They don't call the Australians Diggers for nothing... F-111 Disposal

[NutLoose]

http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2011/11/24/1226205/191570-f111s-dumped-near-ipswich.jpg



F-111 fans are outraged many of the iconic RAAF fighter jets have been dumped at a landfill site near Ipswich.
A RAAF spokesman confirmed to Ipswich News on Thursday that 23 of the planes had been dumped at the Swanbank landfill site.
The jets had been located at RAAF Base Amberley, near Ipswich, before being decommissioned late last year.
The F-111s have been replaced by the Super Hornets, with the final four being delivered from the US to Amberley with a spectacular flypast over southeast Queensland in October.
The US Government had placed tight restrictions on how the planes were be dismantled or preserved with several earmarked for museums around Australia.
Two are expected to be on show at RAAF Base Amberley at its Heritage Centre.
It's just the hulks of the planes (that were dumped),'' the RAAF spokesman said. ``They saved the ones they could.''

Ipswich Councillor Paul Tully expressed his outrage about the dumping on his Facebook page.
Fifty years of Australian history down the drain as the RAAF dumps F-111s down disused Ipswich coal mine at Swanbank,'' he posted.
Related comments included: ``What a waste! You would think these would be saved for a museum or at least if they were being thrown they should be offered for public interests.''
Another wrote: If the RAAF didn't want them, I am wondering if ICC (Ipswich City Council) were happy to take them and all the costs associated with restoration and display.''
Meanwhile, Federal Member for Blair Shayne Neumann has encouraged organisations to apply for one of seven F-111s left to be loaned to museums and other historical organisations.
He said Defence Materiel Minister Jason Clare had released a Request for Offer for the jets.
This is a fantastic opportunity for local historical organisations to be able to display these iconic aircraft which protected our skies for nearly four decades'' Mr Neumann said.
The Australian Government is loaning the aircraft so as many Australians as possible have access to this piece of our aviation history.
The loans will be subject to a number of conditions to ensure the safe preservation of the aircraft, which are outlined in the Request for Offer.''
The RAAF spokesman said a service for all involved with the F-111s, including the families of airmen lost in crashes, will be held at the memorial garden near the front gate of RAAF Base Amberley at 9am on Friday, December 2.
For more on the offer, which closed on March 28, visit www.tenders.gov.au (http://www.tenders.gov.au/) with reference DMOASD/Other175/2011.


RAAF Base Amberley F-111 fighter jets end up on Swanbank landfill site near Ipswich | News, events and sport for Ipswich | Courier Mail (http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/ipswich/raaf-base-amberley-f-111-fighter-jets-end-up-on-swanbank-landfill-site-near-ipswich/story-fn8m0yo2-1226204896564)

Shame the cockpits at least couldn't be saved, I wonder how long untill someone starts digging them up, other sites say they contained a lot of asbestos, hence burial rather than cost of recovery.

[zero1]

Interesting what the "Time Team" might make of them in a few years from now....

Any suggestions: :mad:

[NutLoose]

I believe they contain a lot of asbestos internally that would have to be dealt with and reburied in metal containers, as the stuff is already in a metal container they buried them as they are.......

[NutLoose]

Try again James, I replied to your query and it posted as post 3

:\

[racedo]

Massive Accident of Strange machines with engines found in Town.

Historians today looking at primitive life on the planet destroyed in the nuclear war in 2121 discovered a crash size of numerous muserous today with no remains of the pilots.

Seemingly the machines were grouped together for a mass take off when this occured.

Historians speculate that people on the primitive planet used these machines to travel around which sounds absurd to those of us who know light particle travel

A photo of a strange creature known to scare people was found at the site but historians quickly realised this was a picture of Julia Gillard.

[500N]

I was surprised that so many were saved as it was.

I know the US is very touchy about destroying planes they have sold but just how much useful technology is involved in such an old airframe ? Or is it something else ?

A real shame to see the cockpits etc be buried.

[jamesdevice]

how come they weren't recycled? Surely the amount of titanium in those airframes would have made breaking them up worthwhile, despite the distances involved

[Doors Off]

They were probably purchased by a mining company after they had done a deal to sell them to the Chinese.

