Urban legends abound in the Air Force about doing unusual things in aircraft that the manufacturer (and the Air Force) never intended.  No, this doesn’t refer to things like rolling inverted in a tanker.  It’s like the ability to suck hard boiled eggs out of the sextant port in the C-135.  Seriously, who figured that out?

Another example is the zippo, a product of the F-111, a photo of which is below:

Photo credit Capt. Christy Stravolo

At some point, an F-111 aircrew member discovered that if they dumped fuel and lit the afterburner, they could trail an amazingly long roman candle behind them. 

These urban legends tend to be more prevalent about aircraft that are no longer in the inventory, either because they “don’t build’em like they used to,” or because the further you get from “first hand,” the further you get from reality.

Most C-135 variants have had the sextant port removed, and many -135s are being retired.  There are still a few aircrew around who remember the multiple uses of the sextant port (those that didn’t involve use for nagivation).

The F-111 Aardvark flew in a variety of configurations in the US Air Force before being retired in 1996, shortly after it successfully served in Operation Desert Storm.  It had originally been planned as a duel-service aircraft (much like the current F-35), but the Navy abandoned it in favor of the F-14.  While the F-111 carried the “F” designation, it was too heavy and had no maneuverability, making it far more akin to a high speed, long range bomber than a fighter aircraft.

The Australians, who are the only country that still fly the F-111 (and whose aircraft is featured in the photo above), call the zippo a “dump and burn,” a maneuver they still perform at airshows.

Supposedly, the F-111 was also the last fighter aircraft built with an ashtray.

To answer the inevitable questions: There is no indication that General Dynamics, the F-111 manufacturer, intended the zippo to be a “feature,” and there are no current military fighter aircraft with the (unclassified) capability to duplicate this flame thrower.