FB-111 A question

IIRC, the ones we had at Pease AFB, New Hampshire had two on the two middle pylons on each wing, a SRAM on each wing glove pylon and two SRAMs in the weapons bay. (The two outboard weapons pylons were usually empty.) When the wings were forward, the outboard tank on each wing was at about a 15-20 degree angle (toward the fuselage) and NOT parallel with the fuselage. Try to imagine someone who walks "pigeon toed" and you'll have an idea of what it looks like from above. That was because the outermost tank pylon did not pivot. They were aligned so that when the wings were swept back, the tank was parallel with the fuselage and the slip stream.

The there were four pylons on each wing. Working from inboard they were tank or weapons pylon (pivoting), tank or weapons pylon (pivoting), tank pylon (fixed), and a fixed weapon pylon. Note: There were four types of pylons and they all looked different. Whether the inboard pylons were a weapons pylon or a tank pylon depended on the mission. HTH

Thank you. That's exactly what I needed.

Don H.

Don:

Saw your posting on r.m.s. concerning the FB-111A.

I'm the "crew chief" (A.K.A. aircraft curator) for the FB-111A (s/n

68-287) on display at the Wings Over The Rockies Museum in Denver, Colorado. If you're building a model of one, or just interested, I can take photos of our Aardvark for you based on what you'd like to see. Just let me know what views you're looking for and I'll see if I can help. I'm always willing to assist another Aardvark fan.

Martin Sagara Space Curator Crew Chief - FB-111A, Apollo CSM Wings Over The Rockies Museum Denver, Colorado USA

Martin,

Thank you! If your FB-111A has drop tanks, I'd like to see a photo of that. Also, would you be able to provide a photo of the area on top of the fuselage nose where I believe some navigation sensor (possibly astro track?) was installed? I'd also like a close-up of the wing glove area, with the devices at the forward end in the extended position, if yours is in that configuration. (I don't know what they're called, but one triangular section is above the wing, and a smaller, rectangular section below, inboard of the leading edge slats.)

This is for a model, all right.

Thank you again.

Don Harstad