Interview with Jeff Guinn on the F-111 Aardvark
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- Опубликовано: 13 окт 2024
- Jeff Guinn chats about flying the USAF F-111 Aardvark. He includes his training, being based at Upper Heyford and flying in operation Desert Storm.
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I flew with a former F-111 pilot a man of few words. Anyways one night my eyes began burning and then I could smell something electrical. It got worse quick, never saw smoke but at gross,at night in a Lear he looks at me and said, "I'm thinking landing would be a good idea." I told him to find us one while I reported it. He said, "While you were wiping your eyes I already picked one out, 9 o clock, 20 miles, 6 thousand ft and here is the freq to turn on the lights." There was a reason why the AF trusted him with nukes.
Can't beat that calm cool demeanor or the unnatural ability to anticipate your buddy's needs
Thought I’d watch a few minutes of this before bed. 1 hour and 6 minutes later.....
What a fantastic interview and what an entertaining and interesting guy.
I worked avionics on the f-111f model when it was still at Mountain Home in the mid-1970s and ended up having an opportunity to fly the simulator one night what I showed them, entirely by accident, that in an articulated drain environment you could indeed engage the Terrain following radar even when you were going faster than it was designed to operate at. I slowed the simulator to the requisite speed with the wing sweep handle finished my series of Maneuvers to get back to the base and landed the simulator. And was meant by the colonel who ran the simulator who had me explain why a flight line avionics Tech Airman was flying the simulator. I explained that I worked on all of the flight control systems and had a pretty good working knowledge of them and he proceeded to ask me how I was able to fly a complete mission and still in the craft, how many times had I come in and flow the simulator. I told him it was the first time I had ever done so. His retort to me was that no that can't happen because the pilot to come in here to try and on the Apollo 11 have never not once has the they've been able to fly the simulator without crashing on their first attempt. I advised him that I had an advantage that they did not. He asked what that was? And I told him I had never flown an aircraft before, and the reason that was an advantage was that I worked on all those flight controls and instrumentation and if you put all those balls in lines and doodads where they belong that plane flies exactly the way it's intended to. Then he asked me how I got the terrain following radar to engage? And I told him I let go of the controls and held the engagement but while I turned on the pitch computer and terrain following radar so that it would you disengage because I was trying to fly through the mountains at the time. That became a training aspect of Pilots after that point. It was indeed a wonderful weapon system and was used as the basis for the B1 bomber and several of its aspects were used in the F-15 and F-16 however they were all Next Generation aircraft. But I was qualified to do the avionics of them as well.
It is amazing what you can do when you don't have the flight manual or other aircraft handling characteristics in your head.
On a training course that I was on, we had to learn the new digital based flying control system, this included assesments in a SIM for fault diagnosis and basic understanding.
A term you heard quite often was "fly it like a pilot, not an Avionic Tech" because we would try to complete the flight using trims and buttons only! This wouldn't have been an issue apart from some of the faults the instructors set up could only be found through physical movement of the cockpit controls. It drove them mad.
Funnily enough, they said that they never had this issue with mechanical technicians.
Aircrew under utilise their digital system, both from force of habit and from an unjustified mistrust of computers.
Us AV techs will do anything we can to make life easy 😉 if it's there, use it!
My father worked on the f111 at mountain home Idaho. 1979. After that we went to cannon new Mexico. He cross trained after upper hayford England.
Nice!
@@jacobanderson2536 your dad and I were in the same places at the same time
I passed my YOU session for RAAF with Avionics as the muster of 1st preference in 2010. Classic Hornets.
2nd was black hand and 3rd was ADG.
My recruiter was navy and he tried very hard to come to navy as helicopter avtech.
But,as we all know,
the army sleeps under the stars,
the navy navigates by the stars,
but the RAAF chooses the motels they stay in by how many stars they have !
Whitehands for life.
I never went further and became a dad.
Love my son tremendously, but wonder what could of been.
Love the PIG f111 dearly,with its glass clinking sonic booms out to sea,or low level beach passes up Fraser Island,but most of all the hollow pipe sound of its intakes on approach and running outside to look ahead of the sound to see a black dot disappear.
The F-111 has always been a favorite of mine. Glad to see such a fantastic interview with an outstanding old school pilot.
He kept saying I’m gonna wrap this up & I’m shouting NO, keep going!
Probably the best pilot interview I have seen so far and I have seen many.
My thoughts exactly, too many times it comes across like blowing your own pole, especially with the Navy fliers.
As a Brit I was lucky to meet F111 aircrew at Upper Heyford on 'open evenings' and found them and the other USAF personnel to be professional and friendly. Good people.
