I was a b52 H model pilot at Minot AFB back in the 70s....i was 26 when I upgraded to the left seat, I'm now 65....I see not a lot has changed....nice video...thank you for your service
tippersteffi1 I probably ran one of the simulators you trained in, either at Minot (railcar mounted on TDY) or at Castle back then and left the service in '73. Sounds like you flew the H-model more in the mid-70's. If I'm right, you missed all the fun dodging SAMs in D-models. Thank you also, for your service!
tippersteffi1 The Few The Proud & SAC 5th Heavy Bomb Wing BUFF Nuke Driver Cheers and Thank You For Your Service .. Had the unique experience to kiss the tarmac after stepping back over the red line at Why Not Minot LOL
Remember hearing about the '52 at Wurtsmith where at around 300 feet # 3 pylon blew off the aircraft? # 4 ingested debris, and IT shut down. No flaps, either! Flew around Lake Huron for about 12 hours, burning fuel. Landed with right full rudder and no flaps. Bruce K. Holloway, CIC of SAC, flew up next day from SAC HQ and awarded the pilot (a former enlisted airman) a DFC. Late 60's, if I remember correctly.
There is really nothing more incredible in my opinion than the sounds of these engines The fact that they can go from cold to airborne within minutes it’s just absolutely incredible!! Those twin pods just beautiful
@@terryvarta9306 it's also still an excellent weapon system. it has the highest mission ready rates and has the largest payload capacity of any bomber in our inventory. there has been some talk of replacing the aging power-plants with something more modern. the same airframe could do the same job with 4 much more modern and fuel efficient engines.
Had a look on the GE website and it looks like both their options seem good: The CF34-10 engines have a decent BPR (bypass-ratio) for heavy lifting at 5.4:1 which helps it pack a pretty good takeoff thrust of 20,360 pounds. It also guzzles a lot of gas too, but given that it's gotta pull a lot of plane along that's sort of to be expected. As well as that, it comes with a load of new electrical redundancy systems on board, very useful on a plane like that. That engine was based also off the CFM56 itself, and that family of engines has been going strong for ages. It would definitely be a very reliable engine. Option 2 is a bit of a record breaker, as GE are quick to point out, saying that it can travel a range of 8152 nautical miles. Plus, the lower specific fuel consumption and incredibly high overall pressure ratio would allow this engine to take a B-52 pretty much anywhere they wanted to go. It does, however, have a slightly higher BPR of 5.8:1, which is partly what helps with efficiency and also noise reduction, although does mean that the maximum thrust at takeoff is slightly lower at 18,900 pounds. This is still enough to make the B-52 fly though. This engine also comes with full "FADEC" or Full Authority Digital Engine Control, which would be a step up from even the other engine in terms of redundancy and helping to spot errors and possible malfunctions before they even happen. My personal opinion: - add the Passenger engines. They seem to be the slightly better option. - add to the stealth navigation system they have currently, where you use stars to navigate, and integrate the navigation system used on the B2 and (probably, but hey it's so highly classified literally nobody, not even the President knows) the B21 that allows it to take a photo of the ground beneath it and cross reference that with what is essentially a more advanced google maps to find its location (it might not be able to use GPS; satellites could be gone.) To find an accurate position. But, if the system is damaged then the current system is tried and tested for at least 5000 years. Probably more like 50,000. - i put something here about AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar here but it seems like that's already going on with upgrades. It's a sort of phased array (a kind of array similar to the ones now being used with 5g systems, where lots of transponders send a signal in the same direction to increase the amount of "radar" that goes in that direction and minimise the number of outside sources. Like shining 5 torches at the same thing.) That would be very good at spotting missiles and threats to the aircraft, and tracking them. Much more advanced than the current systems. But that said, it also appears that the B21, the secret successor to the B2, could also be really effective here. The new planes will be able to (probably? Nobody really knows.) Fly higher and faster than the older B2s, especially since the B2s were designed to fly slightly lower than they really should. (Actually they were re-designed. It cost a billion dollars and 2 years setback. THEN they realised it was a bad idea.) The only other thing we know about the B21though is that about 100 are gonna be built, they might be vaguely triangle-shaped, and also may or may not be a plane that may or may not be able to fly. (jk although with how much they keep this under wraps we really don't know anything.)
