Fate of 23 RAAF F-111s... "buried"?

[RJM]

Eight crashed, 23 were buried, and the remainder have been put on display in defence establishments and museums around Australia.

Is this the normal practice for obsolete military aircraft? Does 'buried' mean 'carefully wrapped and buried' or just 'put in the ground'?

[500N]

Put in the ground.

I think it was really only the shell, most of the gear, engines, cockpit etc
had been ripped out.

US aircraft, from what I can gather they dictate what and how they
get retired / destroyed.

[Old Fella]

The link below will take you to the story and a photograph.


No Cookies | The Courier-Mail (http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/raaf-base-amberley-f-111-fighter-jets-end-up-on-swanbank-landfill-site-near-ipswich/story-fn8m0yo2-1226204896564)

[c130jbloke]

Shame they could not have been dumped at sea for use as an artificial reef.

[RJM]

..or even melted down and the metal reused.

Thanks for the enlightenment, anyway.

[ShotOne]

Sort of makes one wonder why we bother collecting and recycling all these cans if aluminium is so un-sought after

[onetrack]

Firstly - The F111's were unsuitable for recycling because of the high level of toxic compounds, toxic metals, and radioactive substances contained in the airframe.

Toxic contaminants in the airframe comprised Asbestos, Beryllium, Chromate, Radioactive materials, and toxic (highly carcinogenic) chemicals in the fuel tank areas.

All of these toxic contaminants require extensive safety procedures and processes to extract, treat, or dispose of them safely, according to OSHA and Environmental laws.

No longer do we just dump unwanted stuff in the forest as one did in the 1940's or 1950's - today we have a better understanding of the long term effects of disposing of hazardous and toxic waste materials - and the gradual buildup of these toxic and hazardous substances over a long period of time, that poses a real threat to public health.

Read about the Mafia's illegal disposal of toxic waste in Italy to garner some understanding of what happens when you ignore these sensible controls over hazardous waste.

Secondly - the U.S. Govt had a large say in the disposal of the airframes to ensure that there wasn't the slightest possibility some well-funded terrorist organisation could rebuild them in secret and use them against the U.S.

A very large proportion of U.S. military items come with an "end-user" certificate that you have to sign to comply with U.S. Govt requirements on end-use or resale of the item you purchase.

Finally - Boeing carried out a "Risk Assessment for Public Display" of the F111's, and a read of this might give you a little more understanding of what the potential risks are, in keeping the F111's above ground and available for public access.

The people responsible for the display of these aircraft have an onerous burden in complying with a raft of Environmental laws, OSHA laws, State and Local Govt laws - and ensuring that cunning lawyers can't retire on the proceeds of lawsuits involving stupid people who could manage to injure themselves with a rubber sword - and who immediately sue the responsible entity at the first opportunity, after having injured themselves doing something completely idiotic.

http://www.defence.gov.au/foi/docs/disclosures/296_1112_Documents.pdf

[dat581]

As far as a terrorist organisation rebuilding and then using the F111s there is no chance of that no matter how well funded. Terror groups just don't work that way and there are plenty of other military aircraft lying about in various places around the world which would be far less complicated than an F111 return to flight status.

The problem the US Government had was with the TF30 engines and the possibility of the Iranians getting a hold of parts for their TF30 powered F14s.

[500N]

Does anyone know if they stripped the engines out of the Museum pieces ?

I'll have to go down to Pt Cook and have a look at one.

[dat581]

There are several components missing from each engine along with other small changes made to render them permanently unserviceable. As far as Joe Public is concerned you can look up both the intakes and the tailpipe and they look no different from when they were in service.

[500N]

I figured if they left them in they would have done something like that.

[Rigga]

In 60 years there will be a rumour about some buried F-111's and someone will make a fortune making a documentary about them...from Malaysia.

[dctyke]

I heard they found some spitfires whilst digging the hole:rolleyes:

[NutLoose]

The F111 and the distain they treated some of their personnel with in the Australian Military makes ones eyes water, in case you are unaware of these issues and one reason why the damn things were buried, I would suggest you read this on NOT how to do things. Best place for the damn things, one just hopes they are buried deep.

