23 November 2011
F-111G	A8-265	?	Buried 21 November 2011
F-111G	A8-270	?	Buried 22 November 2011
F-111G	A8-271	?	Buried 23 November 2011
F-111G	A8-272	?	Preserved at the RAAF Museum	Nicknamed "The Boneyard Wrangler",[12] as it was revived from a USAF graveyard salvaging parts from various other F-111s. Only Complete F-111G in Australia to be preserved
F-111G	A8-274	?	Buried 23 November 2011
F-111G	A8-277	?	Buried 21 November 2011
F-111G	A8-278	?	Buried 22 November 2011
F-111G	A8-281	?	Buried 22 November 2011
F-111G	A8-282	?	Buried 23 November 2011
F-111G	A8-291	?	Destroyed in a crash on Pulau Aur, Malaysia on 18 April 1999 Both aircrew killed[10]
F-111G	A8-506	?	Buried 22 November 2011
F-111G	A8-512	?	Buried 23 November 2011 Fin and rudder preserved at RAAF Base Amberley. Fin on display at entrance to HQJOC.
F-111G	A8-514	?	Buried 22 November 2011
FB-111A	N/A	?	On display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum since November 2014	The forward section only of the ex-USAF FB-111A 68-0246 was acquired by the RAAF as a recruitment aid[20]

See also

• List of aircraft of the Royal Australian Air Force

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to General Dynamics F-111 in Australian service.

Citations

Works consulted

• Cuskelly, Ron (April–June 2014). "Preserving the Pig". Aero Australia (42): 22–30.
• Lax, Mark (2010). From Controversy to Cutting Edge: A History of the F-111 in Australian Service. Canberra: Air Power Development Centre. ISBN 9781920800543. Archived from the original on 30 May 2012.