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Posted: 10/7/2011 9:29:20 AM EDT
[#1]
Quoted:
Video of G models taking off and landing at Castle AFB in the early 1990s:  http://youtu.be/P76fEoUOjsUMy old base.....the ground shaking thunder of engine tests were amazing |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 9:32:21 AM EDT
[#2]
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Posted: 10/7/2011 9:33:03 AM EDT
[#3]
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Posted: 10/7/2011 9:33:59 AM EDT
[#4]
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Posted: 10/7/2011 9:40:58 AM EDT
[#5]
Quoted:
Long time buddy of mine was at Khe Sanh. During the long fight the Marines called in CAS from B-52s to whack the Gomers who were extending their trench lines too damn close to the perimeter. The Buffs dropped hundreds of bombs right on top of the BGs, literally blowing the trenches away and pockmarking the landscape. They were "Arc Light" missions. IIRC, the bombers each carried something like 100 bombs. The AF guys were damn accurate for once. They didn't kill any Marines but they destroyed entire regiments of NVA troops. My bud said that after the strikes, the survivors would stumble out of their holes and wander around, completely out of it from the concussion. Easy rifle targets for the Grunts. 
Best bomber ever. The B-52D, which was used extensively in Vietnam, held 108 500# bombs. Watch this starting at about 1:30, and imagine a whole formation of these 
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Posted: 10/7/2011 9:44:00 AM EDT
[#6]
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Posted: 10/7/2011 9:45:10 AM EDT
[#7]
This thread is incredibly easy to masterbate to...
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Posted: 10/7/2011 10:00:29 AM EDT
[#8]
I used to watch this documentary show called "Wings" (the early version) when it came on late at night while I was living in NM. I watched an episode on the B-52 one night. It showed film from inside the cockpit of a crew on a bombing mission over North Vietnam. Even though the show never said anything, the pilots voice had to be that of Jimmy Stewart's-it was unmistakable.
My BIL-an AF officer-told me Gen. Stewart (USAFR) flew combat missions over Vietnam for his "annual training". Can you imagine coming home from that? "How was your two-week camp, honey?" "Ah, just fine. We killed a lot of NVA." |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 10:00:53 AM EDT
[#9]
Quoted: Quoted: Long time buddy of mine was at Khe Sanh. During the long fight the Marines called in CAS from B-52s to whack the Gomers who were extending their trench lines too damn close to the perimeter. The Buffs dropped hundreds of bombs right on top of the BGs, literally blowing the trenches away and pockmarking the landscape. They were "Arc Light" missions. IIRC, the bombers each carried something like 100 bombs. The AF guys were damn accurate for once. They didn't kill any Marines but they destroyed entire regiments of NVA troops. My bud said that after the strikes, the survivors would stumble out of their holes and wander around, completely out of it from the concussion. Easy rifle targets for the Grunts. Best bomber ever. The B-52D, which was used extensively in Vietnam, held 108 500# bombs. Watch this starting at about 1:30, and imagine a whole formation of these http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuS2Tz74y4IPretty cool. During the Arc Light missions the bombers would come in so high (30kft?) that the enemy had no idea they were approaching. The Marines did though.  The planes would release their bombs more slowly than in the low altitude video. That way each 3-plane element could literally cover thousands of yards of ground. My bud said the ground shook like crazy. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 10:02:44 AM EDT
[#10]
Quoted:
Incredible airplane. Loaded with a rotary SRAM launchers (think of it like a revolver cylinder loaded with nuclear missiles), the B52 would literally blast its way through Soviet airspace to deliver the goods. I'll never forget being with my parents driving through AZ (IIRC) in the early '80, and we observed a section of two B52s flying at 500' and below. They crossed the highway right in front of us and it was an awesome sight. While I was in college, got to talking to a fellow that was a former USAF crew chief for B52s. I asked him if he ever rode in one as the CC. He said the B52 had been upgraded so many times with new electronics there wasn't much room for the CCs if they wanted to hop along. There's a perfectly empty seat where the gunner used to ride. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 10:05:31 AM EDT
[#11]
Quoted:
B-52: Great airplane, or greatest airplane? 
