If there is one aircraft I have always wanted to recreate in this game, it’s the General Dynamics F-111C Aardvark. The Australian variant of the iconic fighter-bomber, it was based off the ‘A’ variant, but with longer wings, and upgraded landing gear. Serving Australia between 1973, and 2010. Australia’s need for aircraft originated in 1960, when a CIA Lockheed U-2 spy plane was shot down, whilst at 70,000ft. This showed to the West that in future, high altitude bombers would be completely obsolete, and that aircraft capable of flying at low altitude and high speed would be what was required. The F-111, being the product of the US TFX program, was selected to fill this role, and replace the existing English Electric Canberra. Despite early teething issues with the aircraft during testing, namely a deadly design flaw which could lead to structural failure of the wing-box assembly; leading to separation of a wing, the aircraft was finally accepted in 1973. In 37 years of service with RAAF, the 111Cs never saw combat, but were a powerful deterrent against war. Iconic for the Australian’s discovering the iconic ‘dump and burn’, where dumping fuel and subsequently lighting the afterburners could cause a large bright flame to shoot out the rear of the aircraft, became the aircraft’s party trick. This particular aircraft, A8-109, was actually a ex-USAF Aardvark, modified to the ‘C’ standard and became one of 4 aircraft shipped to Australia to replace F-111s lost in crashes. However, among rising maintenance costs, in 2003, it was decided to retire the F-111s by 2010. On 3 December 2010, A8-125, the first F-111 to ever enter service with the RAAF, down for the final time, marking the fleets retirement, and replacement by 24 F/A-18 Super Hornets, and later, the F-35A Lighting II.

This replica tested my patience quite a bit. Working out it’s flight performance was particularly a hassle, and have to give a big thanks to the great people on the Skyward discord server, for providing invaluable assistance and information. Something worth noting, is that with the weapons, the wings cannot be fully swept back. Enjoy!

One last thing, this post was put on the 11th of November, marking the 105th anniversary of the end of WW1, which is commemorated as Remembrance Day here in Australia. Lest We Forget.

This is a fun video by the RAAF as part of their “Iconic Aircraft series”