In the decades since my USAF service, the number from F-111 has remained a constant in my life. It turns up as a highway number, on receipts, as a basketball game score, seemingly everywhere. Here the aircraft is cleverly represented in its most feral state. The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark is a retired supersonic, medium-range, fighter-bomber. Production models of the F-111 had roles that included attack, strategic bombing, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare. During its service time it was flown from Cannon, Mountain Home, Nellis, Carlswell, Plattsburgh and Pease Air Force Bases. It also saw service in the UK at Upper Heyford and Lakenheath. It was flown ineffectively early in the Vietnam War, then later, with success out of Takhli AB in Thailand. Its name "Aardvark" comes from a long-nosed, insect-eating South African animal, in Afrikaans known as "earthpig."