Miner - "If we buy those F111's, bury them, tell the Chinese and sell it to them as an "Ore" deposit" that should offset the carbon / mining tax" and the Government will be able to do nothing about it.

Chinese natural resources rep "Honourable chairman, the Australians have found the only known deposit of F111inium in the world, we must buy this in order to assist our stolen Stealth Fighter plans".

Australian Govt "yeah let micks mines, dig em up and sell em to the Chinese, might stop them being so antsy in their pantsy about the increased training exercises with the American Marines up in bloody Darwin"

:ok:

[500N]

" I recall an ex-RAAF guy claiming that he had been ordered to do the same with a bunch of Spitfires post WW2, somewhere in Oz."


Oakey in Qld and possibly Darwin in NT (not sure if they were buried or dumped in the NT).

A fair bit of gear was dumped in the NT and a fair bit was also hidden in dumps in case the japs invaded. I believe very few have ever been found.

[GreenKnight121]

There are actually 13 saved... 45 full airframes were shipped to Australia over the years.

8 were destroyed in crashes, 1 was reduced to parts as part of a "complete teardown fatigue and corrosion examination" (delivered by the USAF in 1999 specifically for this purpose), 6 have already been preserved as displays on various RAAF bases/museums, and 7 more are to be donated to other museums and organizations.

This leaves the 23 that were buried.

[Halton Brat]

I recall an ex-RAAF guy claiming that he had been ordered to do the same with a bunch of Spitfires post WW2, somewhere in Oz.

Was this another of my Guinness-induced hallucinations, or does anybody else recall?

HB

[dmanton300]

Still, at least the Aussies only took heavy plant equipment to a valuable national asset after it had ALREADY provided decades of sterling service, and not before, like we do here in the UK. . . .

[Buster Hyman]

So much for TFR...

[L J R]

The spitfire burial rumour has them located somewhere near Toowoomba or Dalby - unused, intact and still in boxes ISTR....

As for Lincolns from another Era also buried near/on Amberley.....

....as for the burial of the Pigs, at least they are not filed into razorblades.....

[Wiley]

As for Lincolns from another Era also buried near/on Amberley.....I can't speak for any Amberley Lincolns, but the Townsville Lincolns, ex-10 Sqn 'long nosees', (I think all the RAAF Lincolns ended up as 'long noses', but may be wrong on that), were towed across to the western side of Ingham Road just outside the gates of RAAF Garbutt and over the next few months, broken up for scrap - every one of them. It would have been some time in the early '60s, ('62/'63?), when the Neptunes replaced the Lincolns at 10 Sqn.

I can remember (as a kid) asking why weren't they keeping at least one of them to put in a museum, and no one seemed to have an answer to that.

As very young children, (pre-school - very early '50s), we'd always get very excited when a Lincoln lumbered over the Townsville suburbs at low level, screaming out to the aircraft the list of presents we wanted it to drop, as if it was Santa Claus. I don't know where that (short-lived? / Townsville only?) tradition came from. Perhaps from the WW2 'buscuit bomber', as they called the RAAF/USAAF C47s that dropped supplies to the front line troops in Papua New Guinea.

When I was about 10, I have one vivid recollection of a Lincoln overflying our school sports field (in North Ward,which was pretty well the circuit area for Garbutt), at around 1000', (from later experience, I know it wouldn't have been any higher), the crew obviously having a wonderful time cutting their way through a very thin layer of low stratus cloud. The four Merlins and the wings totally wiped out the cloud in their path, leaving a clearly-defined path of clear blue sky behind it in an otherwise overcast sky. That was one of those magic moments that convinced me that flying aeroplanes - military aeroplanes - was what I was going to do when I grew up.

When I first arrived at Point Cook in early '67, there were the thoroughly burnt out remains of a Lincoln (four Merlins sans propellers were about the only recognisible bits) over in the Firies training area on the coastal side of the airfield (next to the gym). We were told it had been flown in for the Firies to set alight for their training. Bugger any training value they might have got from that. It was pure vandalism.

[500N]

When you look at what was destroyed after the war and think now how few of certain planes are flying, it is very saddening.

Some pictures on these two web sites of whole a paddock filled with planes as far as you can see into the distance, including Spitfires flown in for destruction. Makes you cry.

