Flightline: 5/TBD

"user314" (user314) 07/15/2020 at 11:00 • Filed to: flightline, Planelopnik, new mexico, planelopnik history, history

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F-111Ds lined up at Cannon AFB

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , Clovis, NM, sometime prior to 1992. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Aardvark fighter-bombers of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (Fireballs) , along with various support equipment, sit parked and awaiting their next mission.

A troubled version of a troubled airframe, the F-111D was ordered in 1967 with the intent of correcting issues that cropped up on earlier variants of the Aardvark. The type was fitted with improved avionics, an early glass cockpit, and more powerful engines and redesigned intakes to eliminate engine stalls that plagued other models. Ninety-six were produced, all of which were stationed at Cannon under the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . In actuality the updated electronics were the D model’s Achilles heel, and the 522nd’s mounts spent a great deal of time parked at General Dynamic’s plant in Forth Worth as technicians worked to correct the bugs. The type was retired in 1992, and the 522nd transitioned to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The squadron was deployed to Incirlick AFB in Turkey in 1993 for 90 days in support of Operation Provide Comfort.

The 522nd Fighter Squadron traces its history back to 1940, when it was stood up as the 16th Bombardment Squadron (Light), e quipped with !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (Douglas SBD dive bombers built for the AAF). After the outbreak of WWII the unit was redesignated as the 522nd Fighter Bomber Squadron, then to the 522nd Fighter Squadron. The 522nd saw action over the Pacific, Mediterranean and European theaters, flying aircraft including the A-24, A-20, A-36, P-40 and P-47. Deactivated in ‘45, the unit was reconstituted the next year in Germany, flying P-47s, and was moved to the US and transitioned to P-51s the next year, and to F-82s the year after . The unit flew F-84s over Korea, F-101s afterwards, and F-100s in the early stages of the Vietnam War. The 522nd was equipped with F-111A and E models towards the end of the war, before converting to the F-111D. After the D models were retired in ‘92 and the F were retired in ‘96, the Fireballs were equipped with !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! s, then later !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! s. The unit was disestablished in 2007 as part of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! recommendations , then reactivated as the 522nd Special Operations Squadron in 2011 with   !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The 522nd was disestablished again in 2014, and its aircraft, personnel and equipment transferred to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which had been moved from Hurlburt Field, Florida.

Cannon AFB began as Portair Field in the late 1920s as a terminal for Ford Trimotors on transcontinental flights, as well as Pullman trains. Portair was renamed Clovis Municipal Airport in the late ‘30s, then in 1943 to Clovis Army Air Field. The field was home to the 16th Bombardment Wing’ s B-24 Liberators. Placed under the control of the Colorado Springs AAB after the war, the field was placed on inactive status shortly afterwards. Reactivated after the establishment of the USAF in ‘47, Clovis was made a deployment facility of the 509th Airdrome group, stationed at Roswell AAF. Renamed Clovis Air Force Base in 1948, and placed on standby status shortly after, the base was transferred from SAC to Air Training Command in 1950, then again to TAC with the outbreak of the Korean War in 1951. The base was threatened with closure as part of the 2005 BRAC, but instead the 27th TFW was transitioned to Special Operations, and is now flying a mix of CV-22s, AC-130s and MC-130s, and MQ-9 Reapers. 

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > user314 07/15/2020 at 11:18

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Australia flew the F-111, didn’t they?

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/15/2020 at 11:27

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Abundantly. They were the ones famous for doing the dump and burn at air shows.

ttyymmnn > user314 07/15/2020 at 11:36

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Be careful, your descriptions are getting longer and longer. Pretty soon, you’ll be writing 7 ,000 words a week and a few hundred on Sunday . Trust me. It starts small , then it quickly gets out of control. 

“ Any more Bab-O out there ?!”

user314 > ttyymmnn 07/15/2020 at 12:21

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This one turned out to be the largest since I decided to go into the plane, the unit and the field, and had time enough to do it all.

Trust me, I’ll get pressed for time at some point, and it’ll just be the image and “Look, pretty planes!”

user314 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/15/2020 at 12:33

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Yup, they received two dozen specially modified aircraft designated the F-111C . They were F-111A fuselages mated to the wings of the canceled F-111B naval version, and had strengthened landing gear and modifications to better operate in hot conditions. They also purchased 15 F-111Gs, which were modified FB-111 s, which were based on the canceled F-111K s the UK was going to procure instead of the TSR-2 . All of the Ausie Pigs were retired in 2010.

ttyymmnn > user314 07/15/2020 at 12:40

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You say that, and I’ll be praying for you.

One thing I’ve got is time, and lots of it. 

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 07/15/2020 at 14:29

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So the engine exhaust alone is sufficient to ignite the jettisoned fuel?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > user314 07/15/2020 at 14:31

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ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/15/2020 at 14:35

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A dump-and-burn is a fuel dump in which the fuel is ignited, intentionally, using the plane’s afterburner . A spectacular flame combined with high speed makes this a popular display for air shows or as a finale to fireworks . Dump-and-burns are also referred to as “ torching ” or “ zippos ”.

General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark ’s dump and burn is so powerful that it can set a runway on fire, as the flame burns rubber from skid marks . The aircraft has been used for this purpose in Australia during the closing ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics   and (until 2010) regularly at Brisbane’s Riverfestival and the Australian Grand Prix . The F-111 is ideally suited to perform the dump-and-burn maneuver, as the fuel dump nozzle on this aircraft is located between the engine exhausts. (Wiki)

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 07/15/2020 at 14:38

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And there ya’ have it.

user314 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 07/15/2020 at 15:15

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Yeah, like ttyymmnn said, the F-111 was pretty much the best at this particular maneuver . Most other aircraft dump the fuel away  from the exhaust.