Quoted:
Potential operational lifespan of 90 years!!! Someday, a B52 pilot could say, "my great- great-grandfather used to fly this very aircraft."  There's one case of three generations of men on the same jet. B52: M1911 Of The Sky 
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Posted: 10/7/2011 10:08:41 AM EDT
[#12]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Long time buddy of mine was at Khe Sanh. During the long fight the Marines called in CAS from B-52s to whack the Gomers who were extending their trench lines too damn close to the perimeter. The Buffs dropped hundreds of bombs right on top of the BGs, literally blowing the trenches away and pockmarking the landscape. They were "Arc Light" missions. IIRC, the bombers each carried something like 100 bombs. The AF guys were damn accurate for once. They didn't kill any Marines but they destroyed entire regiments of NVA troops. My bud said that after the strikes, the survivors would stumble out of their holes and wander around, completely out of it from the concussion. Easy rifle targets for the Grunts.
Best bomber ever. The B-52D, which was used extensively in Vietnam, held 108 500# bombs. Watch this starting at about 1:30, and imagine a whole formation of these http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuS2Tz74y4IPretty cool. During the Arc Light missions the bombers would come in so high (30kft?) that the enemy had no idea they were approaching. The Marines did though.
The planes would release their bombs more slowly than in the low altitude video. That way each 3-plane element could literally cover thousands of yards of ground. My bud said the ground shook like crazy. Much higher than 30k. The BUFF to this day flies at an odd angle down low because of the angle of incidence their wings have. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 10:21:07 AM EDT
[#13]
Quoted:
Quoted:
It's an older video, and a tragedy, but it's still very impressive how manuverable they are, the turn before the crash it looks like he's banked about 60 degrees cutting a pretty tight turn. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E21byPXR1ek It's impressive if you don't know that the plane was not meant to be flown like that and that the pilot at the controls was a complete bag of shit. 
WHAT EXACTLY WAS THAT DUMB FUCK TRYING TO DO!!?!!?? Jesus christ any one can see that air craft could not turn in that radius. was he showing off? or just incompetent? i cant belive the later or he wouldn't be in the pilot seat. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 10:24:22 AM EDT
[#14]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Video of G models taking off and landing at Castle AFB in the early 1990s: http://youtu.be/P76fEoUOjsUI lived right under the approach to CAFB during this time. I probably flew right over your house a few times. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 10:26:52 AM EDT
[#15]
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Posted: 10/7/2011 10:29:33 AM EDT
[#16]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
It's an older video, and a tragedy, but it's still very impressive how manuverable they are, the turn before the crash it looks like he's banked about 60 degrees cutting a pretty tight turn. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E21byPXR1ek It's impressive if you don't know that the plane was not meant to be flown like that and that the pilot at the controls was a complete bag of shit.
WHAT EXACTLY WAS THAT DUMB FUCK TRYING TO DO!!?!!?? Jesus christ any one can see that air craft could not turn in that radius. was he showing off? or just incompetent? i cant belive the later or he wouldn't be in the pilot seat. Practicing for an air show. Happened about two weeks before I reported for duty at Fairchild. Bud Holland. Lots of people refused to fly with him. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 10:34:36 AM EDT
[#17]
Always thought it was Big Ugly Fat Fucker.
Guess I was mistaken. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 11:14:38 AM EDT
[#18]
Quoted: It wants its belly scratched. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 11:23:36 AM EDT
[#19]
The USAF's Newport Research Facility. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 12:31:28 PM EDT
[#20]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
It's an older video, and a tragedy, but it's still very impressive how manuverable they are, the turn before the crash it looks like he's banked about 60 degrees cutting a pretty tight turn. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E21byPXR1ek It's impressive if you don't know that the plane was not meant to be flown like that and that the pilot at the controls was a complete bag of shit.
