Flying the EF-111A Raven - Super and Pyro (Part 1)

[@matthewnewnham-runner-writer]

As a EW qualified F-111 guy myself ('82-'84), this is a fascinating interview (and refresher). Thanks as ever, Steve.

[@TonyCassanova]

I've been meaning to comment on the exceptional quality of the content on “10 Percent True - Tales from the Cockpit” podcast. The appeal of an interview is typically established by the interviewer, but an enthusiastic interviewee is generally the most essential component. The EF-111 and its mission, and especially its capabilities have been long overlooked, but no longer. Steve struck Palladium [look it up; I had to!] on this one; Pyro & Super combined were beyond extraordinary! So much so, that I’ve listened to their 6.5 hour narrative some four times; it’s that riveting. You’ll not find a better account in any book and/or magazine that exists today. Well done to the three of you!

[@10percenttrue]

Many thanks for the feedback, Tony. I hope Pyro and Super also get to read it!

[@dougdegraff5892]

I worked EF-111s at Upper Heyford…we had a pilot that we called Stalls Hanson. He wrote up a compressor stall and on debrief described the situation when the stall occurred. When we looked up the flight envelope in the dash-1 I told him that we actually needed to inspect the engine that didn’t stall because it should have. He was so far out of the envelope that he was on the next page past the graph.. 😂

[@damiangrouse4564]

So he was reliable CND generator…

[@Redraven2967]

EF-111 crew chief at Mt. Home starting in 1985. It was an awesome aircraft. Loved this podcast.

[@tbuc76]

I am speechless, Super, Pyro and Steve. This is indeead a gem for the history of air warfare! Never heard or read so much detail about EW etc of that era. Even the book by Anthony Thornborough (Iron Hand...) did not cover the Tacjam ops so much in detail. Looking forward part 2!

[@10percenttrue]

More to come! Thanks for your feedback :)

[@eicjc]

Pyro’s intro alone must be first for a tactical pilot appearing on an aviation podcast!! Loved it (and the 2.5 mile long bomb!!) Can’t wait for part 2 as this was fascinating. As usual, absolutely on point with the questions Steve. Thanks.

[@10percenttrue]

Hehe. Yes, that intro came out of nowhere. I intend to press him a little on it in Part 2.

[@tlfflt1983]

How to get a 2.5 mile long bomb. Follow the plan where you drop all the flat nosed high drag practice bombs. Change ballistics, optical sight settings and reherse back up options from laydown to toss. But forget to change the countdown timer leaving an extra five seconds. Be so happy that you execute the “pickle, paddle, pull” so perfectly that you smile. Count down and observe 3 Gs in two seconds. Expect release to come another two seconds. No release light. What the F. Oh shit what were those abort criteria. Right, no steeper than 45 degrees nose high. Woops. 55 deg nose high not too bad. What the F. When did the release light come on. Ah S.. part of the abort is to let go of the pickle button. Almost one minute later the bomb finally comes to earth. Then I have to go through the painful process of talking the range officer’s (my flight commander) eye’s on to the smoke spot. “Well Tom , Its not off range so you won’t bust the ride. But that is a FOUL so you and Jonny need to safe up and leave the range”.

[@kenlight4328]

Flew the F-111A at MO from 79-82, then was with first group of EWOs/pilots trained at Grumman and flew EFs at MO from 82-85. We weren’t restricted at Red Flags/Green Flags early on until the havoc we created limited effective mission debriefs. I’ve spent a couple days in either Pickering or Osterlohs office explaining myself and what we were jamming. We experimented, we shared, that’s how we learned, we pushed the envelopes and occasionally we got swatted. But in the end, that created the tactics that were most effective and were passed down to those who followed. Sorry I never got to meet either of you, but I enjoyed listening to your experiences with this wonderful aircraft.

[@damiangrouse4564]

Bn/Nav troop 76-82 worked Big D / Little D so probably responded to your call more than once. I still miss the pig.

[@KernowekTim]

" I have a cunning plan my Lord, involving a raven - pig, and some jamm...." Sensibly now. This is the finest channel, of it's kind, that I have had the pleasure of discovering and subscribing to. I am a gnarly old former hard-rock miner: proper old-school Cornish, so no BS from I, simply great credit to yourself, the pilots, specialist crew members, techs and ground crews, et al. Hooked, I am. Chons da in all your projects and endeavours. Great stuff!

