Flying the F-111E in Combat over Iraq - Marco McCaffrey (Part 1)

[@valterXIII]

These interviews are the standard which other channels should learn from and use. Incredibly refreshing to see extremely knowledgeable and capable host show how it is done. Can’t wait to see and hear more. Incredible historical resource. Thank You. Kind regards, Denis, Foothills, Alberta

[@10percenttrue]

Wow. Thank you, Denis!

[@aok2727]

Love this!! I really appreciate hearing the OPS side of F-111 life as I was maintenance and this helps me understand the larger picture!!

[@0612Devil]

Great so far - how does this channel not have more views??

[@10percenttrue]

Trying to get the number up. Just have to keep hoping people will like, comment, sub and SHARE! Thanks for the kind words!

[@farout1220]

The pod at the top of the vertical stab was an Infrared Receiver that was supposed to see the heat from a missile engine coming in from behind and provide warning. It could show the degrees off the tail on the RHAWS Scope. The system almost never worked properly and even in the late 70's was largely given up on repairing it and a fiberglass dome installed in it's place. The only ones we had gotten working were on brand new 'F' Models that had just arrived on base.

[@sedlo]

Man, half way through and I an loving it. The “Hard” ride TFR mode... just imagining in the pitch black, 200 ft AGL and the thing slams you up out of your seat, feet flying off the pedals, straining against the straps while the nose rotates down towards the ground which you cannot see. My hearts gets pumping faster just thinking about that. Crazy!

[@10percenttrue]

Late response... but, yeah, Auto TF must have taken some real trust in the system!

[@tomekwiraszka7312]

yup, that and powering through weather...

[@briancooper3913]

Fantastic you tube channel...an old buddy of mine flew from incirlik with the 20th during desert storm and told me some great tales of missions!!!

[@-theflea-4561]

Great interview again. We had the F-111 in Australia for a while, which was great to see! Terrain following sounds scary, but a very capable aircraft. It’s hard to keep up with all of the acronyms in this one, so thanks for clarifying some of them for us. I’m looking forward to the next chapter 👍

[@iainbradford4254]

Great interview and extremely knowledgeable host :-)

[@sedlo]

Another outstanding interview, Steve! I learned a lot about F-111 ops, plus Marco is a great storyteller.

[@10percenttrue]

Thank you, Sim!

[@Scoop1_1]

Incredible informative conversations. You’re clearly very knowledgeable yourself, yet you ask every question with so much genuine interest and professional respect. Also, In these days of sound bites really refreshing that there are people like you that take the time and don’t shy away from having an interview of 1 hour or more. Keep up the good work

[@10percenttrue]

Thanks, Marcel. Glad you enjoyed the interview and pleased to hear that the long-form interviews are going down well!

[@muzzaball]

I have always loved the F-111. We had them here in Australia and they were an awesome aircraft. As Marco said, it was definitely a trailblazer with so much cutting edge tech. Although it got a bad rap with the Navy TFX program, which was unfair, standalone it proved its worth in so many areas - no one had TFR as accurate as the 111 for decades.

[@BasilBHancock]

I now live on the base at Upper Heyford, and have done foe the last 20 years It was sold to private developers and now has 2000 houses built on it, The tobacco houses are still here, If Marco wants some recent pictures I can take some for him. Thanks for your very interesting interviews

[@BennyAndTheJets86]

This is now my favorite channel! You’re doing a good job sir! Your interviews are by far the best in aviation that I have heard to date! And I listen to them all haha.

[@10percenttrue]

Welcome aboard!

[@kentgregory3299]

Can’t wait for part 2. Nice long conversations. The host asks good questions, but doesn’t come off as a fanboy. (Like I am). Host asks about the training challenges etc because he still has time to get to the questions regarding deployments and other items. I do wish every podcaster asked more questions about time frames and calendar years as well in the stages of training and deployments. This podcast scratches that surface closer than most podcasts though. By far. Thanks!!!

