Aussie Mirages - where?

[nzhills]

Hi, does anyone know what happened to the RAAF Mirage III"s. Regards
Mark

[Fris B. Fairing]

Most went to Pakistan with a relatively small number remaining in Australia as display aircraft.

[dartman2]

Stored at Woomera for some time then sold to the Paki's.

[ChrisJ800]

where they were made nuclear bomb carrying capable. Me thinks the F35 will not be able to be on sold like the Mirage!

[megan]

Stored at Woomera as related by dartman and shipped out from Whyalla.

History of individual airframes here

ADF Serials - Mirage III (http://www.adf-serials.com.au/3a3.htm)

[Capn Bloggs]

Ride a French Lady...

[B772]

Slightly off topic but Mirage related.
Did Garry Cooper make a dead stick landing at a disused airstrip after take-off from Williamtown due to a bird strike ?. Was the aircraft then towed back to Williamtown via public roads ?. Was this the same Garry Cooper who flew helicopters in Vietnam ?

[Capn Bloggs]

B772, have a look at the website listed above: (ADF Serials - Mirage III (http://www.adf-serials.com/3a3.htm)). Scroll down to A3-29.

[Styx75]

There's one on display in the HARS hangar at Wollongong airport, NSW.

[aroa]

The Miracle...certainly no slouch in the speed department...and still up there top speed wise and better than some of the modern stuff, so I read.

Interestingly, after all the Mirage losses due the single engine failures, the philosophy was for a twin..ie the Hornets.

Now days everything else seems to be a twin, but we are back getting a single !
Hope those F 35 donks a super reliable !!

And how the costs have blossomed !! 1.6 mil for a Mirage. 160 mil for a 35. !!

[Old Fella]

REFERENCE A3-29. And for years I had believed it was Nick Leray-Myer who had "dead-sticked" the aircraft near Willytown. Just shows, never too old to learn.

[rjtjrt]

This has been read by many before.
Mirage landing Tullamarine Airport with wheels not down.

QAM - The Last Landing of Mirage A3-16 (http://www.qam.com.au/qam-content/aircraft/mirage/wheels-up.htm)

[Fris B. Fairing]

A3-16 is now fully assembled and on display at the Queensland Air Museum at Caloundra.

A3-16 (http://www.qam.com.au/qam-content/aircraft/mirage/A3-16-46.htm)

[Capn Bloggs]

A3-16 is now fully assembled and on display at the Queensland Air Museum at Caloundra.

What's that weapon on the centreline?

[PLovett]

where they were made nuclear bomb carrying capable. Me thinks the F35 will not be able to be on sold like the Mirage!

IIRC the Mirage III was never nuclear capable and could not be made so. There is a lot more to the job than attaching a bucket of sunshine to a weapons rack. The Australian jets were pretty much fit for spares only which is I believe what happened to them.

[gerry111]

"What's that weapon on the centreline?"

Bloggs, I reckon that's an ECM pod. A3-115 on display at the front gate of RAAF Edinburgh has one too.

You were clearly never trusted with the nation's secrets, as I was. So perhaps your ECM would have been limited to a couple of packets of chaff jammed under your speed brakes..

[Capn Bloggs]

Fair enough, Gerry, what about that rocket-thingee then? Doesn't look like an R530 to me...

Chaff better than cows wrapped in alfoil! :ok:

[gerry111]

PLovett,

50 ex RAAF Mirages were exported to Pakistan (PAF), plus a large heap of spares including engines around 1990. Most were re-engineered and upgraded for air to air refuelling with new avionics. There's still a few flying including ARDU's A3-2 but they'll all finally be retired this year. Perhaps check out on social media: "Friends of the RAAF Mirage 111O"?

[gerry111]

Apparently it is a R530 Matra but missing a few tail fins. QAM also need the missing landing light and the absent nosewheel door above.

Did you ever souvenir a few bits during your pre flights, Bloggs?

[Capn Bloggs]

Apparently it is a R530 Matra but missing a few tail fins
Fair enough.

Couldn't even kick the tyres, they were inflated too hard, not like the ones I kick now...

[Fris B. Fairing]

The Matra R530 radar guided missile has all its tail fins but is missing the four wings although the four "spars" are still present. The item on the centreline is an AN/ALQ-72 ECM pod. I am advised that they were used mainly to familiarise RAAF pilots with the effects of having become a jammee! A3-16 is still missing a few bits so all contributions will be gratefully accepted :)

[Gnadenburg]

IIRC the Mirage III was never nuclear capable and could not be made so. There is a lot more to the job than attaching a bucket of sunshine to a weapons rack. The Australian jets were pretty much fit for spares only which is I believe what happened to them.