[@10percenttrue]

Baldric, you great oaf! Tim, many thanks for subscribing, commenting and feeding back.

[@matthewnewnham-runner-writer]

Haha, nice Blackadder reference...

[@aok2727]

Holy smokes Pyro, I was your fuel shopper at Aviano when you and your folks lit that tent up! I remember Pigpen being your eccentric EWO!

[@Dan-qp1el]

Audible has tons of Steve's work as well boys.........just found it. Thanks Steve.

[@10percenttrue]

Thank you!

[@singlesprocket]

Super and Pyro are amongst the best I’ve watched. So much that I’m re-watching a year later! Gents, you rock

[@AviationHorrors]

Steve, great job with this interview. You asked a couple of detailed and insightful questions about the ability of the EF-111 and its crew to deal with novel signals from threats. Also, credit to Super and Pyro for the research they did into the EF-111's development, to bolster their personal knowledge.

[@georgekraft8605]

best aviation podcast out there...

[@10percenttrue]

💪🏼

[@nilscrawford4100]

As always, just super brilliant! I’m loving the quantity you are able to put out the quality at the moment Steve! Gives me a nice little lift when a new episode gets airborne 👌 perfect.

[@10percenttrue]

Cheers, Nils. I won't sustain this rate of work beyond March, but am glad that it's giving a lift to your day!

[@ronjon7942]

The EF111’s always had a spot in my heart, EW is so fascinating.

[@robo3915]

What a gem of an interview, definitely one of my favourites! I wasn’t expecting it to be such a fascinating aircraft and mission. 🍻

[@10percenttrue]

Glad you enjoyed it, Robert. I think that the world of tactical jamming is massively under reported and under appreciated. Of course, the classified nature of the business means that only with the passage of time can it really be discussed!

[@robo3915]

@@10percenttrue this will definitely be one of your interviews I watch more than a few times, there’s so much here! When are you writing a book on the EW aircraft? Hint hint!

[@davidd708]

Gosh, what a great episode. Fascinating topic, and two really entertaining (and obviously intelligent) aircrew. I don't believe Pyro's self-deprecating self-assessment for a moment, but it was funny and made me like him!

[@10percenttrue]

Yeah, I need to press Pyro on those stories!

[@tlfflt1983]

I learned in my 6 years of operational flying that if I had a better memorization memory (when not aided by adrenaline ) I would have avoided a few of my mistakes.

[@lrw3984]

very much appreciate the details of ECM and ECCM - keep up the in depth interviews

[@singlesprocket]

Bravo Zulu👍🏼 Great video gents. [This is why I love 10% True: Intelligent and insightful Q&A, instead of the ‘how did it feel when you turned the afterburners on’ ilk of interviews 😉]

[@10percenttrue]

Thanks, SS. Of course, this means that I now need to do an AMA where I say. "Single Sprocket asks how it felt when..." ;)

[@Max-dk5vz]

I wish I had one of those jammer pods so I can jam near BTS units to screw people's internet connection so I can watch 4K videos without interruption.

[@donrumsey]

Thank you for your service! I was at Upper Heyford 84-87 💙

[@lukew2031]

Super cool story! I really enjoyed this one. Well done Steve.

[@glennmorrissey5309]

A great description of the EF-111 methods and tactics of jamming. Thank you!

[@25_26]

Perfect. Thank you very much.

[@amandagilbert209]

yes another f 111 episode I cant wait to watch it. This is my all time fav plane. thanks for the upload.

[@10percenttrue]

Glad you enjoyed it, Amanda. Thanks for tuning in and commenting.

[@-theflea-4561]

This was a great interview, I realise I have no idea what the word of ECM is about. Not just get in and press the “jam” button :) I can imagine having to tell the boss I was late because an EF-111 locked my car in the garage. Looking forward to the next one. Drew

[@manw3bttcks]

ECM = Electronic Countermeasures

[@Ammo08]

I was an AMMO troop, so I didn't get around the EC birds much...always found that part of warfare fascinating however. Thanks guys, great interveiws.

[@10percenttrue]

Thank you, Ammo!

[@richskinns]

really fantastic this one. One of my favorites topics- very compelling. Two fantastic characters - many thanks gents for your time. Thanks for putting this together Steve. looking forward to the next ones. PS the tip link appears broken?

[@10percenttrue]

Thanks, Rich. Link now fixed!