The RAAF dump and burns have to be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen a plane do.Awesome👏🏻.
That was a really enjoyable interview. Old F111 maintainer here.
Hour long interview felt like 15 minutes. Super cool pilot for sure. I was an F111 crew chief from 81-92 that was fortunate enough to be max power engine run certified and went on a couple of incentive flights. My ride in the F111F was while at McClellan AFB and included some TFR flying that transitioned to low level hand flying by the pilot. I remember the pilot saying I looked a little nervous and not to worry, that if anything went wrong we wouldn't feel anything. One of the best experiences of my life.
I was in the 523 AGS at Cannon AFB from '84-'86. We operated F111D's. This is the best video I have seen about the F111. Fabulous interview. Thanks you and thanks Mr. Guinn.
I was 523rd from 79-82. B shop.
"They forgot...that this airplane will kill you" chills man..no wonder they wanted 1000 hours fighter tine to be considered to be left seat
I was a crew chief at Upper-Heyford in 77-79. Loved hearing his stories. Great job.
Cheers Joe.
My father, Ben Toney, worked on the F-111 for most of his career. He was the Engineering Manager for the Digital Flight Control System. He later retired as the F-111 Program Director. I've got some really cool memorabilia from his career. I love watching F-111 videos and hearing stories.
Very cool, Chris.
What a great bloke. Loved the interview. This man has lived an incredible life.
Durandals used by F-111Es in Desert Storm against Iraqi runways, this was the only time that the durandal bomb was used by the USAF operationally! F-111 below a truck at night, DAMN! Jeff the vark driver, best interview out of all I've seen so far! Thanks for your work and serivce!
wonder how americans had low losses....brit tornados got fucked on the anti runway sorties
Teri Farley The F-111 didn’t use Durandels in Desert Storm. In fact, the USAF never used them in combat. Your information is wrong,
@@patrickbec68 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matra_Durandal
@@imrosebashir2797 RAF Lost one Tornado at very low level after it had down a JP233 attack. All the rest were lost at low to medium level in the process of doing loft attacks with unguided 1000 lb bombs and a Medium level LGB attack.
@@patrickbec68 Izzzzit
Cool a real 80's 111 pilot. Thanks.
Nick Breen indeed!
That plane was a legend in the 80's, feared and revered!
Nick Breen, it was a train wreck with (swing) wings.
Though the F-14 is great, I'm even more an F-111 fan, even if wasn't a dogfighter. Its a record holder for low level sustained speed, range and payload; a true fighter bomber, (more bomber than fighter), vs attack aircraft! The F-15E is fantastic, but it was a sad day when the F-111 was retired throughout various stages! For that matter sad day when the F-4G also was retired! Calling out "magnum" for launching off a HARM at 03:30 night, that's badass!
Just chanced across this and was blown away by the standard of interviewing (no interruptions with the occasional gentle steering) and the amount of detail on the aircraft and sorties flown by Jeff. He should write a book about his experiences, I could listen to this stuff for hours. Great video, I'm hooked!
Thanks very much for your kind words, Colin. We will be having a live Q&A with the man himself soon so keep an eye out on the community tab on the channel for dates and times.
Will do, and I'll head over to Patreon later as well.
Thank you very much.
I would love to see him back on in the future. This was really well done.
Thanks Dustin. We have a sort of part two this Sunday as we had 2 hours of footage :)
Aircrew Interview Awesome! My birthday is Monday so thanks for the early present :P
Dustin Scott Awesome! Happy birthday for Monday.
Outstanding guest!
His whole speech was so interesting. I didn't want it to end to be honest
Excellent interview. I was also an F-111 guy, going through RTU at Mtn Home AFB in '82. I never met Jeff but he's right on the money with everything he says here. Really clear and engaging, too.
Cheers
After retiring from the trucking industry after 44 years I thought I had heard some great stories this guy was great 👍
My first duty station was Mtn Home AFB, Id. I worked Autopilot and Instrument shop on the F111F in 1977, later we got the F111A from Nellis, NV some of which were modified to EF111s before I got transferred to Plattsburg, NY and the FB111. I got out in 1984. I always liked being able to get the aardvarks back into the air. They always flew better when they flew every day, and were literal earth pigs if they sat on the ground - as in becoming a hanger queen sitting for more than 30 days. So many memories.
I was an Instrument /autopilot instructor at Mt Home from 1977 to 1980. You might have been one of my first students there. I don't remember many names of my students or instructors. My name is Jim Francisco. Did you attend FTD there ? I was a maintenance fellow on the F111D at Cannon from 1971 to 1974.
