Back when I was a kid, I made the model of the F-111B. The kit had parts for both Air Force and Navy versions, the Navy having the longer wings and short nose. I had to put a weight in the nose, otherwise it would sit backwards. Ha ha, adding weight to a F-111B...
I built the Navy version too.Wuld have made a great all-weather heavy strike plane but a so-so fighter. I had a friend who flew FB-111s at Plattsburgh AFB and he said the thing got really sloppy on the controls at high altitude. The TFR was a great feature, the plane could take G's the crew couldn't, fly inverted over rough terrain. Took a lot of confidence to do that.
I was a Grumman FTE on one of the last Avionics Mod programs on the F-111. It was weird Grumman even got that contract. I do remember that Grumman built 6 of these with stubby noses. One was in a boneyard at McClellan maybe I remember.... not sure about that. Being an old Navy guy, I never really liked this plane, but pylons on retracting wings is pretty awesome and the inlet nacelles were a science unto themselves..... one of the guys on the AMP program I worked was the inventor of TFR but died mid way thru our project, which was ultimately cancelled anyhow, too bad.
From an F-111D crew chief at Cannon AFB...when you see a F-111, you'll see that it was too big, long and heavy for any carrier work. On the flightline, however, the 111 RULED!! The Navy B model was really just tried to satisfy Sec. McNamara's wish for an all-service fighter/bomber.
Cat launch crew looks like a bunch of old guys in slow motion (like me, today) compared to how I remember our launch crews of eighteen to twenty something hot shots back in the day...
@@travistolbert2647 Spent a year of my life deployed and working on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. I upped the speed to 1.5x and it looked much more like reality.
These guys would not have been in a rush, there wouldn't be a time restraint of having to do so many launches in a hour etc. One of the guys looks like he is wearing a shirt and tie.
No, they weren't. They flew A-5 Vigilantes and A3D Skywarriors off these carriers just fine. It just didn't do as well as they wanted in air to air combat, once they found out dogfighting was still a thing. They also wanted a subsonic missile truck to carry AIM-54. Then they realized it was a bad idea (I am convinced they never thought it was a good idea, it was just and excuse to spend money) and combined the concept of the Missileer with the F-111 and got the F-14. Basically. I always thought this stuff was common knowledge.
It was developed as a Navy fighter before it was adopted as an air force bomber. That was the job they gave it in the end after everything else didn't work out. That is why it is the F-111.
@@justforever96 That's not true. The Air Force wanted a low level strike aircraft to replace the F-105. SecDef forced the Navy to consider it for the fleet defense role as well. That's why Grumman was brought in as a subcontractor to modify an Air Force design for the Navy. The Air Force version flew first.
+Supes Me 1: The pilot is wearing a pressurised helmet, it is very similar to Astronaut helmets and is used for high altitude testing. 2: The navy turned it down as they considered it too large and heavy for carrier use, as it was essentially an Air Force bomber that was modified to use the Aim-54 Phoenix. The Tomcat was only conceived after the collapse of the F-111B project, several years later.
+Pioneer Mega-LD Well said. The F-111 was a product of the ill-fated TFX (Tactical Fighter Experimental) program that had Robert McNamara and all of his cronies fingerprints all over it! Long story short McNamara wanted a "one-all do-all" fighter jet and to do away with all of the different fighter/bomber aircraft in the US inventory. Not only was the F-111 entirely way to big and heavy for the aircraft carriers but it sucked bigtime as a dogfighter especially when it was paired up against an F-4 Phantom. Of course it became a decent low level medium bomber for the Air Force later on but if anything was learned from the F-111 program it was to NEVER again let a Secretary of Defense choose for you an aircraft that you really do not want.
Back when I was a kid, I made the model of the F-111B. The kit had parts for both Air Force and Navy versions, the Navy having the longer wings and short nose. I had to put a weight in the nose, otherwise it would sit backwards. Ha ha, adding weight to a F-111B...
+Mark Newton-John LOL and 2 have survived and in fact the remains of the first prototype were destroyed in the year 2000.
Mark, that's priceless. LOL! Good thing that beast didn't fill the role of the F-14, or Top Gun would have been a Russian movie.
Gahlok12, The one at McClellan? I wondered what happened to it.
I built the Navy version too.Wuld have made a great all-weather heavy strike plane but a so-so fighter. I had a friend who flew FB-111s at Plattsburgh AFB and he said the thing got really sloppy on the controls at high altitude. The TFR was a great feature, the plane could take G's the crew couldn't, fly inverted over rough terrain. Took a lot of confidence to do that.
I found a 1/72nd scale of this aircraft, still have it in the box (opened, but complete). Not sure what I'm going to do with it.
I was a Grumman FTE on one of the last Avionics Mod programs on the F-111. It was weird Grumman even got that contract. I do remember that Grumman built 6 of these with stubby noses. One was in a boneyard at McClellan maybe I remember.... not sure about that. Being an old Navy guy, I never really liked this plane, but pylons on retracting wings is pretty awesome and the inlet nacelles were a science unto themselves..... one of the guys on the AMP program I worked was the inventor of TFR but died mid way thru our project, which was ultimately cancelled anyhow, too bad.