WHAT EXACTLY WAS THAT DUMB FUCK TRYING TO DO!!?!!?? Jesus christ any one can see that air craft could not turn in that radius. was he showing off? or just incompetent? i cant belive the later or he wouldn't be in the pilot seat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Fairchild_Air_Force_Base_B-52_crash Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 12:38:23 PM EDT
[#21]
Quoted:
Always thought it was Big Ugly Fat Fucker. Guess I was mistaken. That's what her crews call her. But as it turns out the public doesn't want its warriors to swear. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 12:40:27 PM EDT
[#22]
Quoted: the only reason the B52 is still around is because we wont spend the money to replace it. same for the 135, T38s, C5's etc, etcQuoted: Quoted: Too bad Dave-A isn't here to tell us about all of the B-52's shortcomings.  I'm here. It's old. There's probably a reason the airlines aren't using airplanes built in the 50s anymore. I love this argument, "it's old". Do you have any idea how old our tanker fleet (KC-135) is? Do you know when the oldest of the B-52H models (the only model left in service) was built? C-130's? C-5's? T-38's?  |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 12:44:55 PM EDT
[#23]
OK. You got me. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 12:58:03 PM EDT
[#24]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Always thought it was Big Ugly Fat Fucker. Guess I was mistaken. That's what her crews call her. But as it turns out the public doesn't want its warriors to swear. I heard the Fella line until I was about 10 or so but then became wise to the true meaning. My father flew BUFFs in the 1970's. He flew 7 missions over Vietnam and then the war ended. It was kind of funny, he had one of those mission boony hats with the embroidery on it. Had something like C-7A - 56, KC-135 - 225, B-52 - 7. But he would never exaggerate about it. He started out in C-7s, went to KC-135s and then to B-52s. We lived at Mather and he would have to go sit alert either there or at Minot, ND. One time he brought us back a family of ground squirrels. I think he flew D models at the time. They had camo tops with light gray bottoms at the time. They were very loud and smokey then. We lived in base housing on the back side of the runway, so they were a constant fixture. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 12:59:15 PM EDT
[#25]
The wing spars on the BUFF did crack. Just like the ones on the C-141. The BUFF's were the guinea pigs for the boron wing box repair patches they applied to the C-141 fleet.
And that video of the air show crash... the pilot was a hot dog. The wing commander forbade anyone else but him from flying with him. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:00:44 PM EDT
[#26]
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:03:33 PM EDT
[#27]
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:12:56 PM EDT
[#28]
Sweet pic! Not to intrude on the BUFF love, but tell me more about that pic. The E-2 is JASDF I guess, but what is between the EA-6's and the F-16's? What country? Thanks. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:16:20 PM EDT
[#29]
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:23:44 PM EDT
[#30]
Quoted: Sweet pic! Not to intrude on the BUFF love, but tell me more about that pic. The E-2 is JASDF I guess, but what is between the EA-6's and the F-16's? What country? Thanks. The two inboard jets are Japanese F-2s from JASDF 6th TFS. The two just inboard of the EA-6Bs are F-16s from the 18th Aggressor Squadron. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:25:19 PM EDT
[#31]
...And still in service.
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:32:45 PM EDT
[#32]
Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: A Lovely aircraft, but will probably need to be reengined or replaced soon. Really theres no reason why we couldn't use a 777 derivitave as a bomb truck. You're right, there's no reason, but there are thousands upon thousands of reasons that make that close enough to impossible. If you want to drop little bitty bombs out of vertical racks, I suppose something could be cobbled up. But if you want a big 'ol bomb bay with doors, a new fuselage is required. Plus everything else before the project was flying. Jimmy Carter also had the dumb idea of making a bomb truck out of a 747. That would make every 747 a potential threat to our enemies, not a good idea. I believe that any downsides have to be balanced against the awesomeness that is inherent in a 747 shitting nuclear-tipped cruise missiles:  |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:34:56 PM EDT
[#33]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Classic D-model, natural metal over Insignia White. Beautiful. Bonus points for four wing-mounted nukes. Look at the way the wings flex under a load while in flight (contrast this with one sitting on the tarmac). What I find amazing is that the wing spars don't crack with all that flexing over time. The engineers at Boeing were at the top of their form. Not bad for a strategic bomber designed over a weekend in a hotel room. I once read that during flight stress testing the wings of a B-52 were bent upward until the wing tips almost touched over the top of the plane.....and they didn't break. 