20th CES fire dept 82-84 UH... We played the 79th in a flag football game one year and it turned to tackle... Great tough guys and great memories...
I flew the E model Varks at Heyford back in 80-83. Lots of silly adventures, nothing at all heroic. Did an airfield attack on Hamburg international one time when I got lost due to every gyro in the jet going tango uniform. Never heard a word from anyone. They must have noticed since I was torching as I went under the tower cab. My first clue was when I noticed that the airfield traffic was all Lufthansa, not Luftwaffe. Oh well. Nobody died, it was a hell of a good show, so it's all good. Such fond memories.
These interviews I never expect to watch more then a few minuets, but end up watching at least half if not all of them. Great work
thercpoop I’m glad to hear this :)
thercpoop - I didn't expect to watch it all either but I just did. It was very interesting. Most enjoyable work I ever did was working on F-111C, RF-111C and a a few ex USAF F-111A aircraft.
As a maintenance guy at Cannon during the years he was there this was an honor to watch
Ditto...
Thanks for your service.. And thanks for the stories... Loved it!!! God Bless You and the 79th.
Great stories. His memory is flight career is impressive to say the least.
I was born in Upper Heyford '77, lived at Cannon AFB through the 80's. Proud son of an F-111 crew chief. Dad did 28 years and the Aardvark and EF-111 Ravens were his true love. So many memories as a kid watching them fly. Thanks for this interview.
Jeff Guinn on this incredible a/c. Very enjoyable to listen to him recall some hairy moments flying this unique and powerful beast. Nice also because I will never see one again. GREAT STUFF! THANKS!
My grandfather's first cousin was chief test pilot for Grumman and the senior test pilot of the F-111 during its development during the 1950's. He was killed flying a F-111B for a Navy exploration test April 21, 1967.
As a 23 yr. army veteran great honor to have come across this fantastic interview with this great pilot!...I salute you sir on your long & distinguished career and service to our country!!!!!...hooah!🇺🇸
I could listen to him for hours.
i could listen to this guy talk f-111s for hours
I maintained the ECM/EW systems on this baby, FB-111, F-111F, EF-111, from mid 80's to early 90's at Plattsburgh AFB, NY and Cannon AFB, NM and those were the best years of my life. The entire F-111 community was one big happy family. You might think there is division between aircrew and maintenance, but I can honestly say I was surprised at how well we worked together. All of the F-111 aircrew members I knew personally were top-notched people. I am extremely proud to have been given such a special opportunity, and thanks for the excellent video. Brings back a lot of good memories.
Glad to hear you enjoyed this video, Jeff and that it brought back some good memories for you.
Very cool! My father was stationed there in the 80s flying FB-111's.
I was assigned to the first F-111A Mission Simulator (27th TFW) at Cannon. Then Mather for the FB-111A Bomb/Nav Sim, then Plattsburg for the FB-111 Mission Simulator. Enjoyed it all except winters in Plattsburg(g).
I heard that the 111s kicked butt in Iraq. Great interview, thanks.
Me too. Did time at Cannon, Plattsburgh and Lakenheath. When they retired the 111s, I crosstrained into medical and it sucked. Enjoyed my time in the ECM shop despite a lot of inconvenient PCS moves. Maintainers always get the job done just because there isn't any other option to consider.
That's nice to hear, a very positive experience for you. Sadly, in my squadron (49 MMS, Holloman) it was basically the opposite, very much a "fuck you, get away from me" bunch I had to work with, no one really liked being stationed out there at all.
Great interview. I am an ex F-111C maintainer and found this very interesting, as some of the aircraft's flight characteristics revealed by Jeff were not known to me. They make sense when I think about it but those specifics did not enter my mind too much whilst working on the avionics.
Great interview and thank you for your service.
I‘m impressed about how openly he describes what went wrong in combat and also personally after he left the service. Very authentic.
More shows with Jeff please !!!! :)
I was at UH, 84~87. And I lived right across the street from the three horseshoes pub. I remember having several enjoyable conversations with pilots. Thank you for your service!
Wow! This was an incredible interview. I learned so much about the F-111. I had no idea it was such a complex beast to fly! I just wish you had asked him about that story of the EF-111 Raven pilot who got an Iraq Mig-29 pilot to crash into the desert by diving down low using his terrain following radar system. Maybe a bit more info about his favorite weapons systems would have been good. But other than that, I have to say, that this was a top-knotch interview that I'm sure this pilot's children will pass down to their children and down the line as part of family lore.
