The RAAF Washington Flying Unit was a temporary

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF) unit formed to ferry Australia's first twelve

General Dynamics F-111C The General Dynamics F-111C (nicknamed "Pig") is a variant of the F-111 Aardvark medium-range interdictor and tactical strike aircraft, developed by General Dynamics to meet Australian requirements. The design was based on the F-111A model but ...

aircraft from the United States to Australia. It was formed in March 1973 and disbanded in July of that year after the ferry flights were completed.

History

The RAAF Washington Flying Unit was formed at

McClellan Air Force Base McClellan Air Force Base (1935–2001) is a former United States Air Force base located in the North Highlands area of Sacramento County, northeast of Sacramento, California. History For the vast majority of its operational lifetime, McClella ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

on 31 March 1973 under the command of Group Captain

John Newham Air Marshal John William "Jake" Newham, AC (born 30 November 1930) is a retired senior commander of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He served as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) from 1985 until 1987. Joining the RAAF in 1951, he flew Glos ...

. The unit was tasked with ferrying the RAAF's first twelve (out of a total order of 24) F-111Cs to Australia. The unit comprised twelve F-111 crews, each consisting of a pilot and a navigator.RAAF Historical Section (1995), p. 150 Newham was also the commanding officer of No. 82 Wing, which was to operate the F-111Cs once they arrived in Australia.Wilson and Pittaway (2010), p. 47 Following their arrival in the United States, the Australian airmen were provided with training on the F-111 by

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

. Once this was completed, they ferried F-111s from the company's facilities at

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

to McClellan Air Force Base. The first ferry flight of six F-111Cs departed McClellan Air Force Base in May 1973. The aircraft first flew to

Hickam Air Force Base Hickam Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation, named in honor of aviation pioneer Lieutenant Colonel Horace Meek Hickam. The installation merged in 2010 with Naval Station Pearl Harbor to become part of the newly formed Joint ...

where they refueled. On 30 May they flew to

Pago Pago International Airport Pago Pago International Airport , also known as Tafuna Airport, is a public airport located 7 miles (11.3 km) southwest of the central business district of Pago Pago, in the village and plains of Tafuna on the island of Tutuila in American S ...

. The next day they departed for

RAAF Base Amberley RAAF Base Amberley is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military airbase located southwest of Ipswich, Queensland in Australia and southwest of Brisbane CBD. It is currently home to No. 1 Squadron (operating the F/A-18F Super Hornet), N ...

, and arrived there on 1 June (Australian time). The remaining six F-111Cs began their ferry flight on 23 July, and used the same route as the first. Once this flight was completed and all twelve F-111Cs had arrived in Australia, the Washington Flying Unit was disbanded on 26 July 1973.RAAF Historical Section (1995), p. 151 The RAAF's other twelve F-111Cs were ferried to Australia in two flights later that year, which arrived at Amberley on 28 September and 4 December. Despite the unit's name, the Washington Flying Unit was not the RAAF unit which was responsible for operating two Washington B.1 (B-29 Superfortress) heavy bombers in the early 1950s. These aircraft were operated by the RAAF's Aeronautical Research and Development Unit.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

Military units and formations established in 1973 Cold War history of Australia