F-111 Joins Aviation Heritage Park

A restored F-111 Aardvark fighter-bomber that took part in the Operation El Dorado Canyon raid on Libya in 1986 is now on display at the Aviation Heritage Park in Bowling Green, Ky. A tractor towed the F-111 from the Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport where it underwent restoration to the heritage park on Sept. 29, reported the Bowling Green Daily News. The F-111 joined the heritage park’s F-4D Phantom II, F-9F Panther, and T-33A Shooting Star. AHP officials have nicknamed this F-111 “the Warhorse” for its long career in combat. It also served in the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, they said. “This aircraft has the highest number of combat sorties of any of her type,” states an AHP release. AHP officials acquired this retired F-111 from the Air Force’s aircraft boneyard in the Arizona desert. The disassembled aircraft arrived in October 2012 on several flatbed trailers at the airport. The restoration took thousands of man-hours to complete, according to AHP officials. (Aviation Heritage Park website.)