Thanks for your kind words.
Contemporary military historians like Tom Cooper have already disproved that story. No EF-111 maneuver killed any Mig29, Mirage F1 or anything else. By today s state of aviation history research that s just a nice drinking tale abaut stacking bandits during Desert Storm. It s a nice urban legend. It s weird, that people still propagate it.
warisboring.com/45910-2/
Regards.
This guy's badass, could've listened to him for 12 hours
I can listen to this guy talk for hours and hours...great interview..
Good interview once again. Very technical. Had no idea the F-111 was so temperamental a beast.
@Dave
The E-model of the F-111 was a weird beast from what I understand.
It was an interim plane. The D-model actually had more sophisticated avionics but they had so many problems with those that the E-model was introduced as an "interim thing" with less advanced avionics. I guess the E-model was produced to keep the F-111 production line open! The F-model finally fixed the problems but depending on what you read or hear may or may not have had more sophisticated avionics than the D-model but I'm guessing the F-model was "fixed" and better than the D-model since the F-model was what the USAF preferred to use in bombing operations, at least it was the primary type used in 1986 (Libya), 1991 (Persian Gulf), and they kept the F-model in-service longer than the other F-111 tactical types. It got retired in 1996, the EF-111A in 1998.
There were a few interesting things I found out since reading this interview...
Apparently, the USAF WAS in the middle of an engine upgrade of the E-model of the F-111. They were getting the same model of the TF-30 turbofan that the F-111 had which was quite a bit more powerful than the earlier TF-30 models all the other F-111 types (and the FB-111) had. They only upgraded a few F-111E's before the USAF started retiring the F-111s beginning from about 1992/1993 to 1996.
The Australians kept their F-111s in service until 2010. In the meantime, they did some serious upgrades of their planes and their F-111C model was essentially upgraded to near F-model equivalent by 2000. They had the same higher-thrust engine the F-model had, the reinforced landing gear and wings of the FB-111, and equivalent avionics to the F-model. After the USAF retired the F-model in 1996, the RAAF got a choice selection of spares from the USAF retired so leftover Pave Tack pods and F-model wings (upgraded to -C standards) were sold to the RAAF at a reasonable price. The USAF knew they were never going to bring back the F-111 into service.
The RAAF was originally going to keep its F-111 force in-service until 2015/2018 but they were retired earlier for maintenance/cost concerns and replaced with an equivalent-sized force of F-18 Super Hornets which were much slower and shorter-ranged in than the F-111C.
Loved it. was brought here by a friend who has flown with Jeff
524 AMU Crew Chief 68-137 This level of excellence is what was the main reason for my 110% non-stop commitment, Thank You Sir, I believe I've launched and Recovered you a few times thru 86-90
Great interview with an excellent pilot 👨✈️. Outstanding communications skills. Flying the T38 is insane.
I was an airframe troop at Mtn Home (366th TFW) in the late 1980s and I will never forget my first day on base, The jets were returning from a training mission and were doing the standard high wing over entry into the pattern right above me. I will always remember the sound and how awesome they looked arcing across the sky with the vapor trailing off the wing tips.
Wonderful descriptors brought this narrative to real life. Thank you sir.
Really enjoyed watching this. Thanks for getting Jeff on the show.
Fantastic interview. Unlike the overwhelming majority of interviewers these days who think it's as much about them as the interviewee, you have the common sense to ask the right question and then shut up and let the interviewee deliver the gold. And this WAS pure gold. Thought I'd only watch a few minutes. Instead, I was glued to it and hanging on every word until the end. Jeff, if you ever read this. From a guy who's seen the elephant many times, you have my complete admiration and respect. I fervently hope our paths cross, so I can buy you as many beers as you'll let me :)
Thanks very much for your kind words, Mike. Our channel is all about the guest and I don’t like to interrupt as I feel you get the most of of the guest that way. Jeff is a top bloke and I ha e had a couple of beers with him before and it was great.
Excellent interview I had no idea the F-111 struggled with it's role authority when inverted due to the weight of the engines, I will always remember watching these awesome aircraft operating out of Upper Heyford back in the 80's and how low they flew through the terrain just missing the tree tops.
Glad you enjoyed it. We are having a live Q&A with Jeff tomorrow at 7pm so keep an eye out on the channel.