@Bernard de Fontaines I've never heard of that one - and as far as I'm aware, there aren't even any engines that can get close to that speed, at least at normal altitudes. The fastest thing we can get right now is the Russian Zircon missile, which goes at 5300mph (but as I'm from the UK I'd call it 8500km/h), or about Mach 7. That's about twice the speed of the SR71 Blackbird, the fastest plane ever made. it does this through a two-stage propulsion system, with the first stage getting it to Mach 1 and the second stage accelerating it further using a ramjet. (ramjets have to be going at a certain speed to actually work, otherwise the oblique shockwaves wouldn't form in the first place and it would give too much air to the engine) . If we were to accelerate a bomber to Mach 12 to 15, it would need to be much more advanced than this - with technology we do not currently have. However. That is all assuming it flies within the height limits of a conventional bomber, or about 50,000ft (15km) . A bomber at higher altitudes, such as the ones you suggested, would definitely be out of the atmosphere, and thus be able to accelerate to much higher speeds. As well as that, a bomber at 120 miles (193km) would not even really need to carry bombs, simply firing a metal rod down at the Earth with enough velocity from that altitude could already be devastating, and would have little to no long lasting effects, unlike some conventional explosives. Because of this, I can see exactly why this would be attractive for military development; although this does not really cover the issues, which I'll say here: - You will need to use rocket engines - the very thing that is allowing you to speed up this much is also the thing that will cause you to become much less fuel efficient. No air means you will need rocket engines, and also you will need to carry extra oxygen so they can burn. - The overall payload of this aircraft will become much less than any other bomber. You can see this with the U2 spy plane that flew at comparable altitudes, and it can only carry a payload of about 2200kg (5000Ib), which is peanuts compared to the 32000kg of the B52. - Especially with modern radar phased arrays, this will actually make the plane easier to detect (if the plane is flying at lower altitudes, then the curve of the Earth actually protects it from being detected with radar or other detection). Flying at higher altitudes means this plane will be seen long before it can drop anything. - The project would have a huge cost - while the US has a huge military budget, this system simply would not work because it would take up a significant chunk of the military budget, while not really providing anything more than we already have. However! There is a different super-secret project, the B-21. it is rumoured to be the successor to the B-2 stealth bomber, and might fly much higher and faster than the B-2, although not quite that high or fast. I do say "might", however, as nobody really knows if it will. The B-52-G, for instance, was actually slower than the B-52 due to the upgraded radar jamming systems actually making it less aerodynamic! - so all we can guess right now is that it is a plane and it may... ..or may not be able to fly, and probably looks somewhat like a B-2.
@@rayheatley9910- I was an Aerial Combat Documentary Photographer at U-tapao RTAFB in Thailand 1967/68 and I flew on lots of B-52 and KC-135 Missions over North and South Vietnam during those years...and I took a bunch of those pictures (mostly F4s) on those flights ! (Pre Woke) *USAF Pilots were the very best the World had to offer !*
Take a look inside a B-52 Stratofortress cockpit during takeoff, flying, and landing operations. See what it's like to pilot this 60 year old, long range bomber.
Gung Ho Vids A buddy of mine who was in my High School Graduating Class of 1975 went to the Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs. At our 10 year reunion in 1985 he was a Captain and a SAC Pilot in a B52 that was built in the same year as we were born (1957). I learned a lot about SAC from him and I've been a DoD employee at an Aerospace Plant for the last 35 years. He left SAC after a few years and went from the USAF to the Army. Last time I saw him he was a Cobra Pilot in North Germany. He said that flying the B52 was like driving a long haul truck and being on constant alert was both monotonous and sometimes terrifying if an aerial refueling went "bad". I don't think most people know how hard and arduous a B52 crewman has it. It's sure not like driving a milk truck as a lot of people think... Thanks for posting the great vids!