Awesome bird. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:36:16 PM EDT
[#34]
Didn't he have a generals daughter on board for the hot dogging?
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:36:29 PM EDT
[#35]
Quoted: I once read that during flight stress testing the wings of a B-52 were bent upward until the wing tips almost touched over the top of the plane.....and they didn't break. Awesome bird. I think that statement is saddled with a good amount of hyperbole. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:40:57 PM EDT
[#36]
Quoted: Didn't he have a generals daughter on board for the hot dogging? No. There was a bird-Colonel on board as a Safety Observer. The flight was supposed to be a celebratory final flight before his retirement. The wife and children of the co-pilot, Lt.Col. McGeehan, were at home but saw the crash from their back yard. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:42:27 PM EDT
[#37]
Deployment NAF Kadena, 1978. B-52s parked all over the place due to a typhoon. We fell in for quarters. Just as the Skipper started to speak the 52s started taking off to go home. One right after another with what was obviously minimum interval. After the third one took off the skipper took the next moment of quiet to to call us all to attention about face and put us back at ease. After about 10 minutes or so the last one finally took off.
The Skipper called us back to attention and about faced us. He laughed and asked "How would you like to be on the receiving end of s strike launch like that?" The B-52 has to be the most ungainly aircraft during the takeoff process ever. The don't take off so much as the wing bends so far up and then, boing, they kind of pogo up into the air. Next to having a Blue Angel do a take off pass about 50 feet above me as I was doing airfield security at the Moffett airshow, its one of my more memorable things from my days of Naval Aviation. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:48:22 PM EDT
[#38]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Sweet pic! Not to intrude on the BUFF love, but tell me more about that pic. The E-2 is JASDF I guess, but what is between the EA-6's and the F-16's? What country? Thanks. The two inboard jets are Japanese F-2s from JASDF 6th TFS. The two just inboard of the EA-6Bs are F-16s from the 18th Aggressor Squadron. Thanks! |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:49:43 PM EDT
[#39]
Quoted:
Quoted:
I once read that during flight stress testing the wings of a B-52 were bent upward until the wing tips almost touched over the top of the plane.....and they didn't break.
Awesome bird. I think that statement is saddled with a good amount of hyperbole. Meh....I could see it happening.....but I bet when the pressure was released the wings never returned to normal, and the aircraft was a write-off. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:54:38 PM EDT
[#40]
Quoted: Meh....I could see it happening.....but I bet when the pressure was released the wings never returned to normal, and the aircraft was a write-off. From http://www.faqs.org/docs/air/avb52_1.html: The wings were thick, with a chord (ratio of cross-sectional height to width) of 15% at the root, tapering to 8% in the outer wing. They could flex from 3 meters (10 feet) down to 6.7 meters (22 feet) up. The heavy engines helped dampen wing flutter. There were two oversized "Fowler-type" flaps –– extending well behind the trailing edge of each wing –– with an aileron between the two flaps, plus a row of spoilers on top of the wing. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:56:53 PM EDT
[#41]
Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I once read that during flight stress testing the wings of a B-52 were bent upward until the wing tips almost touched over the top of the plane.....and they didn't break. Awesome bird. I think that statement is saddled with a good amount of hyperbole. Meh....I could see it happening.....but I bet when the pressure was released the wings never returned to normal, and the aircraft was a write-off. Not even close, here's a 787 under test which has a super flexy composite wing.  |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 1:58:07 PM EDT
[#42]
For reference, here's what a Boeing 787 structural test article looks like with its wings flexed at about 25' of tip deflection.