"Roll"
An amazing interview!! Jeff is speaking my language. I was at Chanute AFB for six months 85-86, Autopilot/Instrument tech school. Final block was on the F-111 "Iron Bird" mockup for all up instrument, navigation, coupled to autopilot and hydraulics moving control surfaces, troubleshooting and repair. Jeff narrates beautifully at about 6 minutes and later on relating his first mission in Desert Storm. Graduated the week F-111s bombed the shxt out of Qadhafi. Talk about feeling relevant! First assignment was to the 57FWW, CRS at Nellis working back shop and Phase Dock on F-5s, T-38s, UH-1s, A-10s. Finished out my last six months at Nellis at Thunder AMU with hogs on the line because the Tigers were shipped off to the Navy and Marines. PCSed to Tinker and the 965th AGS AWACs, and was sent on many "world tours" intermingled with Red Flags. Was TDY in Puerto Rico, Task Group 4.2 Forward, counter drug/interdiction, commanded by Col. Joseph Narsavage, a former Vark instructor at the F-111 Weapon School, watching the invasion of Kuwait unfold on CNN. Found out Desert Shield was turning into Desert Storm 24 hours prior, while having a huge squadron BBQ at All Hands Beach. We laughed our azzes off at Bernie Shaw and Wolf Blitzer reporting from what they thought was cover under the table in their hotel room as the Ghosts were kicking the front door down in Baghdad. I rotated back to Tinker right after that for about a week and then deployed to Riyadh for two months, a bit of Incirlik too. The perks of being single. What an awesome time!!!
Listening to Jeff describe how all of those systems came together brings fond stories. The only systems at that time more complex than those on the Vark were those on the E-3. Getting the dual gyro/magnetic navs, dual INS, Doppler Radar, and Omega nav systems to play well with each other, and then couple that motely crew to the dual autopilots before launch was a process for the front end crew. I replaced many inertial platforms and Omega Nav computers with four engines running during Redballs. I shared Jeff's pain on his first DS sortie. If all those nav systems failed, they had a sextant. If that failed, then they were down to the single whiskey compass. If that leaked out it was IFR - I Follow Roads. Omega Nav was the infant GPS when there were only 8-12 sats in the constellation and we had to have good enough signal strength to capture three of them for it to work worth a diddly. That "cutting edge" tech and about half of the Sentry fleet are now becoming museum pieces.
Great to hear you enjoyed it.
True professional combat pilot who really can talk well. Hopefully his type is alive and well in today's military. Salute
This was utterly fantastic and what an awesome guy. I would love to hear more from Jeff, I could listen to him all day long.
You’re in luck, there is a new full video out tonight at 1900 GMT with Jeff chatting about flying at Red Flag.
Trust me, this is a guy you want as a friend, not an enemy.
So good to see this interview. I was a 111 crew chief at Mt Home 1976-79. Seemed like the old hand maintainers that came off other birds esp the f-4s disliked the 111 because it required a lot of work and wasn’t a simple plane. I didn’t know any better and thought it was a great plane to associated with. Then the AF took our Fs and sent them to England, giving us Cannon’s junkers, then none of us were happy.
My grandfather was one of the lead engineers at GD for the F-111. He was about the 3rd person called whenever one of them had an issue or crashed. Worked on the B-58 for Convair before that and the F-16 right before he retired. He always loved the F-111...
We had a factory rep at Cannon in the F-111A Mission Simulator shop, his last name was Tapscott as I recall. he was brilliant.
This is deeper than any book I’ve ever read on the F111. Terrific.
F-111 and the MD-11. Probably my two favorite planes.
Jeff, was a wso at cannon 1992-the end...loved the vark!
What a great guy! I really enjoyed watching it! You should invite him again just to tell more stories, as he's great at telling them. I could listen for hours :D
A man who can tell a story, superbly done.
Cheers Drewe.
What a nice guy. I thoroughly enjoyed his stories and his detailed explanations on the intricacies of the F-111. Well done!
Jeff is awesome.
Loved the interview! I started my flying career on a University Air Squadron at Filton (near Bristol) which is where they did deep maintenance on USAFE F-111s. When they took off on air tests the whole world shook. Later as a Tornado GR1 & GR4 Pilot, I was trained in TFR ops. It’s interesting to compare the two types and there are many technical similarities. Fortunately, we had a display in the front cockpit that allowed us to predict the behaviour of the TFR/autopilot unlike Jeff. Latterly NVGs were a great SA builder too. Reference his comment about Red Flag glorifying the air to air players, I wholeheartedly agree. In one mass debrief a full Colonel actually gloated that there were no blue air losses when F-15s were in the area. As “mudmovers”, we thought he was a total #expletivedeleted#! Night missions were a big part of Red Flag latterly, in my experience, reflecting how NATO/Four Eyes nations would use the dark & tactical superiority to best effect. The RAAF still used similar tactics to those described by Jeff. Even in 2004, there weren’t many jets that could keep up with, let alone engage an F-111 doing “the speed of heat”! Another great interview Mike!
