From: Michael Lorrey (retroman@tpk.net)
Date: Wed Jul 16 1997 - 16:17:40 MDT
Michael M. Butler wrote:
>
> It seems clear to me that Grumman "recycled" the suffix
> when the time came to propose an enhanced FB-111A,
> and that the F-111B was a substantially different
> critter than the FB-111 with any trailing letter.
> Find me an FB-111 with a tail hook and
> fold-up wings, and I'll reconsider. :)
I wasn't aware that the F-111 needed to fold up its swept wings
vertically, nor is anyone I recall ever talking to, including my father
who was a subcontractor. As for a tail hook, with the exception of
deltawinged century series jets and some models of F-4, just about every
AF fighter plane since 1960 has had tail hooks. They are very useful for
making assisted landings when the brakes fail, usually due to hydraulic
failure. I certainly recall the FB-111s that were transferred to Cannon
AFB from Pease as having tailhooks, though I could be wrong, or it could
have been a modification.
>
> The source I find most instructive is
>
> http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/baugher_us/f111.html#RTFToC11
>
> where FB-111B and FB-111H are mentioned as
> _proposed_ variants of the FB-111A.
I beleive that the Bs were stationed in England, though they could have
been rebuilt As redesignated.
>
> I haven't found any Navy sources on the Web yet.
>
> Hoping we can now draw the curtains, I remain
soytainly
>
-- TANSTAAFL!!! Michael Lorrey ------------------------------------------------------------ mailto:retroman@tpk.net Inventor of the Lorrey Drive Agent Lorrey@ThePentagon.com Silo_1013@ThePentagon.com http://www.tpk.net/~retroman/ Mikey's Animatronic Factory My Own Nuclear Espionage Agency (MONEA) MIKEYMAS(tm): The New Internet Holiday Transhumans of New Hampshire (>HNH) ------------------------------------------------------------ #!/usr/local/bin/perl-0777---export-a-crypto-system-sig-RC4-3-lines-PERL @k=unpack('C*',pack('H*',shift));for(@t=@s=0..255){$y=($k[$_%@k]+$s[$x=$_ ]+$y)%256;&S}$x=$y=0;for(unpack('C*',<>)){$x++;$y=($s[$x%=256]+$y)%256; &S;print pack(C,$_^=$s[($s[$x]+$s[$y])%256])}sub S{@s[$x,$y]=@s[$y,$x]}
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