 ETA: Hivemind. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 2:04:01 PM EDT
[#43]
My uncle:
http://tinyurl.com/3ksgzfj http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/Above––Beyond-Fire-and-Ice.html On Tuesday, February 11, 1958, the temperature at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota was 15 degrees below zero. I was an electronic countermeasures officer; my crew was making its first flight as a combat-ready crew, with no instructors on board. But I remember the day for a far more significant, and much sadder, reason... |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 2:06:26 PM EDT
[#44]
Awesome bird. Recently got to see 2 B-52's from Barksdale drop 9 inert bombs a piece at the Smokey Hill ANG base open house outside Salina Kansas back in August! I definitely wouldn't want to be the enemy and see these on the horizon. If my lazy brother ever gets the video uploaded I will post video along with the A-10's video.
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Posted: 10/7/2011 2:22:32 PM EDT
[#45]
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Posted: 10/7/2011 2:33:03 PM EDT
[#46]
Quoted: My uncle: http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/Above––Beyond-Fire-and-Ice.html On Tuesday, February 11, 1958, the temperature at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota was 15 degrees below zero. I was an electronic countermeasures officer; my crew was making its first flight as a combat-ready crew, with no instructors on board. But I remember the day for a far more significant, and much sadder, reason... Note: This link is affected by the ARFcom bug that misinterprets the double-dash that is between the words "Above" and "Beyond". You'll have to copy the link, then paste it into your browser's address bar, and replace all the %blah%blah stuff with - - (no space between the dashes). Or use this: http://tinyurl.com/3ksgzfj Great article, by the way! Thanks for sharing your uncle's story!
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Posted: 10/7/2011 3:16:19 PM EDT
[#47]
Quoted: Pretty cool. During the Arc Light missions the bombers would come in so high (30kft?) that the enemy had no idea they were approaching. The Marines did though. The planes would release their bombs more slowly than in the low altitude video. That way each 3-plane element could literally cover thousands of yards of ground. My bud said the ground shook like crazy. I read somewhere that if you superimposed an Arc Light mission onto Washington DC, it would crate the entire area from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol Building including the Museums on both sides of the Mall. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 3:25:22 PM EDT
[#48]
Quoted:
For reference, here's what a Boeing 787 structural test article looks like with its wings flexed at about 25' of tip deflection. http://www.ar15.com/media/viewFile.html?i=33692 ETA: Hivemind.
I stand corrected. 
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Posted: 10/7/2011 3:39:50 PM EDT
[#49]
I can pretty much guarantee you that I fixed that BUFF when it was in Guam. Those Japanese F-2's just left Guam and the Earthquake struck probably a week after. Quoted:
Quoted:
Incredible airplane. Loaded with a rotary SRAM launchers (think of it like a revolver cylinder loaded with nuclear missiles), the B52 would literally blast its way through Soviet airspace to deliver the goods. I'll never forget being with my parents driving through AZ (IIRC) in the early '80, and we observed a section of two B52s flying at 500' and below. They crossed the highway right in front of us and it was an awesome sight. While I was in college, got to talking to a fellow that was a former USAF crew chief for B52s. I asked him if he ever rode in one as the CC. He said the B52 had been upgraded so many times with new electronics there wasn't much room for the CCs if they wanted to hop along. There's a perfectly empty seat where the gunner used to ride. There's 10 seats total. They offered us a bunch of rides while we were in Guam. Not to many takers, myself included. |
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Posted: 10/7/2011 3:48:58 PM EDT
[#50]
Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Too bad Dave-A isn't here to tell us about all of the B-52's shortcomings. I'm here. It's old. There's probably a reason the airlines aren't using airplanes built in the 50s anymore. I love this argument, "it's old". Do you have any idea how old our tanker fleet (KC-135) is? Do you know when the oldest of the B-52H models (the only model left in service) was built? C-130's? C-5's? T-38's? Our youngest jet here at Minot is 61-040. The oldest is 60-004. When I was at RAF Mildenhall our oldest KC-135R was 57-2605 aka "Too sick to fly". To the guy who was talking about cracking wing spars. We have tons of cracks on this old pig. Depot keeps patching them up. If I remember right the flex range of the wings is 20 feet. |
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