When the F-111 Aardvark was the World's Fastest Ambulance

[@stellarpod]

I live 3 miles away from Tinker AFB in Oklahoma. I see E3's, B1's and tankers flying regularly, along with a myriad of other aircraft (including the F-35). I would love to have seen these F-111's, as I've never seen one flying out of Tinker. Excellent segment, sir! As always, thanks much for sharing. Steve

[@brensmith9065]

I was in the RAAF (the only other operators of the F111), RF111 and F111 mainly basic instruments then later ran RECON Lab and Pavetack LAB repairs. I loved this old bird. I came from Mirages IIIs to FA18s then to the "PIG world". I loved them. Like the Mirage III these birds were made in an era or pure class. Sometimes a PITA to repair but always admired and classy. Compared to an F18....get a brick add an engine lots of power...it flys! Reality is the F18 was a Quantum leap. I later ran F18 LASER LTDR repair Lab and the respective technology went from a 26ft pod to a 6 ft pod! WOW! I remember the F111 "G" sensors were around the size of a soup can...the F18...little 1 cm piezo device far more accurate. The F18 was packed full of goodies and a quantum leap any pilot would chose the F18 over the others...but nothing had the range and strike power of the PIG. Nor the nostalgia...it looked fast sitting still. About the only acft that could keep up with the PIG at sea level was the Mirage III of all things! I miss them both especially the F111 The RAAF scored some of American SAC airframes, yet the wings were longer...and other things...helped our fleet for years extra.

[@novaseline4u]

F-111A avionics tech here. I read a story once of the RAAF purchasing FB-111s (these were the SAC planes you spoke of) from the old bird storage facility. Took them a bit to get the beasties running. Then they had to take them somewhere to get them certified safe to fly over the ocean to Australia. The RAAF did the rest.

[@Thunder_6278]

In the 70's - a German F-104 also did a life saving service, in lousy winter weather. Heck of a story.

[@AnyHistory]

I'll have to look it up.

[@TheArmaGuy762]

@@AnyHistory kzbin.info/www/bejne/ane0nqOeqpWnbaM

[@fastone942]

Must have been a rare treat to get to fly as fast as want to go over the Con US Outside of Edwards Air Force Base there normally no breaking the sound barrier overland your crew mission brief you will pick up Heart up and come back as fast as possible

[@SanjanaRanasingha]

Thank you sir for this beautifully made video. Subscribed !

[@EcstasyIsGreat]

And then the patient awoke, saw the bill for his medical care and promptly had another heart attack and died.

[@gordonbergslien30]

Props to you for telling a great story. You got some of the hardware details wrong, however. SAC never flew F-111A's. It had its own version, the FB-111, which had larger wings. TAC had A, E and F model 'Varks.

[@AnyHistory]

Good detail, thanks!

[@craftsmano]

Nor was the F-111’s speed, in any iteration, “hypersonic”.

[@Franseven]

jets not props XD

[@novaseline4u]

If they were out of Pease, they were definitely FB-111. These were the critters that hung out with the B-52s, and carried nukes. Yes, larger wings. Bigger engines, and different color instrument panel lighting, too. They were significantly faster than that public speed figure, too. These guys were probably running them just a bit under Mach 3.

[@MausMasher54]

My first USAF duty station was RAF Upper Heyford(aka, Exercise City), Oxfordshire, UK, '74-'76....I was 20th FMS AGE Sub Pool.....Many a foggy nights had narrowly missed getting raked by a surprise Nose Cone when it was not there 20 minutes before...LOL

[@joeschenk8400]

This is a great story!

[@fungalcoffee]

My boi! An +1 is a rare thing to have for a combat aircraft. Love the F-111

[@1BassJohn]

Great video! Just a correction.. you refer to them as 'Hypersonic Fighters' later in the video. Hypersonic is anything 5 times the speed of sound and beyond :) These guys were supersonic. Still an incredibly impressive, and important mission!

[@ReptileRescue]

*Supersonic... not "hypersonic". Big difference.

[@sealy3]

Not everyone knows the definition - (so for educational purposes only ) Hypersonic is defined as 5 times the speed of sound or greater. that is ~ 3,840 miles per hour or greater. The speed of sound at sea level is ~ 768 miles per hour. Altitude - barometric pressure, humidity and temperature will effect the speed of sound. The F-111 flies ~ 2.5 times the speed of sound. The F-111 flies supersonic.

[@ReptileRescue]

@@sealy3 Thanks Wisenheimer. That's what I said.

[@ryanarnold4790]

They are not hyper sonic ….

[@pann_an5562]

Ah cmon it was a simple mistake. Its easy to mix up hyper and super

[@Idahoguy10157]

This also happened at Mtn Home AFB in 1987 or 88. A heart was flown in an F-111 too I’m not sure where

[@AnyHistory]

Spread the word! If you like great stories, documentaries and videos, please subscribe, share and hit the bell icon!

[@NIGHTFLIGHTVIDEO]

F-11 Air Force is not a hypersonic fighter

[@ReptileRescue]

*F-111

[@peterkirgan2921]

I flew the Mirage 3 circa 1980s saw 4 mates perish ! One infront of my eyes ! Craig Macklemann off Evans head nsw & Steve Smith both Mirage pilots ! Mark Fallon & Billy Pike in their F111 @ Tenterfield nsw

[@AnyHistory]

Thanks for sharing. May they Rest in Peace.

[@Av-vd3wk]

Not that it matters, but I know the gov always tabulates (Hello TAXES!) - I wonder how much this had cost…

[@RabidRazorback80]

Quietly filed as training mission I'm sure.

[@whytebearconcepts]

Hypersonic?

[@chrisholznagel7428]

Try 1650 mph mk2.5 . This speed is common to all varients. And 920 mph mk 1.2,1.4, at sea level.❤😂🎉😅😊