You could hear Filton testing the engines all over Bristol.
I loved the 111 more then the F15E.The 111 is for me personally the ultimate fighter bomber.Great interview it was fun to watch and hear this Pilot talk about his career.
Great to hear you enjoyed this. I have always favoured the 111 over the F-15E also.
It broke a lot. In the late '70's it had engine problems. I remember going to one of the first Red Flags and about half the ramp of F-111's were missing an engine.
I was a crew chief F-111a Mt. Home AFB ID. 80 to 83 loved working on them!
after about 35 mins just couldn't stop watching.
I wish Jeff would write a book! He's a natural story teller with a great sense of humor. A book by him would be a joy to read.
Absolutely outstanding interview. Thanks.
Wade Lindberg glad you enjoyed it Wade!
The F111 was a favourite from the day I assembled the Airfix version and hung it from the bedroom ceiling. Always thought the aircraft was ahead of its time with its spaceship like ejectable crew capsule and swing wings that appeared to transform it from a bomber to a fast jet in front of your eyes. Many Thanks Jeff for putting yourself in harms way for the rest of us and most importantly returning safely to report back with your experiences. You have a great way of painting the picture and taking us along with you. Fascinating.
Awesome interview ❤
Really enjoyed listening to him. Quite a story. F-111 was a handful to fly. And to think the Navy was considering those prior to the F-14. Thanks you for your service, Jeff. You and the many other pilots placed your life on the line to preserve the freedoms we take for granted
OMG, we really want him back again, watched this, end to end and still feel like hearing the rest of the stories!!! Amazing stuff on one of my favorite airplanes!
Thanks for the stories and bringing back some great memories. I miss it all. Good thing I wasn't on that Cruise we'd still be telling stories.
I was on the F model at Lakenheath 48TFW for two years as a crew chief on the wing commands bird -179 starting in '78, after the F-4D's at Holloman 49TFW. I worked the pad at the Heath for half my tour, I still can't confirm nor deny anything on that, clacton, clacton, clacton. Great assignment for a young guy as I was at the time. Did my private pilot stuff over at the base arrow club there in the UK and my night college classes at Riddle. Yes, two of my F-111F pilots owned the the Cessna 150 we trained in and were my instructors. I ended up going to McGuire after that on the -141's as FE 30th MAS. I think I was lowest ranked and aged FE at that time in the AF. Also was SOLL crew, special operations low level crew. Thens to Charleston reserve outfit so I could continue to fly and finish up my college full-time at ERAU DAB. No pilot slots after graduating but offer a maintenance officer slot after the war. Decided to hang flying as FE on the 141 until the end. During that time I got an airline job flying DC-8 cargo, then L-1011 and finish it all up on the Boeing 747. Now that I am over 65 it's all over. I could still flight instructor if I wanted to.. But oh how aviation has changed since 2001, as all did in the airline business and the world. They took most of the fun out of it. But who knows, maybe my final career will be Pro-Am golfer, along with Chief cook and bottle washer, Cruise director, superintendent of the rod and gun club. It's hard to believe that 15,000 hours of flying time and an aviation career along with 18 years combat aircrew member could ever go by so fast. And never have the time to tell all the stories. We may have had paralleling careers and a mutual love of aviation. Total blessing. Amen
Great video! I was a crew chief on the F-111e at Upper Heyford in 1986-1988. On 68-079,67-122. Best aircraft I worked on. A beast .
Ogre7449 haven't heard anything. After heyford I was stationed with Chris Alexander who was in your flight. He was knocked down to airman basic and discharged.
Hey - as a Console 13 (Upper Heyford Centralised Approach Control) endorsed London (Mil) Air Traffic Controller, I must have 'worked' Jeff on numerous occasions! A REALLY satisfying job, especially on Upper Heyford 'surges' and Survival Scramble exercises. Great bunch of guys to work with.
That was utterly enthralling. Many thanks.
A great interview. We maybe meet as I used the sim on a Thursday evening. Just for info, the memorial to the two guys killed whilst landing still looks good.
Such an amazing interview. I miss our Aussie F 111s such a sophisticated aircraft.
One of the best interviews I have seen from a knowledgeable pilot who also happens to be a great communicator ....And something an old Marine is not use to, an Air Force pilot with common sense....
