F-111C: The Pig singlet, navy blue

The General Dynamics F-111C (nicknamed "Pig") was a 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 included longer wings and a strengthened undercarriage. The F-111C was affectionately known as the "Pig" due to its long snout and terrain-following ability.

The F-111, with its variable sweep wing, advanced radar, military-rated after burning turbofan engines and self-contained escape module, was one of the most technically innovative designs seen amongst military aircraft. With its long-range and weapons-carrying capability, its avionics fit, allowing all-weather strike, and the terrain following radar for low-level penetration to the target, the F-111 was unique, and to date, no viable replacement has emerged. Its innovative swing-wing design allowed it to fly at a top speed of Mach 2.5, or two and a half times the speed of sound.

The F-111Cs gave the RAAF a powerful strike capability in the 1970s but were never used in combat. The aircraft underwent modernisation programs years later to improve their ability to penetrate hostile airspace. Despite this, by the 2000s, the F-111Cs were becoming outdated and expensive to maintain, leading to a decision to retire them in 2010.

A favourite at air displays for decades until its retirement in 2010, it doesn't get more iconic than an F-111 dump and burn.

The design also features the translation of the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) motto, ‘Per Adua Ad Astra’. The original motto is derived from Sir Henry Rider Haggard’s well-known novel, The People of the Mist. On 15 March 1913, this motto was approved for the Royal Flying Corps and in 1929, for the RAAF. While a specific record of the translation doesn’t exist, this is widely believed to translate to ‘Through Adversity to the Stars’ or ‘Through Struggle to the Stars’.

In Australian military and aviation circles for many decades it was translated and referred to as ‘Through Adversity to the Stars’. However, the official Air Force translation was signed off as ‘Through Struggle to the Stars’ in 2002 when the RAAF Memorial in Canberra was being redeveloped.