I don't want to out-google anyone, but I do recall the Pakistanis modified the ex-RAAF Mirages sold to Pakistan by the Hawke Labor government , to carry a locally made cruise missile that carries a nuclear warhead in the low kilotons. Testing of the missiles were carried out on ex RAAF aircraft, with a limited operational capability prior to integration with other platforms.

[ChrisJ800]

IIRC the Mirage III was never nuclear capable and could not be made so. There is a lot more to the job than attaching a bucket of sunshine to a weapons rack. The Australian jets were pretty much fit for spares only which is I believe what happened to them.

Most of the Oz Mirages sold to Pakistan were more than just spares, see IIIO Rose upgrades here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_ROSE

And plenty of innuendo on their Nuclear capability, eg Jet sales to Pakistan haunt Canberra - National - theage.com.au (http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/jet-sales-to-pakistan-haunt-canberra/2007/11/06/1194329225075.html)

[Pinky the pilot]

Did you ever souvenir a few bits during your pre flights, Bloggs?

Well, I know you did, Gerry111.:hmm:

FFS, I've still got something you passed on to me......I think!:confused::D;)

There was that....er...no.. I think I lost that when I last moved house:E but there was that....ummm:ooh:

[gerry111]

"I know nothing!" Pinky.. ;)

[zlin77]

Re: A3-28 ejection by D.M. Johnson, I heard a rumour many years ago that he was the first ejection from a Mirage in OZ, believe he was Doug Johnson (DCA) who did my initial instrument rating check in Brisbane in 1977, can anyone confirm?

[rjtjrt]

A3-28 ejection was 18 months after A3-1 lost with high speed ejection, said by some to be first supersonic ejection.
That was an RAAF Mirage flown by RAF pilot during test flying, as I recall.

http://www.adf-serials.com.au/research/aircrew-eject.pdf

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Hi 'Big Boys'.....Care to tell me how a 'miracle 3' could not intercept or get 'anywhere near' ze Concorde, when ze Concorde visited ze SY, way back when.....

OUR 'top fighter interceptor' no catchee...?? Despite a couple of attempts...??

Once when 'she' was arriving...and ze ozer when 'she' was departing...??

Had we been 'at war', and 'she' was ze enemy bomber, zen we would 'ave been ...'fecked'.....??

n'est-ce-pas..??

Cheers and standing by pour ze incoming.....:p

[Ascend Charlie]

The Miracle may have had speed, but she didn't have endurance - during war games at Willy they were defending the base against USAF F-15. The 15s would come zooming in, our lads would wait until they got close enough, then launch for an intercept - but the Yanks would turn and run to make the Mirage chase them. When they hit Bingo fuel and turned around, the 15s followed them back to Willy and played games overhead while our short-legged birds landed and were getting refuelled.

[Pinky the pilot]

And I suspect, Griffo, that the Mirage jocks would 'ave been saying things like 'merde' or even stronger epithets!:E

[Sunfish]

A3-28 ejection was 18 months after A3-1 lost with high speed ejection, said by some to be first supersonic ejection.
That was an RAAF Mirage flown by RAF pilot during test flying, as I recall.



That was Tony Svensson, a lovely bloke, he sailed with my father and I on weekends.

I seem to recall that he had engine flameout and attempted to dive for a restart. He may have been supersonic. Either his leg restraints weren't fitted correctly or broke and he suffered broken legs and arms. I went to see him in hospital a few times.

[Hot n Heavy]

For those interested in the Mirage story:

http://www.radschool.org.au/Books/the_raaf_mirage_story_opt.pdf

[john_tullamarine]

and played games overhead while our short-legged birds landed and were getting refuelled

.. love it

[gerry111]

"and played games overhead while our short-legged birds landed and were getting refuelled".

Not entirely my recollection from 1981 at 77 Sqn. We had some of our Mirages fitted with centre line tanks to get around that. There's a few photos out there showing a Mirage gunsight pipper sitting rather uncomfortably on an Okinawa ZZ Squadron F-15C..

[Gnadenburg]

Some Mirage pilot kill claims on exercise back in the 80's seem quite extraordinary now.