"Women and Children were Crying". A Primer on the F-111F. Jim Jimenez [Clip 3]

ULL EPISODE OUT SAT 13 JAN 2024.
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[@shd4618]

Thats the best thumbnail I've ever seen.

[@crasberry]

Those would be tears of joy from this gal 😊

[@sugarpuddin]

Working on the HF RT-712 HF radio was a beast. Dozen tubes.. Big big big... I enjoyed working on it.

[@JMdfcv]

Flew an F-111E in the Pornichet Airshow in 92 (iirc). Our birds were based at St Nazaire (runway) just down the road so we only put 15k fuel in the bird. Takeoff to orbit, waiting for call to enter, my WSO Bam Bam is looking for the French Navy patrol craft that was supposed to be the show line. He says there are a lot of boats in the bay but there is one that’s right next to the beach, boom, show line! The other AC (fluent in French, he was assisting the announcer) and WSO were in the announcer’s box. They see us descend below line of sight, pop up to clear a marina, back down and emerge passing a sea wall. Cross check the airspeed and see it touching Mach 1.0, whoops, idle power! The other WSO said we were fairly quiet, like we were on a block of ice, until the rumble hit (we were transonic but not super as briefed by the USAF Air Attaché Colonel that decided to observe the show…). Welby said there was a slight pause after we passed, long enough for him to say “a oh…”, before the crowd cheered. During our third pass the airboss asked if we would fly another pass like the first pass but better. Bam Bam looks at me and said “he wants better”. Right down the beach again transonic but in full AB and pulled into the vertical before the tape jumped. Still have the strip of KB18 film of the crowd.

[@kirkrobards6728]

Living in Sacramento I was in a neighborhood at the south end of McClellan AFB, heard and saw everything described for years.

[@rsuminsby]

Jose, I still have a stereo like you describe! 😊

[@mvfc7637]

lol, the pic of her in the thumbnail is the perfect reaction.

[@matthewmcgee]

"The crowd wants flame and noise." LOL!!

[@vinssenclark5018]

I still have my 1970s stereo components I bought at Upper Heyford in 1977! The engine noise was one reason why I moved into the 1920s barracks at Feltwell from the one at Lakenheath when I was there during the 80s. Gosh I miss that sound though. Sound of Freedom!!

[@danielroncaioli6882]

Imagine how fast the F-111 could go with a modern avionics package. Just think of all the weight it would shed.

[@TheNorbica]

José is such a cool guy!

[@jasontennant8994]

The FB-111’s were the only jets with the Astro compass. By the time we here in Australia received the ex-SAC FB’s as G models, that equipment had long been removed.

[@anthonybush607]

My Step-Dad was a PJ in Vietnam during the combat lancer deployment and was involved in the Jackal 33 mission. I have loved the F-111 ever since I first saw one. What an incredible aircraft.

[@josephnason8770]

In the late 80's as a carpenter we were building a runway approach ramp and engine test sound supressor building at Mcllellan AFB in Sacramento. We had no ear protection as they fired up the afterburners in a chained down F-111 next door for testing. They would also take off fully loaded externally and come back empty within an hour, presumably having dumped it all somewhere in Nevada. Once in a while they would do a wheels up low pass over the runway. We were busy so we would not know about it until we heard a massive explosion. Looking up the plane would be in the distance. Also very close by in the weeds was the stripped, white hulk of an F-111 with the word NAVY on the fuselage. Years later l learned the F-111 was also intended for the navy and this was one of the few navy test aircraft. Mclellan was l think thee base of all bases for the F-111 maintenance. The Auzies would bring theirs. Cool to remember all this as l watched this video.

[@vinssenclark5018]

Speaking of Newmarket, after the wife and I got married in Thetford we eventually got a base house there at 52 Nimbus Way in the Studlands Estate. No more coal fires in the boiler in the kitchen to have heat and hot water 🎉

[@vinssenclark5018]

I worked in the ECM back shop by the way

[@jimclinton61]

great great story! proper lol moment

[@sugarpuddin]

The USAF couldn't get the Pave Tack to work on the F-4. They discontinued trying in the mid-1980s.
My understanding is it worked better on the F-111 due to better aerodynamics and/or power. Though I could easily be wrong about that

[@michaels.chupka9411]

I have never witnessed the 111 taking off, but my dad and I were golfing at falcon creek when the njang sent up a pair 4's to go and tussle with some 15's that were visiting. the 4's kicked in the burners for take off straightened my spine and I nearly whiffed the drive.

[@Coldwarrior7781]

The specs say 1.2 mach at sea level but I believe it could be pushed way faster.
This is based on a high speed pass on the deck at an airshow I attended at Chennault AFB around 1970.
Rules were broken that day.
I have been to over 200 airshows in life and was also in the Air Force.
That pass was the most impressive thing I ever saw in military aviation.
As for noise. I worked around B 52s during my stint. G models with the old J57 water burners. That's why I can't hear today. When they ran up power on the chocks your guts rattled so much it felt as if you couldn't get a breath.
Everyone says the remaining H mods are loud but they are pussycats in comparison.

[@paulf897]

The pilot mentioned Newmarket in the video. Around the 70s / 80s two F111s crashed near Newmarket. The second one went down near the junction of the A1304 and B1506 and I remember being on the Heath at the time with my dad and finding a couple of pieces of aircraft and handing in to the police.

[@10percenttrue]

23 Feb 1987. There was a picture in the Newmarket Journal of it coming down in flames. The ground where it impacted is still discoloured to this day.

[@paulf897]

@10percenttrue we were in the ATC at the time. The F111 was out of Lakenheath, but we had an USAF "liason" officer from Mildenhall who worked with us. I was lucky and had a couple of flights in KC135s in 87 and 88, which were great fun.

[@Ian-Saxon]

🤣 Greta has called to say can she have some more reheat/afterburner please.

[@FD1CE]

Then I LOVE F-111 as much as I HATE the squeaker girl in the thumbnail :D