[@richskinns]

Hi Steve link is not functional for HK where i live : any alternative options to assist ?

[@ngfan7476]

So Super used to be a Groom and TTR guy...your smile spoke volumes, Steve ;-)

[@ngfan7476]

In his bio, the data of his wing commander job between 2008 and 2010 has been masked....

[@10percenttrue]

Lol. Yeah, and yet I love how unassuming and easy going he is (same for Pyro).

[@manolog.9962]

That was very informative. Looking forward to Part 2

[@10percenttrue]

Coming soon!

[@gregkyser1815]

Great interview, I learned so much from this, can't wait for the follow on to this.

[@10percenttrue]

Cheers, Greg. I am looking forward to recording part 2 this week!

[@f97lhi]

Brilliant episode, really fascinating

[@B1900pilot]

Those old retired Navy guys running the NSAWC EW range were very good…

[@freema22]

I'm curious where Pyro grew up. I live not far from Selfridge and I am also in CAP.

[@10percenttrue]

I'll ask him on part 2, Mike.

[@tlfflt1983]

Attended Henry Ford II

[@elnet1]

There's an EF-111A at Silver Springs Airport in Nevada

[@williamgalbraith3621]

It's great to hear about the"Spark-Vark"! I'm getting a lot of questions answered. But there's one question I haven't heard yet; If it's so great, why did it get retired?

[@Cutstalk]

I'm not 100%, but have a google search for the EA-18 Growler, took over the EW job, I guess those are easier to maintain due to commonality with the regular hornet

[@AvengerII]

Kinda sad that only 4 EF-111s were preserved. There are a TON of stock F-111 A-models in museums. Not too many D models listed as preserved, either, and just the one B-model in storage at China Lake.

[@briancooper2112]

Great video's 👍

[@audunskilbrei8279]

42 is the answer to everything

[@wiesenbefeuchter]

Could the transmit aerials be slewed vertically and be exactly pointed at the emitter ?

[@10percenttrue]

Sorry, I missed this. If you drop by the Discord channel, I sometimes run an AMA where you can post your questions.

[@georgiogorge]

This is an excellent comment.

[@10percenttrue]

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@georgiogorge]

@@10percenttrue Now that I've actually watched/listened to the video, it's one of my favourite yet. There is so much detail to their mission that isn't immediately obvious. I'm looking forward to part 2.

[@MGPW01]

👌👍

[@KRGruner]

Yeah, when I was told my next assignment was likely to the EF-111, I knew it was time to get out of the Vark community ASAP even though I loved the jet. I ended up in the F-16. Thank goodness...

[@Heliosphan33]

@@KRGruner why?

[@KRGruner]

@@Heliosphan33 Are you actually asking me why flying the F-16 would be better (by a million miles) than the EF-111? Any guesses? Or maybe I am misunderstanding your question.

[@Heliosphan33]

@@KRGruner yes, I’m asking.

[@KRGruner]

@@Heliosphan33 Okayyyy... Well, I suppose some people prefer flying transports to fighters, so to each his own. But I was a FIGHTER pilot. Why a FIGHTER pilot might prefer to spend his/her time flying orbits in the sky while emitting invisible electrons (well, electromagnetic waves, actually) rather than dogfighting, shooting missiles and dropping bombs, I just cannot fathom.

[@Heliosphan33]

@@KRGruner It’s amazing that you were able to do that. The only thing I’ve ever flown is a Cessna. It’s great to read the stories of people that fly these things.

[@BWNSPTV]

Thank you very much gentlemen for sharing the history. F 111 is my favourite aircraft I think the most beautiful aircraft also but I am quite biased since I'm an Australian with and we've had a 40 year love affair with the F-111C. The unique capabilities of the aircraft were & in many ways still are a match made in heaven of context of Australia's geostrategic realities . I recently listened to this podcast also which it sort of highlights that it wasn't until late in the piece that was realised that capabilities of the EF-111 were combined with our beloved 'Pigs' and fully realised as double dating with our perfect. Here is a link to a podcast I listened to recently which perfectly complements your own contributions I think anyone who's interested in the platform will find it very interesting indeed and thank you once again. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3K5kHuIl7uGd8U

[@pugloverg6671]

Save the watches lol

[@tedzehnder961]

The interviewer had to listen to two guys when one would have been enough.The explanations were too long winded, you can tell that one was a teacher.