"They are the remnants of the 656 Mark V and Mark VIII Spitfires that were delivered to the RAAF during the war.
RAAF records show that 544 aircraft, 232 of them Spitfires, were flown to Oakey to be sold to a scrap metal dealer."


RAAF Radschool Magazine, Vol 36.* Page 13 (http://www.radschool.org.au/magazines/Vol36/Page13.htm)

Fact or Fable: Spitfires Down an Australian Mine?: key.Aero: The Homepage of Aviation (http://www.key.aero/view_news.asp?ID=3842)

[tonker]

Marlborough Golf course has a US MASH still buried under it, and Savernake Forest is full of goodies.

[onetrack]

So it's true then? - not only Doctors - but the Defence Dept as well - bury their mistakes?? :suspect: I don't think too many people, apart from those who actually flew them, will be shedding tears over the burial of the F-111's hulls.

I can well recall the furore over the staggering cost of the initial purchase, the ever-escalating, ongoing costs, the wingbox failures and other problems, and the seemingly regular losses of F-111's, in non-combat flight.

One still always has a sneaking suspicion that the F-111 was an aircraft built in typical Defence Industry fashion. Full of design problems, that can easily be fixed with liberal applications of public funds, and using keen, brave young men as test pilots, without them really knowing they are test pilots.

The F-111 appeared to the Australian general public as being a prototype aircraft in constant need of serious modification, to provide even a basic level of reliability.
The following article does nothing to dispell that belief... even though the article tone is highly positive on the benefits of the lessons learned from the F-111's constant and costly failures.

http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au/publications/5328/March-2011-F111-Feature.pdf

If the F-111 had been produced just prior to the onset of any outbreak of War, as the Spitfire was, we would have probably have lost the War.
Such was the difference in the design skills and mindset of the design people, between the mid 1930's, and the early 1960's.
In the late 1930's, there was no room for design stuff ups. Imagine a Spitfire where a major design fault appeared, every few hundred hours??... until the design team finally got it right, some 5, 10 and 15 years later... :suspect:

Ron Cuskellys post gives some enlightening info on the F-111 disposal story....

ADF Serials Message Board -> F-111 Retirement (http://www.adf-messageboard.com.au/invboard/index.php?showtopic=1560&st=50)

[NutLoose]

Sad thing about the F-111 was it was used by the Labour Party to justify the cancellation the TSR2 programme, and was an inferior aircraft.

[Rallyepilot]

Yo Nutloose,

Upon what do you base your statement that the F-111 was inferior to the TSR-2? The TSR-2 never entered service so we have no knowledge about how good or bad it would have been.

[500N]

I do like these comments on the ADF Serials board

"The US government has already allocated F-111s to community museums in the United States."

"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!"

"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?"


Sounds to me like the Aust Gov't just didn't want to go through the hassle.

[Brian Abraham]

In the late 1930's, there was no room for design stuff upsExcept for the Manchester, Typhoon, Vulture, etc - even the Spitfire had its problems, and many good men gave their lives during the weeding out of issues. That's what occurs when you are breaking new ground.

[Wiley]

The F111 was acknowledged (if with GREAT reluctance) as having inadequate performance when compared with contemporary Soviet aircraft of the day. This was rammed down the very unwilling throats of the Pentagon heirarchy by USAF Colonel John Boyd (See: Amazon.com: Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War (9780316881463): Robert Coram: Books and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd_(military_strategist).)

However, despite its enormous cost and the long delay in its entry into RAAF service, I think you will find, onetrack, that from a military, but far more importantly, political point of view, it would be considered a great success in RAAF service, for it gave Australia a very credible long range (and most importantly, unsupported) strike capability far, far superior to what the RAAF currently has with its replacement.

Whereas it definitely had inferior performance to first ranking Soviet aircraft as far back as the 1970s, in the environment it would have operated if put into active service with the RAAF, it presented a very real threat to nations best left unnamed here and one that, in more than one moment of very serious political crisis - crises that the vast majority of Australians know nothing about - it gave the Australian government options that although (thankfully) never needed to be implemented, the potential ‘other side’ were very aware of.

I also think most who had anything to do with the aircraft would take you task over your hyperBOWLic (sorry, couldn't resist that:)) comment "the seemingly regular losses of F-111's, in non-combat flight". I think most disinterested observers would attest that the loss rate was low by any standard.