The F111 Deseal Reseal Board of Inquiry - Volume 1 (http://www.airforce.gov.au/docs/Volume1.htm)

Sobering words from the introduction

'I have skin cancers or solar skin damage on my scalp, forehead, face and arms. I also have claw toes and my left foot bows out. I have lodged a claim for these impairments with the Department of Veterans Affairs and receive a sixty percent disability pension. … I continue to suffer blood pressure problems which date back to my days at Amberley. I have also suffered haemorrhoids with intermittent bleeding from the bowel. I have a lump on the palm of my left hand and a lump in the throat, which makes it intermittently hard to swallow. Back in my time at Amberley I was referred to an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist in Brisbane. I still have a sore throat and am always coughing. I have bad breath and my wife is always telling me that I have an awful smell from my body which is not regular body odour. I also get a red rash on my face and suffer from headaches and dizziness, especially when my wife is using any cleaning product around the house. I am at times very depressed and this has put a strain on my relationship with my wife … and with my family. For some years I have not been interested in sex. I get very cranky and yell and snap at my wife for apparently no reason at all. My wife tells me there is something wrong with me and says that I should see a Doctor. She tells me that I am not the same man she knew before our posting to Amberley. I suffer from broken sleep patterns and was always a good eater but now find my appetite is gone. I generally only pick at food. I believe I have lost concentration and my short-term memory is lacking. I seem to be only able to absorb about three to five minutes of information at a time. My wife has noted my short-term memory loss problems, as have some of my friends. I remember when I was first covered in SR51 I felt sick in the stomach that night and had a splitting headache.... I still get headaches frequently'.


A lot more stories here

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

And an excerpt



Former maintinence worker Barry Willis, 64, worked shifts up to 11 hours inside the fuel tanks, cleaning and repairing the aircraft in only his shirt, shorts and boots. He says that open cans of sealant used to be stored in the refrigerators where the workers kept their lunch.

"I used to be so bad my skin would excrete a yellow substance all over my body into the white pillow sheets," he says. "My wife couldn't get the stains out of them."

"I've had skin irritation for 20 years. I still have headaches. I've had breathing difficulties. I had sexual problems; my testicles swelled up so big they looked like footballs. I've had growths all the way up my body - my toes, legs crotch, underneath my arms."

When he complained about his symptoms to the RAAF, he says he was sent to psychologists and "quacks" who knew less about chemicals he did.

Among the chemicals Willis and other maintinence workers were exposed to include:

Benzene, carcinogenic to humans. Long-term exposure known to cause leukemia and hematological cancer
Chromium VI, carcinogenic to humans. High-level exposure known to cause pulmonary, lung and gastrointestinital cancer
Carbon black, possibly carcinogenic to humans. Has been linked to lung and esophogas cancer
Barry Willis says he knows at least 35 former F-11 maintinence workers who have died in recent years, most from cancer or suicide.

[superq7]

NutLoose

That is very sad, I was an inspector at Filton UK on depot maintenance when it came to re-seal de-seal of the tanks I just looked in and shone my torch around for thirty seconds, looking back probably one of my better decisions.

I know a lot of us decry all this health and safety regulations but a/c fuel tanks are lethal places to work, hope your guys get all the compo they are entitled too.

[dragartist]

Good reply OneTrack. It took a good many years for some of this thinking to sink in for me. When I started out Cadmium was the order of the day. We even had plating baths at some RAF Units before the operations were contracted out. I think we all got high on the MEK in what we called Thiokol or PRC 1221/ 1422. This probably accounts for some of the posts us older ones make on PPRuNe!! where the brain cells have been killed off. I remember wrapping ducts on the Canberra in white tape wired in place with locking wire. Some time later we had an asbestos removal programme. Some took this literally and were instructing that things be taken apart and the gaskets replaced. How dumb. My boss at the time was quite sharp and turned this into an asbestos management programme. Where things did not have any planned activities which would have exposed the maintainers to asbestos a declaration was made that the whole assembly be disposed of as hazardous waste at the end of its life. This applied to some APUs and major modules. A good decision. I never knowingly came across any beryllium. We had a campaign. I think this was mainly wrapped up in electrical boxes.

We just don't know where all this nasty stuff is a lot of the time, particularly since some of the guys who designed it are not around to ask.

I had an issue with some explosive squibs in some obsolete kit only a few years ago. The Design Organisation were no use to me at all. You will see Tuc and others go on about how critical it is to have continuity and effective DOs on other threads. How true.

Having seen this thread to begin with I jumped on the same bandwagon. these jets would make a lot of coke cans. I am pleased some have been preserved. We have one in the UK at Duxford to look at. I think the rubber wing seals were all designed and made in the UK by Woodville Rubber Company (Consumed by BTR IIRC).

Sad but probably the best option.

I know the mention of Spitfires was tongue in cheek but perhaps in 100 years when we have the technology to deal with the non segregated hazardous waste we will be digging them up again to recover some of the precious metals.

[NutLoose]

I think we all got high on the MEK in what we called Thiokol or PRC 1221/ 1422

I'm still using all three of those along with Trike, Zinc Chromate, and a whole host of other nasties and have been for the last 35 years and I'm ok I think...

So far no side effects I've noticed
Aaaawoooooooooooo there is the moon again aaaaawoooooooooooo.. :O


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