Great Stories! Worked Avionics on F-111D at Cannon AFB from 1982-1984 then F-111E and EF-111A at Upper Heyford from 1984 to 1987. Then back to Cannon from 1987-1991. Best years of my 21.5 years in the AF. Great Aircraft. Lot of maintenance stories to go with it. The F-111 community was a real community within the AF.
As a crew chief from ‘72-‘80 i was privileged to accompany the F-111A models to Thailand in ‘73 till we pulled out of the war late 1973 but one thing I can attest to is they fly low. I have removed tree branches lodged between the splitter plate and in engine intake. They were literally skimming the tree tops. The other thing that rings true is the arming wires on the bombs would on occasion impact and sometimes pierce the horizontal stabilizers. I didn’t know why until I saw this video. As he explained about the drop tanks the airstream would flip the wires up into the path of the horizontal stabilizers. It was common to see damaged leading edges due to the wires striking them. I miss those days. My only bad memory was using the hand pump to fill the brake accumulators when we needed to tow the aircraft.
Ive heard the North Vietnamese nicknamed the F-111 'Whispering Death' because they came so fast and quiet, but leaving they were quite loud, especially when so low to the ground. I was in the USAF stationed at Ramstein AB (1977), we had F-4's but F-111's came in to visit from time to time, so I was able to get up close several times.
On NVA officer once said of the F-111:
"If you saw the F-111, you were already dead"
One night, in the middle of the night, camping in the middle of nowhere, an F-111 flew over us. Low level, high speed. I thought it was the apocolypse!
I wish you had been there when I was at upper Heyford from 1975 through 1977 I was a firefighter there best base best personnel and best Squadron and had the honor to be part of that. There is where I learned what teamwork really was about great experience go Air Force
Brings back great memories of my time at the 79th Tiger Squadron at Upper Heyford. Interview captures intracacies of the great F 111.
I was at Heyford 75-77 and loved listening to the pilots stories who served as the SOF in the tower. I lived off base in middle barton and had the f111's coming right over my house on final. Was an exciting time. I didn't know the video was so long but it was so interesting I watched the entire thing. Great interview.
Glad you enjoyed it Mike. That must have been a great time!
I worked in the F-111 avionics shop at Mt. Home, ID from 77’ to 1980. I may have worked on the aircraft he flew. Amazing aircraft and I was probably too young to appreciate it at the time.
I was at Heyford between 76 and 80 my first UK tour. Then I worked weapons and lived in Banbury, and Bicester. My second tour I lived across the street from RAF Bicester under the glider flight path. Loved listening to the gliders whistling over the roof of the house 20 to 30 feet.
Learned so much about the Aardvark from this one, great interview and what a cool and humble guy, thanks!
Cheers!
Really enjoyed this, I worked on servicing F1-11s at British Aerospace Filton UK in 87 on pyrotechnic team, ejection systems.
Thank you Jeff for your service. I was with the 474th TFW at Nellis as a weapons tech in '72, '73. Two tours in Takhli Thailand. Then to Luke for F-4's and the F-15. Done in '98. Hope you are well and family is happy 😁
Jeff's a man's man. Good interview.
Sir, thanks for the great reflection of "our time" spent at RAF Upper Heyford, "The Bone Yard:, I enjoyed it as I was a 55th FS Flight Control & Instruments guy..
This guy oozes fighter pilot from every pore...
He does indeed.
He did at Upper Heyford when he was a young buck too. Some of those guys who showed up to fly my jets I remember. lol
Yup, talks with two hands.
@@Aircrewinterview ,
Awesome interview. 👍
I didn't know the F-111 was so complex and difficult to fly.
@Dr Fulcher Greene Grayson Dog? Really? No other aircraft in the world could do what the Aardvark did. It was such a "dog" the Soviets built a copy of it (Su 24). It was such a "dog" the Soviets, at each arms control negotiations, demanded the F-111's be removed from bases in England.
It was such a "dog" that it was chosen to deliver the goods during Operation El Eldorado Canyon.
Finally, it was such a "dog" that only it & the F-117 were cleared to go downtown Baghdad.
That "dog" pioneered variable-sweep wings, digital avionics, automatic terrain following radar, airborne doppler, first afterburning turbofan engines cleared for supersonic flight.
Naturally, when you're pioneering all these new technologies you're bound to have problems, and the 111 had its share & then some. But, it matured into the premier long-range low-level all-weather interdiction strike aircraft in the world.
Because of the F-111 you had the aforementioned Su 24, Panavia Tornado, the F-14 Tomcat is a direct descendant of the Aardvark, and it led to the F-35 of today.
