Wednesday Warbirds – F-111 Aardvark: Mach 2 Down Under 
Wednesday, 30 September 2026
This week, Wednesday Warbirds is heading Down Under for a high-speed, low-level and Mach 2+ blast down Australia’s east coast in one of the most iconic aircraft ever to serve with the Royal Australian Air Force — the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark.
If you were a plane nerd growing up in Australia in the '80s and '90s, chances are that instead of a Lamborghini Countach poster on your wall, you had one of an F-111!
With GKS recently releasing its native MSFS 2024 version, there couldn’t be a better excuse to take the Pig out for a proper run.
Flight Details
Location: Australia — Queensland, New South Wales, ACT & Victoria
Leg 1: Amberley (YAMB) → Richmond (YSRI) — 587 nm
Leg 2: Richmond (YSRI) → East Sale (YMES) — 627 nm
Target Speed: 600 knots at low altitude / Mach 2+ at high altitude
Altitude: Both legs include runs above 40,000 ft
Suggested Aircraft: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark by GKS
Flight Plans & Comms
All pilots should join the Fly Massive Discord to access the flight plans and group communications:
Whether you’re flying the F-111 or bringing another suitably ridiculous Mach 2-capable jet, jump into Discord before departure so you’re ready to go.
Sim Settings
Set your local simulator time to 5:00 AM for departure. We’re deliberately blasting off in the dark so everyone can get maximum enjoyment from those spectacular F-111 afterburner effects.
Historic Live Weather is preferred unless conditions are poor enough to negatively impact the enjoyment of the flight.
Under Assistance, make sure you have:
G-Tolerance: Jet Pilot
G-Suit: Enabled
LEG 1 — Amberley to Richmond
YAMB → YSRI | 587 nm
We depart in darkness from the home of the F-111 during its RAAF service, RAAF Base Amberley (YAMB).
After lighting the burners, we’ll head towards Brisbane, sweeping in over Mount Coot-tha and Suncorp Stadium before beginning a high-speed run along the Brisbane River west of the CBD.
We’ll make a sharp turn around The Gabba, duck under the Gateway Bridges and scream across the Port of Brisbane, before turning inland to line ourselves up for another fast river run down the eastern side of the CBD.
After giving Brissie a proper show, we’ll follow the Pacific Motorway south to the Gold Coast for a fast run down the beach before turning inland past Mount Warning.
Then it’s time to go upstairs.
We’ll climb through 40,000 ft, sweep the wings back and push the F-111 towards Mach 2+ for the approximately 355 nm run towards Bathurst via Tamworth.
Bathurst is our cue to come back down to Earth.
Turning east, we’ll pass Echo Point and the Three Sisters, then use the Jamison Valley, Lake Burragorang and Warragamba Dam as our gateway into Western Sydney.
From there we’ll blast past Penrith before arriving at RAAF Base Richmond (YSRI) for a well-earned coffee break.
LEG 2 — Richmond to East Sale
YSRI → YMES | 627 nm
After the break, we’ll depart Richmond and follow the Hawkesbury River towards the coast.
We’ll make a quick coastal run past the cliffs of Northern Sydney before turning into Sydney Harbour to check out some of Australia’s most famous sights.
Then it’s back towards the coast before following the Illawarra Escarpment inland past Wollongong, continuing south towards Goulburn and the mighty Big Merino.
From there, it’s time to point the nose skyward once again.
We’ll climb above 40,000 ft for another Mach 2+ run, covering approximately 304 nm over Canberra and the Australian Alps before beginning our descent towards Melbourne from the north.
Once we’re back down in the weeds, we’ll make a quick dash along the Yarra River, past the Melbourne CBD, then head out over Albert Park and Phillip Island.
Our final destination is RAAF Base East Sale (YMES).
Suggested Aircraft
The GKS F-111 Aardvark is obviously the aircraft of choice.
Either version will work:
GKS F-111 — MSFS 2024 native version — preferred
GKS F-111 — MSFS 2020 native version — works fine in MSFS 2024 aside from a few minor annoyances
Don’t own the F-111? No problem.
Any modern jet warbird capable of Mach 2+ and 40,000 ft+ is welcome.
Some possibilities include:
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F-104 Starfighter
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F-4 Phantom
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F-14 Tomcat
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F-15 Eagle
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F-16 Falcon
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MiG-25 Foxbat
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MiG-29 Fulcrum
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Su-27 Flanker
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A-12 Archangel
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SR-71 Blackbird
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Mirage 2000C
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Panavia Tornado
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Eurofighter Typhoon
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F-22 Raptor
Just be aware that, aside from the A-12/SR-71 family, most alternatives aren’t likely to match the F-111’s endurance when we’re spending extended periods in full afterburner.
You may need in-flight refuelling or simply enable Unlimited Fuel in the Assistance menu.
Also, this won’t quite be our usual Wednesday night crank-'n-bank madness. The F-111 isn’t particularly manoeuvrable, so the route has been designed accordingly.
That doesn’t mean we’re going slowly. 
F-111 Pilot Notes
Flight Plan Import
The MSFS 2024-native F-111 can import flight plans from the Asobo EFB. Check the aircraft manual for instructions.
The manual also explains useful keybinds for functions including wing sweep and airbrakes. Setting these up before departure is highly recommended.
Fuel
Internal fuel is all you need.
The F-111 carries just over 5,000 gallons internally, which should comfortably handle the flight despite our extended full-afterburner sections.
For a little extra insurance, you can add the tanks inside the internal weapons bay for approximately another 550 gallons without the drag penalty of external tanks.
That also leaves a nice fat margin for anyone planning a few dump-and-burns along the way…
Wing Sweep
The F-111’s wings are continuously adjustable from approximately 16° to 70°, but these settings are particularly useful:
16° — Takeoff & Landing
The forward “oversweep” position. Use this only during takeoff and landing because it causes the wing glove to rotate into a high-drag configuration.
26° — Manoeuvring
Maximum normal forward sweep. This is the best setting for tighter sections of the route but shouldn’t be used for supersonic flight.
54° — Fast Low-Level Flight
A great compromise between speed and manoeuvrability. Ideal for our high-speed coastal and river runs and easily selected using the rearmost wing-sweep lockout switch.
70° — Maximum Speed
Full sweep. This is where you’ll want the wings for our high-altitude Mach 2+ runs.
Mach 2 Temperature Warning
While running above Mach 2, keep a close eye on the Total Temperature gauge.
The F-111 can only sustain temperatures above 153°C for five minutes (300 seconds).
Once 153°C is exceeded, the gauge begins counting down from 300 seconds. Drop back below 153°C and it will begin counting back up.
Maximum Total Temperature: 214°C
Don’t cook the Pig!
Suggested Scenery
None of the following is required, but these additions should make an already spectacular route even better.
Freeware
Redbaron601 has freeware scenery available for all three RAAF bases we’ll be visiting:
YAMB — Amberley RAAF Base Queensland Australia
YSRI — Richmond RAAF Base NSW Australia
YMES — East Sale RAAF Airport, Sale, Victoria – Australia
Payware
Orbx has excellent cityscape and landmark packs covering the major cities along our route:
Landmarks Brisbane City Pack
Landmarks Gold Coast
Cityscape Sydney
Landmarks Melbourne City Pack 2024
Join the Flight
Get the aircraft ready, check your wing-sweep controls, fill the tanks and prepare for more than 1,200 nautical miles of afterburners, low-level flying and Mach 2+ madness down Australia’s east coast.
Flight plans and communications are available through the Fly Massive Discord:
New pilots are welcome — jump into Discord, grab the flight plans and come fly with us.
Fly Together. Fly Massive.