[@FalconMasters]

Awesome Interview!

[@boggy8557]

Another good one Steve. Was a pleasure to listen to. Looking forward to hearing part 2!

[@10percenttrue]

Thanks, Bogdan!

[@TitusFFM]

What I really love about this channel is that 1. Always great people here 2. The interviewer don't interrupt the guests so there is a constant storyline. 4. Good question asked. 5. No filter. Don't get me wrong but we talk about serious business here and if the guest use words like shit, fuck and so on i don't care. This is one of the thing's that drives me crazy on fighter pilot podcast it is so clean and this we support the department of defence bla bla bla. One of the coolest podcasts here thank you for your time and effort to make those.

[@10percenttrue]

Thank you for the great feedback, BW!

[@jetset7772]

@Jeannette Benoit What is the background of the interviewer?

[@Aircrewinterview]

Brilliant interview!

[@10percenttrue]

Cheers, Mike!

[@flightsimstuff5417]

Quality interview as always!

[@KrisRamJ]

Just a brilliant interview, I devour aviation content on KZbin and your channel is far and away my favourite. I spent many happy summer days from 1986 onwards watching 111 ops at the end of UH runway so I'm sure my brother and me had a wave from Marco at some point. In this interview I just love the fact that he drops acronyms and terms like "Magnum" with the assumption that the listener knows the significance of what he is saying. I think it's because the pilots are talking to you, and you have that deep technical knowledge. Looking forward to hearing about his time in the Light Gray.

[@10percenttrue]

Thanks, Kris! I wish we could go back to the days of 1-11s stationed in the UK. Happiest times of my life, I think!

[@KrisRamJ]

​@@10percenttrue They were amazing days. I learned to drive in 86 and we lived 20 miles from UH, so I was straight down there with my then 10 year old bro in tow. We were obsessed with anything relating to aviation or the USA so UH was like heaven to us. On a normal day there would be approx 30x F-111E/EF-111A departures. I shot thousands of photos over the 5 years or so I was going there, wish I'd had my 1DX back then, £5 for 36 shots at Boots was a bit tough on the pocket!

[@hongdongjji5361]

yep, very cool stuff - I similarly watched these magnificent beasts just up the road at Lakenheath, with friends' fathers having flown the mission to Libya. Miss the thing, for sure, so brilliant content like this is a blast from the past.

[@briancooper2112]

Great channel!!

[@ytdlder]

The infra-red jamming and it not doing much... sounds very much like the Su-25T ;-) Awesome interview! Great stories, especially as I'm currently reading the 15E and 10A desert storm books and the stories are pretty different. Very interesting!

[@TheMunt2000]

interesting mentioning the 111 capsule, first aircraft i sat in the cockpit for as maybe 12 year old at coltishall airshow. and that always fascinated me, the whole goddamn cockpit ejects not just the dudes n seats! and its a damn spacey place especially then going to sit in a jag

[@richardcrandall6786]

It would be great if you could interview some of the F-111 Vietnam Vets - they are getting long in the tooth and will not be around for too much longer. I have seen almost nothing from them written of their experiences in Vietnam in the Vark.

[@10percenttrue]

Flying the F-111 in the Vietnam War - Brad Insley (Part 1) kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3i2hqWnh51nq5I

[@mickmckean7378]

That was an excellent interview, Marco told it straight and had some really good stories. A very unique aircraft the F-111, proud to say I worked on them in the RAAF in the late 1980s, I was very interested in listening to him talk about how the RADAR systems that I worked on operated in practice (ie TFR and Attack RADAR in the canyon, TFR non-visual descents (we called them "blind letdowns") and the various TFR terrain avoidance profiles. I had to chuckle when he said he was dropping "LGBT" bombs, he realised where he was inadvertently going with that long acronym and rephrased correctly as "LGB"...

[@eddiesomerset8863]

Best one I,ve watched. I live in hope that you will talk with some B1 guys soon.

