Aardvark Down!

摘要

On the evening of June 23,1982, a solitary F-111F Aardvark from the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing screamed across the highlands of northern Scotland for a practice attack on the bombing range at Tain - the terrain following radar (TFR) maintaining an altitude of 1,000ft along the way. It was a routine training flight for the swing-wing jet (serial 72-1447) and its crew from the 492nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, having taken off from the home base of RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, at 1657hrs using the callsign 'Cuppy 32'. Arriving at waypoint D10, the pilot, Capt Stan Szybillo, in the left-hand seat of the side-by-side cockpit, adjusted the TFR clearance to just 500ft and the Vark responded almost immediately.