Oh...before I forget: an EF-111A also scored a maneuvering kill against an Iraqi Mirage F1.
But, what do I know....I only crewed the damn thing for 6 years.
He summed up Air Force Cold War mission life in USAFE versus life in CONUS pretty good. Although I was not a flier while I was in USAFE it was everything about the mission, work hard then play hard. On my last and only assignment CONUS it was all about how can we f**k with you.
Crazy thing is he and I were at Incirlik at the same time. I PCS'd to RAF Alconbury just before Saddam invaded Kuwait. We always had birds for Upper Heyford, Lakenheath, and everywhere else across Europe using Incirlik for training. When they trained we trained so almost non-stop exercise mode my entire 15 months there.
Went through almost a year of electronics and ANALOG B-52 Radar/Bomb Trainer tech school at Lowry (Denver). Of course got orders for the first DIGITAL mission simulator in the Air Force (F-111A) at Cannon, 27 TFW (1967). Had to then attend many FTD classes to learn digital and F-111A Aircrew Fam courses.
For awhile our base was cross training Aussie Pilots and Navs while we trained a group of enlisted guys on simulator maint. What a riot. When the aircrews graduated they all left together. The next morning, there was red kangaroos painted all over the base, including the base commander's parking spot and on the side of our sim.
At some point Nellis got two sims and a TCTO came in while their troops were back East for something. Me and acouple other guys volunteered for TDY to Nellis. We got a budget motel room on the strip and got $16/day in per diem. What a blast. The Thunderbirds would do a low pass over the enlisted barracks every morning they were home, at 7 am.
Worked midnight shift for several months. While most nights there was very little work for us, the guys would play penny-ante poker. I didn't play so I would fly the sim for hours and bomb the shit out of a large steel bldg East of Colorado Springs and other juicy targets. One day I was asked to fly a real sim sortie so a Nav could get his sim time. That was fun but I couldn't hotdog.
After 3 years at Cannon I re-upped and got a BOP (base of preference) to the FB-111A sim shop at Mather (Sacramento). Almost made it to Upper Heyford, but that's another story. After about 2 years, they decided to move our whole shop to Plattsburg (NY). I almost made it to Mountain Home, but SAC got pref I guess. Was not a happy camper freezing my ass off in the winter of 73-74 during the oil embargo. Ice formed on the inside of our barracks window. Had to sleep with my winter artic parka on top of all the blankets in the world. In the Spring, they installed the storm windows. So in June my time was up, so I said adios and drove back to So. California.
All in all, wouldn't trade all that for anything. I am enjoying reading all your stories, thanks and best wishes....
Steve (aka AFSC 34370 Bomb/Nav Trainer and Flight Simulator Tactics Technician)
Sounds like a fantastic career Stephen.
Yes it was. I forgot to name some of the units. From memory- Cannon Hq Sqn, 27th TFW, (F-111A), Mather, (FB-111A) something like 3535th AMS (we were a small group and they never knew where to put us), Plattsburg, 380th Bomb Wing SAC (FB-111A).
In 1970 I was sent to Chanute in Ill for some digital computer training. I learned that the sun didn't set over Chanute, it got sucked down. ha.
At Cannon, we were part of project "Harvest Reaper" if any of you guys remember that.
For some reason,
Okay, one more short story from Cannon. In one of the electronics cabinets on the F-111A Mission Simulator was a couple of reel to reel tape recorders. They can be set up to record or play on command from an event signal. The thing was never used, so one of our guys recorded the Lord's Prayer, and cued it for a crash signal. Months went by and we all forgot about it. Then one day a newly assigned high ranking officer came in to get his sim hours. For some reason he hated us, hated our sim, and probably hated puppies. As fate would have it, he crashed. The flashing red lights and alarms went off. Then over his headset was the Lord's Prayer. The cockpit hatch came flying open and a very pissed off pilot emerged and stomped out of the bay. Shortly thereafter, we got instructions to disable all the crash event devices. True story.
I loved the interview, it was good to hear "the other side". And it was good to hear that the 111 kicked butt in the Middle East. Thanks mucho.
You could read several books and still not learn as much as you do in this video! Excellent, many thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Real life stories right from the pilots, no annoying music or narrator, this is top notch all the way, thank you guys so much.
Great video, with an old school pilot. Thank you.
I got to load bombs on the F-111! Started in 1977 at Mountain Home on the A model, then I went PCS in ‘79 to RAF Lakenheath playing with the F model, then in ‘82 got stationed at Cannon AFB to work on the D. Great airplane!
This interview was what an interview should be.