Narrabri residents got up close and personal to a retired Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircraft on Friday, as it passed through town en route to South Australia.
The F-111C is part of a fleet which was retired by the RAAF in December 2010, after 37 years’ service.
The aircraft, which is one of 13 to be preserved, will be relocated to the South Australian Aviation Museum in Port Adelaide.
“It will take a team of nine people to put it back together at the museum,” said Peter Cavanagh, acting project manager, who worked in the air force for 21 years maintaining aircraft.
“It’s a costly exercise to preserve the aircraft for display, but everyone loves them.”
It departed RAAF Base Amberley, near Ipswich, Queensland, on Friday at 2am, highway-bound for the museum.
Along the way it stopped at Goondiwindi, Narrabri, Gilgandra, Nyngan, Broken Hill, Cockburn, Burra and Gawler, before arriving in Port Adelaide.
Over the four-day period it travelled more than 1200 kilometres through Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia.
While in Narrabri, locals were able to inspect it up-close, while it was parked on the side of the Newell Highway at Narrabri West.
The aircraft had its wings, stabilators and vertical tailfin removed to enable a safe transit.
It was the tenth F-111 aircraft off the production line for the RAAF, arriving in Australia on July 27, 1973.
During its service, it mainly remained in Australia, but was used in the United States, England and Southeast Asia for exercises.
Mr Cavanagh was part of the maintenance crew who travelled with the F-111s while they were used during exercises overseas.
It can take off and land at relatively low speeds, then fly at more than twice the speed of sound with its wings tucked back.
It can also fly close to the ground at supersonic speeds following the terrain to avoid detection.
“This aircraft model was one of only two built with an escape module, which was revolutionary at the time,” said Mr Cavanagh.
“It was explosively charged to separate it from the aircraft, which cut through the panels and then a rocket motor was used to separate it.
“The crew remained inside the module and it had a parachute, so it gave them an environment to survive.”
Its last flight was as part of the flying display at the F-111 retirement ceremony on December 3, 2010.
The other retired aircraft will be on display at various locations across the country.
They include Darwin, Wollongong, Williamtown, Evans Head and Caloundra.