Forum: Military Aircraft of the Cold War

THIS "shredded" and incapacitated F-111 soared across southeast Queensland homes before a spectacular emergency landing at Amberley Air Base.

The jet was flying at 900m on a test bombing raid at Evans Head, northern NSW, when a pelican struck the fibreglass nose and was sucked into an engine.
The two RAAF crew are being hailed heroes at the base for their skilful recovery and landing on Friday of last week.

The damage, which can be seen in these classified photos obtained by The Courier-Mail, included a hole in one wing. Aviation experts said flying the plane would have been extremely difficult because the whole aircraft would have been unstable.

A RAAF spokesman admitted the 30-minute flight path back to Amberley, 50km west of Brisbane, was over built-up areas.

The nation's air combat chief, Air Commodore Neil Hart, said the jet's predicament and "precautionary emergency landing" was not serious enough to alert the public.

". . . No one was injured and their was no structural damage," Commodore Hart said.

"One engine was working fine, while the other was at reduced power."

He described the circumstances of the incident, which happened between 10am and noon, as near freakish. "It's a surprise thing at 3000ft to have a bird strike," he said.

"It's certainly not the way we want to operate all the time. The boys did a great job in getting it home."

Repairs to the F-111 – one of 21 active jets – are expected to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Initially the pelican bounced off the nose before being sucked into an engine.

Its impact smashed the plane's ray-dome before causing an immediate engine failure.

The damaged aircraft is expected to be flying again within a month. The F-111 fleet, built in 1974, will be retired in 2010 when an expanded fleet of new Super Hornets is introduced.

At the time of the incident the F-111 was cruising at more than 550km/h. The Air Chief played down fears the flight path endangered homes across the region, though he conceded there were homes in the flight path.

The pilot and air combat officer in the plane were both "reasonably experienced" flight lieutenants, he said.

An Airservices Australia spokesman said the organisation was aware of the incident and granted clearance for the trip from Evans Landing to Amberley.

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beepa wrote:

... Commodore Hart said.
"One engine was working fine, while the other was at reduced power."

Initially the pelican bounced off the nose before being sucked into an engine.

Its impact smashed the plane's ray-dome before causing an immediate engine failure.

So what was that?

Commodore Hart says "reduced power" while the reporter says "an immediate engine failure"

Knowing how knowledgeable reporters seem to be concerning turbine engine theory and operation, I'll go by the Commodore's comment.

You have to appreciate a Pratt's "Graceful Degradation" especially when it comes to FOD tolerance.

I know quite a few F100s have survived large bird strikes to bring Viper pilots home without further incident, sometimes at "reduced power"

Keep 'em flyin' (Safely) Thumb

TEG

Wow, I have never seen an F-111 intake that clean!!!

Still love the vortex generators in there, and hate the spike. Razz

Took some big ones to bring her home in that condition. Thumb

We had a similar incident @ UH

F-111E 68-0019 Crashed and destroyed 9 August 1984 in a Barley field beside Lock Eye, near Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland.

The aircraft was using the nearby "Tain" bombing range. The crew ejected and survived.(Richard Elliott) Kinloss UK. (Doc Servo)

The aircraft went down after striking a large bird (probably a seagull) during a low-level run. The bird shattered the radome which shed pieces into both intakes. Although the engines were chugging badly, they were still producing thrust. The aircraft was lost because the alpha and beta probes had also been wiped out and the aircraft was porpoising severely at low altitude. The crew wisely elected to get out of it.(Rob Swigert). - News paper clipping image - Mike Kaplan

Capsule was used for egress training at UH, then was acquired by the 8AF Museum and refurbished to display first class standard by Mike Kaplan as a FB-111A.

Source: http://www.f-111.net/t_no_E.htm

Wow, that was gnarly! Shocked

Jet: Code 2

Radome and Bird: Code 3

Will they still repair it, this close to retirement?

Salute!

WOW! Great pics.

our only experience with the Great White Kamizaze Pelican was back in 1980 or 81.

Dick Frank had a head-on attack just crossing the lake and the sucker knocked off the radome just like that Vark. It also ruined the air sensor on right side of the nose, eliminating sideslip and some AoA data. It also took the basic AoA cones off with the radome. It also came into the bulkhead and shorted out the FLCS computers. Other than that, not much damage.

Oh, did I mention all the blood on the canopy so's he couldn't see anything out the front? Was flying on instruments.

So the FLCS used pitch rate for a few minutes, then finally went Tango Uniform and he bailed.

Those things are big, I tellya. An none of us thought much about pelicans over the Great Salt Lake until then. Afterwards, it was like a combat mission and we dodged the "white" ack, heh heh.

Gums sends ....

Gums wrote:

Oh, did I mention all the blood on the canopy so's he couldn't see anything out the front? Was flying on instruments.

Holy Sierra! Shocked

Of course, that might've been the same thing he said. Must've been a helluva last few minutes of that ride.

Was I the only one whose first thought at reading the above was,

"Oh man! What the F#$& just happened?"
"Aw, I shot Marvin in the face!" Laughing

Have had 2 birdstrikes, thus far. One bounced down the right side of the fuselage, and only caused a small, bloody skid mark. The other flew into the #3 engine. Caused no engine damage, but the whole plane smelled like Kentucky Fried Chicken for the rest of the flight.