In closing - and getting back to the thread title - I agree with 500N. Those airframes could quite easily have been made available to museums rather than dumped the way they were. There seems to me to be far too many in Canberra who are far too willing to destroy or at least minimise any semblance of military tradition in this country.

[500N]

Wiley
At least one has been named continuously, Indonesia and that wouldn't be giving away anything.

Re "There seems to me to be far too many in Canberra who are far too willing to destroy or at least minimise any semblance of military tradition in this country."

The Gov't - and military - are so tied up with the "UN, anti war, anti gun, anti firearms" they just don't want any type of history along these lines to survive. They seemed destined to want to fight everything in the future with one arm tied up.

Re the F111's, I am sure it would only have taken a couple of people to say so and all the cockpits, canapoy's and even some skeleton of frames could have been saved and displayed. What harm would a cockpit and canopy on display at Oakey do ? Or even the whole crew escape capsule since it can't be too hard to take out considering it is designed like that. It would look great.

[jindabyne]

If, as Green Knight says, 13 of the original 45 purchased have been saved, what's the issue here? With 6 already on display in appropriate venues, and another 7 earmarked, that seems a very worthy tribute to me.

I wonder if they'll pickle Bbadanov and mount him somewhere :eek:

[Old Fella]

The F111 inferior to the TSR2. Hardly a comment which has any validity. The TSR2 was "still-born", the RAAF F111's gave almost 40 years of service, albiet costly. As for the "seemingly regular losses of F111 aircraft in non-combat situations", I would suggest that the F111 had a good safety record compared to many other types.

[500N]

jindabyne

"If, as Green Knight says, 13 of the original 45 purchased have been saved, what's the issue here? With 6 already on display in appropriate venues, and another 7 earmarked, that seems a very worthy tribute to me."

Have you read the link here ?
ADF Serials Message Board -> F-111 Retirement (http://www.adf-messageboard.com.au/invboard/index.php?showtopic=1560&st=50)

See the post Latest from the QAM website

At present, depending on where the rest end up, only one aircraft can be viewed by the public, the one at Point Cook. Anything on a Military base will be off limits to the public.

And the cost of over a million $ is beyond most places.

.

[NutLoose]

The reason their Government are keen to see them buried...


F-111 Deseal/reseal drama: Workers' Stories (http://studentwork.hss.uts.edu.au/oj1/toxic_airforce/)

[jamesdevice]

Interesting

http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jfadt/deseal_reseal/subs/moscova%20et%20al%202004.pdf
"The Royal Australian Air Force has reported that personnel involved in F-111 fuel tank maintenance were concerned that exposure to a range of chemicals during the period 1977–mid-1990s was the cause of health problems. Particular concern was directed at a desealant chemical mixture known as SR-51®. The current study, using in vitro submitochondrial assays, was designed to investigate the relative toxicities of the four components of SR-51® (Aromatic 150 solvent (Aro150), dimethylacetamide (DMA), thiophenol (TP) and triethylphosphate (TEP)). Based on the EC50 values, TP and Aro150 were the most toxic components and were markedly more toxic than TEP and DMA."

Thiophenol is bad news. Toxic. Prolonged exposure would be a serious issue

Toxicological Data on Ingredients: Thiophenol: ORAL (LD50): Acute: 46.2 mg/kg [Rat]. 267 mg/kg [Mouse]. DERMAL
(LD50): Acute: 134 mg/kg [Rabbit]. VAPOR (LC50): Acute: 33 ppm 4 hours [Rat]. 28 ppm 4 hours [Mouse].

CDC - NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards - Benzenethiol (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0050.html)
http://www.ee.iitb.ac.in/~nanoe/msds/msds%20triophenol.pdf (http://www.ee.iitb.ac.in/%7Enanoe/msds/msds%20triophenol.pdf)

[jamesdevice]

more chemicals used the the Oz F-111

Volume 2 Part 1 Chapter 7 Annex b - Chemical Data (http://www.airforce.gov.au/projects/f111/vol2/annexes/Volume%202%20Part%201%20Chapter%207%20annex%20B%20-%20Chemical%20Data.html)

the Alodine 1200S also looks bad -
"chromium trioxide 54%; potassium fluoborate 20%; potassium ferricyanide (III) 10-60%; sodium flouride < 10%; potassium fluozirconate < 10%"
Looks like this was applied with an abrasive pad to bare aluminium panels. You really don't want to play around with chromium salts...

