Blanke Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Hello, does anybody happen that promotional photo of the FB-111 with 50 some 750lb bombs? The Vark is one of my favorites and would very much like to see this awesome picture. Thanks in advanced. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
juanchopancho Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 wait, wut?! 50x 750 pounders Quote Link to post Share on other sites
richter111 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 maybe its the uber A-10/f-11/b-52 mod?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Murph Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 wait, wut?! 50x 750 pounders There was a pic from early in the test program where they put all 8 pylons on the jet, and loaded them all with MER's IIRC. Regards, Murph Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 (edited) Yeah, but could it get off the ground with that kind of load? The unrefueled range would be about to the end of the runway! Darwin Edited January 26, 2009 by yardbird78 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Finn Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Not 750's but a full load of Mk-82's: http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/attachmen...mp;d=1143614656 Jari Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hoops Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Not 750's but a full load of Mk-82's:http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/attachmen...mp;d=1143614656 Jari Looks like that's an Aussie C Model, quite a load, any way you cut it... -Hoops Quote Link to post Share on other sites
martin_sam_2000 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Not 750's but a full load of Mk-82's:http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/attachmen...mp;d=1143614656 Jari if you count them out there are 48(!!!) bombs on that so the original posting of 50 wasn't far off!!! Sean Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gary F Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I remember seeing the pic with the 50 x M117's loaded on the Vark on the back of the Air Force Association magazine back in the late 60's ... 48 under the wings and 2 in the bomb bay ... one of my all time favorites. Gary F Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blanke Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 Gawd almighty! To be honest I was a bit skeptical was well, but.... seeing is believing. The -111's slender wings are a lot stronger than they look, at least in my opinion. I'm guessing that load was never carried operationally, even in Vietnam. More like just to see if it could be done. Thank you for the picture Finn. GaryF or anybody you wouldn't happen to have the pic with 50 750 pounders available to post would you? Would like to see that one too. Thanks again guys! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattC Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Looks like you can hang quite a lot on those slender wings :D I know, drop tanks, but still, a rather incongruous looking loadout.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Julien (UK) Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Normally on the FB I think only 4 stations would be used for multi bomb loads. The pylons on the FB were a little strange. If stations 4 & 5 were used with MER's then the wings would not be able to sweep back without the load on those pylons touching the fuselarge. SRAM's and B-61's could be carried here with full wing sweep. Pylons 2 & 7 definatly did not move with wing sweep and I think the same for 1 & 8 though I have not seen any pictures of 1 & 8 in use apart from ground publicity shots. Check out http://www.fb-111a.net for some great FB-111 pics. Julien Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ElectroSoldier Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Pylons 1,2, 7 & 8 are fixed, they do not rotate with the wings like pylons 3, 4, 5 & 6 do the angel is 26 degrees of sweep. At 26 degrees the flaps and spoilers can still be used, but on take off the wings would be forward so the outer 4 pylons wouldnt face front like the 4 inner pylons would. I have the picture your taking about but its not digital and I dont have a scanner so I cant post it They tested a lot of other loads, but none so "grand" as 50x 750lb M117's I seem to remember each pylon was stressed to take over 6,000lbs, so in theory she could do 6x 1000lbs per pylon, but the FB-111A was the only type to use stations 2 & 7 operationally and none used stations 1 & 8, though the provision was still there to take them, even on the short wing jets. As for range when carrying a load like that, it might be more than you would imagine, remembering her fuel load alone will weight in more than a full combat loaded F-16. Cold war central heating... A tornado would forward deply to Germany, take off, inflight refuel and strike targets in Russia and then return to Germany. An F-111E/F would have forward deployed to Greenham Common in the UK, she woud take off, inflight refuel and strike targets in Russia that were beyond the range of the Tornados, and then return to the UK... Oh and she would have carried a heavier load and do more low level Mach 1.2+ flight time than the Tornado Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aggressor Supporter Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Not 750's but a full load of Mk-82's:http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/attachmen...mp;d=1143614656 Jari Amazing pic! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gary F Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I've been looking thru some of my old stuff and found one pic dated March 1966 showing a nose on shot of F-111A loaded with '36 of the 50 M117's it can carry' (quote was the pic caption). Has 4 TER's and 4 MER's. Bomb bay doors are open but can't tell if there's anything in there. I'll try to get it scanned tomorrow. I also saw another pic, this one in flight, and it had either 6 or 8 TER's loaded with napalm canisters, in the process of dropping them. Still looking for the big load with 50 M117's ... Gary F Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andre Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I'm guessing that load was never carried operationally, even in Vietnam. You're guessing right. The maximum number of bombs carried operationally in SEA was (AFAIK) twelve (either Mk. 82 or M117) on BRU racks on the #3 and 6 hardpoints. I don't believe there were ever bombs carried in the bay in the Vietnam years, although internal carriage of a AIM-9B on a trapeze was tested. Cheers, Andre Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Finn Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 The max number of bombs seen on a 'Nam era F-111 was 24, there are pics in various books and during early missions an AIM-9B was carried in the bay. Jari Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ElectroSoldier Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 I also saw another pic, this one in flight, and it had either 6 or 8 TER's loaded with napalm canisters, in the process of dropping them.Gary F That was from the early F-111A test program, it was 8x TERs each loaded with 3x canisters, they measured all kinds of things, if you look at the wing tips you can see the fairings for the cameras so they could see the weapons seperation. The Harvest Reapers usually carried 12x M117s on stations 3 & 6, Combat Lancer deployment learned from some mistakes and developements, they were loaded heavier and they carried among others loads of 24x Mk82 snake eyes on BRU-3/A's on stations 3, 4, 5 & 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bdt13 Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Back in the '70s there was a USAF model display in one of the terminals in O'Hare. I clearly remember an F-111 with a psychotic number (36 or 48) of what I believe were M117s on the wings. Since I was just a kid I can't say for sure if these were 750s or 500s, but I do remember they looked fat. I was starting to build models at the time so I may have seen some decent representations of each to make a judgement. At least a few people in the AF had a vision in their head of a slow but deadly Aardvark. There were many types of aircraft in the case, but this one stands out in my mind 30 years later. Ben Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gary F Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 (edited) Here's the pic of the A loaded with 36 x M117's. Dated from March 1966. http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j288/Gar...1Aw36M117sa.jpg Gary F Edited February 6, 2009 by Gary F Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blanke Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 one word: gawd-mn :P it's a mini B-52, son of the BUFF, etc.... thank you sir! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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