View Full Version : F-111's pylons
rousseau
29th Jun 2008, 04:41
How many pylons under F-111's wing each? All present line draw show 3, some photos show 4. if it is 4, is it possible to load 8 2273liter external fuel tanks under wing?
Pontius Navigator
29th Jun 2008, 07:37
Google is your friend. Four for some, 3 for others, ie 8/6.
TEEEJ
29th Jun 2008, 14:15
Try
F-111.net Home Page (http://www.f-111.net/)
All the variants and info should be listed.
TJ
harrogate
29th Jun 2008, 14:29
I'm off to Riverfire in September.
I'll try and have a look for you.
Anyone got any night vis goggles?
GreenKnight121
29th Jun 2008, 20:41
All the production wings were fitted with 8 hard-points, but in practice the outermost 4 were rarely (if ever) fitted with pylons.
The reason is that only the inner 4 pivoted with the wing sweep, thus if the outer pylons were fitted the aircraft was limited to sub-sonic speeds.
from Bill Gunston's F-111 book:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b336/Bager1968/Aircraft/RAAF%20F-111C/F-111maxload.jpg
Double Zero
29th Jun 2008, 21:31
Harrogate,
NVG's are easily bought, but the generation 3+ I suspect you need are a tad expensive at £3,000 plus and a very limited life-span, as I found out both in my BAe dark-room and personal boat ( I bought that set, honest ) the hard way !
GreenKnight,
I'd be very interested to know how a fully loaded F-111 compared to a steam driven, slum of a cockpit but internal loaded - as seems bleeding obvious as the F-22 & 35 have caught on - Buccaneer ?
The RAAF's F-111Cs carried jugs on the outboard non swivel pylons for long legs from US to Oz. With no wing sweep the jugs were angled in about 15 degrees for takeoff. A touch of wing sweep streamlined the tanks after takeoff.
All other pylons remain aligned through full sweep angles.
kluge
30th Jun 2008, 02:00
Two pylons on this one.
From this years Wanaka airshow in NZ. A fabulous weekend :ok:
Crank up the sound and enjoy.
YouTube - F111 Official Warbirds Over Wanaka 2008 DVD (http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=siczD0V1Yuk&NR=1)
Wow!! What a demo.
I'll just have to find out who flew that F-111 and post his name for posterity.
GreenKnight121
30th Jun 2008, 03:50
Double Zero... the F-111 carried 1,500 lbs (2 x 750lb bombs) of its total 37,500 lb "extreme maximum" weapons load* in its small internal bay.
A more common use for the small internal bay is for cameras or the AN/AVQ-16 Pave Tack laser designation/FLIR pod, as seen here:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b336/Bager1968/Aircraft/RAAF%20F-111C/F-111C_4.jpg
*normal useful payload varies from 8000 pounds to 20,000 pounds, according to range.
harrogate
30th Jun 2008, 15:29
Two pylons on this one.
From this years Wanaka airshow in NZ. A fabulous weekend
Crank up the sound and enjoy.
YouTube - F111 Official Warbirds Over Wanaka 2008 DVD
And for anyone who's never been to Riverfire, have a squiz at the video below.
It's a big festival that culminates in a low-ish level night-time dump and burn by a pair of F-111s, after which the whole of Brissie erupts in fireworks. Superb.
I think Riverfire 2009 is the last one the F-111s will appear at.
There are better videos than this on Youtube taken by folks on the ground at various points along the route, but this cheesey 'official' one gives you the general idea....
YouTube - Brisbane Riverfire - Nine telecast part 3 (Dump and Burn) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-_i5jQVWz8)
glad rag
30th Jun 2008, 15:38
Do they still have the gun?
harrogate
30th Jun 2008, 16:18
I know this one.
No. They don't.
forget
30th Jun 2008, 16:52
Good write up here
http://www.airsceneuk.org.uk/hangar/2000/f111/f111.htm
Double Zero
30th Jun 2008, 17:00
GreenKnight 121,
well cameras & Pavestrikes etc are / were right up my street - that central pod looks better than anything I worked on - nice shot.
Re. the internal carriage & Buccaneer mention, I was wondering about fully loaded range; there was a legend that a fully loaded Bucc' ( and I'm not a particular fan, just think an internal bay is a good idea ) was faster & longer-ranged than a Phantom or Tornado, and the '111 seems in the same order as those 2 ?!
GreenKnight121
2nd Jul 2008, 05:56
I did intermediate level repairs on the FLIR turret (AN/AAS-33A, on the A-6E Intruder) for the USMC 1981-1989.
(the ball under the nose:)
http://www.aero-web.org/database/museums/showimage.php?id=4919
And a little with the first AN/AAS-38 FLIR & LRD pods on the USMC F/A-18A Hornets.
(FLIR pod seen on the port intake side here, the LRD pod goes on the starboard intake :)
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/f-18-hornetinhungary.jpg