[NutLoose]

I use Alodine, it is common in the aviation industry for corrosion protection, gives the ally a golden brown colouration.

[jamesdevice]

Bad news
I wouldn't want to touch it except in a controlled atmosphere with heavy duty protective clothes
Chromium salts can ruin your life. Very toxic, very carcinogenic
You can absorb it through skin or lungs as dust
http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9923475


edit
just found an old copy of Henkel's MSDS for the Alodine 1200S
I'd say it rather understates the risk
http://www.hillbrothers.com/msds/pdf/n/alodine-1200s.pdf

[Halton Brat]

When I look back to the RAF of some 40yrs ago, we aircraft engineers were splashing a lethal cocktail of chemicals around on an almost daily basis:

Trichloroethane/ethylyne
Metheylethylketone (MEK)
Toluene
PRC Sealing compounds
And lots of other nasty things

ElfnSafety had not been invented yet; protective clothing was minimal & education on such products non-existant.

I recall a guy at Lyneham(?) being found unconscious over a solvent bath for a protracted period - severe brain damage (IIRC, he was cleaning some motorcycle parts at lunchtime?). We just did not realise the risks in those days at all.

I have instructed my family that on no account am I to be cremated upon my demise; I fear that the ensuing conflagration would take several days & the ministrations of the Fire Brigades of two counties to extinguish, due to the amount of such substances I have absorbed.

However, I am still here, age 56yrs & fit as a butcher's dog. I still have to fight the popsies off with a stick, and have cultivated a theory that draught Guinness clearly neutralises the threat posed by such toxins in the human body.

HB

[NutLoose]

yup, when the hangar floors at Odius used to "sweat" a couple of 45 gallon drums of Trichloroethane were opened, tipped over to flood one end of the shed then a row of bods would use sweep the lot down the hangar with squeegees out the other end door and down the drain.... extra drums were added as needed.

:uhoh:

The lad at Lynham was doing his bike wheels if memory serves me correctly, he survived in a comatose state for several months before sadly dying from his injuries, a shock wave went round the RAF and a lot of bad practices ceased..... Poor Guy.

HB

I still use

Trichloroethane/ethylyne
Metheylethylketone (MEK)
Toluene
PRC Sealing compounds
And lots of other nasty things

and add to that zinc chromate aerosol primer........

[Wander00]

Was there not a case many years ago where an airman sadly dissolved in a vat of solvent into which he had fallen.

[jamesdevice]

you're confusing different types of toxicity here
Yes, those solvents are unpleasant, but providing you use them with plenty of ventilation and keep skin exposure to a minimum then they won't cause a lot of long term damage. The problems come if you use them continuously, or in a closed / unventilated room, as I imagine the poor chap who was found did.
The chromium in the Alodine is of a totally different nature. Seriously toxic, and causes cancer. Not "may" cause. DOES cause it. You really don't want to touch that stuff. Since my initial reading last night I've found that the Alodine is also sold as a premixed solution for pickling. That would be a lot easier / safer to handle as liquids can be poured. But the suggestion on the Oz chemical guide that you polish the metal with the powder and a scrubber is totally insane.
That chromium, plus the toxic thiophenol from the tanks are guaranteed to give chronic medical problems



PS - one risk that may not have occurred to you
If you smoked while sploshing those chlorinated solvents around, you would have generated phosgene as the solvent passed through the flame. Did they taste any different? Phosgene is a funny thing - it smells different to different people. Or so say those who've smelt it and survived. The one time I got a whiff it smelt like burnt sugar

[jindabyne]

Thanks for that 500N. Not brilliant if that's so. but it differs to GK's view.

[500N]

Jindabyne
No problems.
I have been to / on a fair few of these bases and live close to Point Cook - which is the one that the public will be able to see.

They have tightened up security no end and you can't even get onto Point Cook unless the Museum is open and that is just a cadet training with the museum and a runway. Imagine trying to get onto a fully operational base.