I saw a similarly shredded radome wrapped around the front of an F-111D at Cannon. Pitot tube banging on the left windscreen, no forward visibility at all, but the pilot could see his wingman (who was now lead) out the right canopy. With the shredded radome covering part of the crew module, ejection was a maybe-it-will-maybe-it-won't situation. Followed his wingman/lead down for the only formation touchdown I've ever seen in 'Varks. Lead flew back into the pattern, the noseless 'Vark stayed straight and in the center of the runway to a full stop.

As much time as 'Varks spent fast and in the weeds, we saw some hellacious birdstrikes.

In a situation like that, how did it affect the TFR? If we have something happen during a low level, the crew would have to break off from what they were doing, and take it up to a safer altitude. I assume the -111 guys had to do the same thing, but I'm curious about the initial strike. With TFR engaged, did the birdstrike and ensuing damage make for a bumpy ride, or did the TFR get knocked off-line (i.e., moving the stick in autopilot)?

Any hard TFR fail will produce a 60% fly-up automatically.

VarkVet wrote:

Any hard TFR fail will produce a 60% fly-up automatically.

...and the need for a clean pair of shorts. Laughing

I would love to get a ride in the 'Vark. Light the pipes, sweep the wings, and fly TFR down in the weeds. Thumb

Salute!

Well, I had the oppoto fly one sortie in a 'D" at Cannon back in early 80's.

We deployed there to escape the fog at Hill. used the Fireball squad's place, as they were deployed someplace.

Part of the deal was we flew a 'vark crew in our family models when chasing a stud on a nav/bomb run. Then, same pilot flew me in their jet. A really neat trade. Both the nav and pilot liked the single-seat controls we had in the Viper for the radar, and they were surprised at the ride. Good old FLCS makes the Viper a lot smoother in thermals than non-FBW jets did at the time.

I enjoyed the 'vark "office", and they even had a coat rack so's I could take off my flight jacket. Was in Jan, so was cold. very comfortable.

That sucker flew like an old-fashioned Caddy with the soft suspension. Extremely smooth. Neat to zip along at 600 knots and 200-300 feet. radar wasn't too hard to use, even tho it didn't have many of the hands-on stuff the Viper had.

After one approach back at Cannon, pilot decided I was good enough to land the thing. As with any heavy object, if you get it pointed real good real early, rest is easy. Held speed within 2 knots and just "crashed" it on. Funny part is the gear is so heavy that after touchdown you "fly" on the extended struts for a while, heh heh.

The reverse approach with the 'vark pilot wasn't so neat. First of all, he was in the back seat. Second, with gear and flaps the Viper was about 19,000 or so pounds versus the 60,000 - 70,000 pounds of the 'vark. So it wasn't as stable, and a lot more sensistive to throttle and roll commands. And the thing doesn't want to stop flying after first bounce.

The 'vark was the premier low-level jet for a few decades. If you had a bad setup, no way could you run it down. And it had lots longer legs than the Thud, which could also "go in at 600 knots, then come out FAST!"

later,

Gums sends ...

Awesome Gums! Cool

A retired O-6 that I used to work for said that they used to take their F models at Lakenheath, and fly out over the North Sea in TFR. Must've made for a helluva ride.

I often wonder why the 'Vark was never mod'ed with auto wing sweep controls, like the Tomcat. I'm thinking that any major overhaul or retrofit for the 'Varks would've meant less Strike Eagles and Vipers at the bottom line. Am I right?

Any takers on this one?

You could say it was a victim of a warfare doctrine and an Air Force that were each in the midst of transition. With the advent of Stealth, the premiere of the Mudhens, more precise satellite and laser guided ordnance, and the prevalent mindset after GW1 that we didn't need to go NOE at 700 knots anymore, I think any idea of upgrading the Vark, for any reason, was pretty much shot. Budgets were directed at other projects involving the newest toys in the box so there just wasn't funding or enthusiasm in Pentagon circles to bring the Vark up to modern standards. Much to the dismay of Vark fans everywhere...and I'm one of 'em. Wink

By 1992 it was pushing 30 years old, which for a 1960's era design was ancient. And as far as USAF was concerned, it was pretty much max'd out technology wise by that time also. The Aussies obviously had different ideas about theirs, tho. There was talk for a short time of re-engining with GE F110s similar to the ones that went into the Super Tomcats but that went under. And even with the hefty Reagan-era DoD budgets (Ronnie knew what was important... Thumb

) it was considered a spendy bird to fly and maintain.

If I were King, there was one version I would've spent cash on: The Spark Vark. Update the $hit outta that ba$tard. Whatever the users say is gonna make it effective, give it to 'em. The decision to go with the Prowler for EW support on USAF strikes was quite frankly stupid (which in no way is meant as a slap at the great crews that fly it...). Maybe I'm just naive but nothin' short of the Growler is gonna have the cajones to hang with a flight of Beagles ingressing into a hot target area in the opening nights of a campaign. Two Cents

Yeah, they definitely should've kept the Spark Vark. That was a great jet, and would've benefited from the re-engining, and auto wing sweep. It could get in and out of the fight very quickly, and had the tools to get its job done. A couple switches, and everything from the ZSU's radar to Saddam's toaster was knocked out of commission. Also, as Gums just said, it could "Go in at 600 knots, then come out fast!"

Forum: Military Aircraft of the Cold War

Vark vs Pelican