RA-5 Vigilante was huge and deck crews hated becouse ot was so big and heavy to spot on deck.
F-111B, asks to hold its navay grog.
Thanks.. we used to get RAAF F111's at Kiwi airshows here.. thanks mate✈️👍🇳🇿
This plane was never a super plane but the EF-111 did a hell of a job in the first Gulf War.
From an F-111D crew chief at Cannon AFB...when you see a F-111, you'll see that it was too big, long and heavy for any carrier work. On the flightline, however, the 111 RULED!! The Navy B model was really just tried to satisfy Sec. McNamara's wish for an all-service fighter/bomber.
and yet the Navy managed with the Skywarrior and RA-5C Vigilante.
Funny, they flew the A-5 and A3D just fine from carriers. And the F-14 isn't really much smaller.
cough..cough.. RA-5....cough...sneeze..cough Excuse me sir!
It wasn't that F-111B was too large is the the carriers were too small.
The F-111B is what we need right now!
If memory serves, we had a "B" model carcass at McClellan that occasionally got scouted as a candidate for cannibalization of structural components.
I believe that the Tomcat evolved from these tests.
Cat launch crew looks like a bunch of old guys in slow motion (like me, today) compared to how I remember our launch crews of eighteen to twenty something hot shots back in the day...
It may just be me, but it looks like the video is playing at three quarter speed. If you play it back at 1.5x speed to looks more normal.
@@travistolbert2647 Spent a year of my life deployed and working on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. I upped the speed to 1.5x and it looked much more like reality.
These guys would not have been in a rush, there wouldn't be a time restraint of having to do so many launches in a hour etc. One of the guys looks like he is wearing a shirt and tie.
Thats because it is in slow motion dude.
Ralph "Dixie" Donnell was my grandfather's first cousin.
tail checks as Navy F-111B used for tests - had longer than standard wings.
I utilized the same wings as the FB-111A
Also found on the F-111G.
Can we get some more informative titles?
Wow the aardvark was almost going to have a Navy version, problem was the carriers were too small lol!
No, they weren't. They flew A-5 Vigilantes and A3D Skywarriors off these carriers just fine. It just didn't do as well as they wanted in air to air combat, once they found out dogfighting was still a thing. They also wanted a subsonic missile truck to carry AIM-54. Then they realized it was a bad idea (I am convinced they never thought it was a good idea, it was just and excuse to spend money) and combined the concept of the Missileer with the F-111 and got the F-14. Basically. I always thought this stuff was common knowledge.
I think he was trying to be funny. And, he succeeded.
if this didnt have the like and stuff on the side of the screen i would definitely use this in an edit
you can contact dseracini@sdasm.org to get a clean copy
Mc Manara's and others bureaucratic's desire!
F111 was what you get if you try to have a air. Force bomber as a naval defense fighter/interceptor
It was developed as a Navy fighter before it was adopted as an air force bomber. That was the job they gave it in the end after everything else didn't work out. That is why it is the F-111.
@@justforever96 That's not true. The Air Force wanted a low level strike aircraft to replace the F-105. SecDef forced the Navy to consider it for the fleet defense role as well. That's why Grumman was brought in as a subcontractor to modify an Air Force design for the Navy. The Air Force version flew first.
Mammoth!
1. Wow the Pilots wearing a Space Helmet!? 2. Why'd the Navy turn it down? Too Big? Too Heavy? The Tomcat came along?
+Supes Me 1: The pilot is wearing a pressurised helmet, it is very similar to Astronaut helmets and is used for high altitude testing.
2: The navy turned it down as they considered it too large and heavy for carrier use, as it was essentially an Air Force bomber that was modified to use the Aim-54 Phoenix. The Tomcat was only conceived after the collapse of the F-111B project, several years later.
Pioneer Mega-LD thanks.
+Pioneer Mega-LD Well said. The F-111 was a product of the ill-fated TFX (Tactical Fighter Experimental) program that had Robert McNamara and all of his cronies fingerprints all over it! Long story short McNamara wanted a "one-all do-all" fighter jet and to do away with all of the different fighter/bomber aircraft in the US inventory. Not only was the F-111 entirely way to big and heavy for the aircraft carriers but it sucked bigtime as a dogfighter especially when it was paired up against an F-4 Phantom. Of course it became a decent low level medium bomber for the Air Force later on but if anything was learned from the F-111 program it was to NEVER again let a Secretary of Defense choose for you an aircraft that you really do not want.
Phayzyre105 Interesting
The F-14 could have been in service four years sooner if GD hadn't been dicking around with the '111B.
That’s the best like the f-14 tomcat
Very cool. But, I can see why the Navy didn't like the F-111 platform, too huge!
no bigger than the Vigilantly!
@@yellowhammer4747 But weighs more than the Vigilante
The size was manageable. It was the weight.
Must of had a different tail hook. The usaf design would never have worked for the navy