I might pop down to Point Cook and see if the F111 is on show yet.

[NutLoose]

The young lad involved was overcome by the fumes and collapsed fwd into the tank during his lunch break, I believe his legs were seen but he was hanging over into the tank, he remained sadly in a vegative state until his demise. He would have at the very least have been breathing more or less pure trich vapour.

Sad Sad Sad.....:uhoh:

[GreenKnight121]

Have you read the link here ?
ADF Serials Message Board -> F-111 Retirement (http://www.adf-messageboard.com.au/invboard/index.php?showtopic=1560&st=50)

See the post Latest from the QAM website

At present, depending on where the rest end up, only one aircraft can be viewed by the public, the one at Point Cook. Anything on a Military base will be off limits to the public.


Thanks for that 500N. Not brilliant if that's so. but it differs to GK's view.
If you go past the page 500N linked (March of this year) to the next page, we find the following post, made on 30 September this year:
ADF Serials Message Board -> F-111 Retirement (http://www.adf-messageboard.com.au/invboard/index.php?showtopic=1560&st=100#)
near the bottom of the page:
This afternoon's press release.

Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare today announced that up to seven retired F-111 fighter jets will be made available to Australian aircraft museums and other historical organisations.

The iconic F-111s were the front line of the Australian Defence Force for almost four decades.

Following their retirement in December last year, aircraft museums and historical organisations around the country expressed strong interest in displaying the F-111.

“I’ve met with museum operators around the country and I understand how important it is that as many Australians as possible have access to this piece of Australia’s aviation history,” Mr Clare said.

“I have therefore decided that up to seven F-111s will be made available to Australian aircraft museums and other historical organisations.”

The aircraft will be loaned to museums so that Defence can continue to manage the risk of hazardous material in the aircraft like asbestos and will be subject to a number of conditions to ensure the safe preservation of the aircraft.

These include:

Housing the aircraft in a completely enclosed facility;
Ensuring members of the public are prevented from climbing into engine intakes and exhaust ducts;
Limiting, controlling and supervising public access to the cockpit;
Preventing the public from opening aircraft panels;
Supervising public access to the wheel well and weapons bays;
Completing specified preservation maintenance; and
Meeting Commonwealth auditing and reporting requirements.
As the aircraft were produced in the United States, organisations selected to display the aircraft will be subject to the approval of the US Government under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

Interested organisations will be asked to respond to a Request for Offer which will be released by Defence later this year.

F-111 aircraft will also be preserved at the following RAAF Bases across Australia:

RAAF Base Amberley, QLD (two aircraft);
RAAF Museum at Point Cook, VIC (two aircraft);
RAAF Base Edinburgh, SA (one aircraft); and
RAAF Base Wagga, NSW (one aircraft).
“The F-111s were affectionately known as ‘Pigs’ because of their ability to hunt at night and fly low in the weeds thanks to their terrain-following radar,” Mr Clare said.Note that that press release says "up to 7 for museums and historical organizations"... then later says "F-111 aircraft will also be preserved at the following RAAF Bases" and goes on to list the 6 already at RAAF bases.

The key is the word ALSO... indicating that the 6 at RAAF bases are IN ADDITION TO the 7 for "other museums and historical organizations"!


This is repeated again in the 23 November 2011 press released quoted in this post in that same thread 500N linked:
ADF Serials Message Board -> F-111 Retirement (http://www.adf-messageboard.com.au/invboard/index.php?showtopic=1560&st=150#)
about 1/3 of the way down:
Minister for Defence Materiel – Iconic F-111 fighter jets seek new homes

23 November 2011

Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare today released the Request for Offer (RFO) for up to seven retired F-111 fighter jets that will be made available on loan to Australian aircraft museums and other historical organisations.

Mr Clare announced in September that up to seven F-111s will be made available on loan to Australian aircraft museums and other historical organisations.
The release of the Request for Offer is the next step in that process.And AGAIN, the press release listed the aircraft preserved as RAAF bases as "ALSO preserved"... again clearly indicating that "the 7" are for other places than RAAF bases!

[junior.VH-LFA]

the F-111G is on display in the strike hangar, the F-111C is in storage awaiting a display venue.

[500N]

junior

Are you are talking Point Cook or somewhere else ?