[@sedlo]

Can't wait!

[@eicjc]

This

[@jasontennant8994]

Great interview. Like all your interviews so far, I like and appreciate how your content gets beyond “So, how did you go against in DACT?”

[@10percenttrue]

Thanks, Jason. Appreciate the kind words and your patronage. I think I know what the DACT comment is about, so perhaps the best thing for me to say is that I am sure that he will develop his technique as he grows in confidence and in the fullness of time.

[@jasontennant8994]

@@10percenttrue You got my DMPI, yes! I particularly appreciate your thoughtful questions around the psychology of war fighting and risk taking. You go beyond the usual x vs. y and ask meaningful questions.

[@tomekwiraszka7312]

Any comments on AGM 69/F 111 combo? Any training experience? What would a typical loadout with this weapon look like? What sort of flight profile would you use to deploy it? Lastly, why was this platform abandoned? Especially since our russian friends are currently using the Kindzhal system?

[@portquarter]

I might have missed it, but I would be interested to know if compressor stalls were as much an issue with the TF-30 in the F-111 as they were for us with the TF-30 in the F-14A. I've heard not really a problem as the F-111 wasn't generally operated at high AOA/yaw. Perhaps Marco or another F-111 pilot could comment.

[@10percenttrue]

Marco is active on here. Maybe he will answer...

[@pjotrtje0NL]

Having seen the Starbaby ‘multilogy’, I remember he also was in Incirlik. (And it was his fav!) Does “Marco” know him?

[@farout1220]

TFR in the Bruneau Canyon by the Saylor Creek Range he's not the only one to do that.

[@PBAR_B1B]

Having flown the B-1B as a WSO, sounds like the B-1B's TFR use and procedures are the same as the F-111's. The Bone must have had input from FB-111 aircrew during its development.

[@HE-162]

When do we get your interview!? We need a b-1 chat!

[@tomekwiraszka7312]

yup, exactly. The bone package was an evolution of the systems developed for the Aardvark

[@Habu2]

Steve.....just wondering how you go about seeking out these guys. ? You have contacts in the US ?

[@robo3915]

The nuclear strike mission sounds scary, not planning on making it back!😬

[@timothywitt4864]

All our strike missions were planned to at least make it to the first friendly airfield after the last target was hit. This was best case with no extra fuel so very optimistic. We were ordered to strike our target(s) as long as we had enough fuel for safe escape from the nuclear detonation, IOW, we were not being ordered on a suicide mission. I don't think many aircrew really expected to survive an execution of the all out nuclear war plan as there would be very little remaining to return to.

[@pugloverg6671]

Great stories

[@patrickflohe7427]

The F-111D had two HUDs, and was probably the first aircraft to have one. No other F-111 had a HUD.

[@10percenttrue]

Wasn't the first HUD equipped aircraft the LVT A-7?

[@patrickflohe7427]

@@10percenttrue i’m not 100% sure, but I have heard that the F-111D was the first or one of the first. Now that you mention it, I do so seem to remember the A-7 coming with a HUD at some point.

[@stephenpage-murray7226]

You need to get an RAAF F-111C guy on.

[@10percenttrue]

Do you know any?

[@pugloverg6671]

Learned F111 avionics in avionics school….

[@viksaini]

Great interview, but you need to speak louder Steve or boost your audio volume so it matches your interviewee.

[@10percenttrue]

Vik, many thanks for your feedback. Is there a particular part where I sound quiet, or is it in general? Am trying to get the levels right in post production, but obviously need to try harder!

[@viksaini]

@@10percenttrue I think an overall boost in the volume of your audio stream should do the trick. That might be easier than speaking closer to the microphone or wearing a headset/wireless mic. I've used wireless mics for lecturing and they work well.

[@jjaymarks]

Marco mentions he had to go get an MR check. What does MR mean?

[@10percenttrue]

Mission Ready