+randy109 Hi! I too was a DoD employee over 30 years too. I worked for DoD as well as all the branches of military. Lots of time at Air Force Systems Command, AFPRO DET plants, (like you), DLA, DCAA, FAA etc, (total military and DoD=38 years) Retired now, so much respects to you. Take care.
I was at Shady J from 75 to 79. B-52s and F-4s, all day long. We even posted signs that inform you if you drive your POV past this point your paint will be cracked…retired in ‘94 from Wright-Pat. Many thanks to our men and women who have served in the past and all active duty personnel today!! Gods speed!!
It looks so comfy in there.Idk why but the design of the cockpit windows and all the exposed bolts around the window frames plus all the analog instruments give it a very spaceship feeling.
I was a D model crew chief in the 70s at AAFB Guam. Spent a lot of time on, in, under and around the plane... but I still get goose bumps when I watch this video. A little teary sometimes too, I am 65 now and proud to say I helped to keep the BUFFs flying.
my brother was a crew chief on a B52 from the mid 70s till the late 80s. in 78 i joined him at ELLSWORTH AFB S.DAKOTA. i was a cop working out in the missile field which gave me a 3 day on 6 day off schedule. many a time during my off period i would go out with my brother (ssgt. john hayley) to work with him on his assigned bird (tail number 1016) i grew to love that big ugly flyin f--ker as we referred it to. once i was given the honors of running the engines up. my god the power those planes have! i was pushing on the brake peddle as hard as i could as that entire plane was shaking and shuddering as if it were a toy in a dogs mouth being slung from side to side and up and down. as long as i live (im 64 now) i will always look back on that experience as one of the greatest in my life. my brother sadly passed away back in 2015 from a diabetic coma but i think that was the closest we have ever been. to whom ever cares for 1016 today, please give her a pat next to the crew chiefs tag on its body n tell her it was from john n his lil brother wes.
My father-in-law flew 29 missions in a B-17. When he retired to Fla a bunch of 52's where at some airfield near by. He packed up his son( my husband) and 3 of his grandsons to see them. Parked near by was a B-!7. What he didn't know was my husband paid for the 5 of them to take a ride in the 17. A few tears later and and the flight of his life they landed. They went to see the 52. Til the day he died he would always say "How in the hell does that thing get off the ground fully loaded". He told me the engine of a 52 is bigger than the 17. I am not sure if he is right but I will believe him. My son's are adults and found this video and showed me. I so miss that brave father-in-law of mine. Thanks for this video and all of you who flew them.
dbn52 That's a great story. The B-17 is an historic WWII bomber that helped win the war with Germany, and was crewed by very brave men. The casualty rate of B-17 crews was high, a lot of them were shot down and lost, thus the bravery... the men knew what they were getting into when they flew a mission. But they went into combat nonetheless. You should be proud of your Father-In-Law. I am, and thanks for your comment.
I retired at Barksdale in 1982. Sitting up front in this video for takeoff and the incredible noise level reminds me of some 4000 hours in the old girl, plus some 160 missions in SEA. Wouldn't have missed any of it for the world.
Great video. I was born at Barksdale AFB in 1957. My wife works in the support SQD on base at this time. I seen these big Birds most everyday flying over us where I work. Always wondered about the Pilots view, as I only see the ground view. God Bless the military men and women that make this country GREAT.......SSG Jack Boren
Having worked on B-52 C/C/D/F/G mODELS DuRNG MY TOUR IN SAC I learned a great deal about its capabilities. I loved every minute of my 3 yrs with SAC. A demanding aircraft for maintenance perfection. But Fun as well. Comment: Dr Strangelove's bomb ride was on and ARC 65 HF Radio!! That was fun watching it as that was my favorite radio at the time to work on. It was fully capable across the amateur frequencies as well.
I was a crew chief on F-4s while in the USAF and several years ago got to go inside a B-52 at Ocaeana NAS Virginia. wow....what an aircraft. An amazingly small cockpit area for such a big aircraft. While stationed in England, I also got to go inside a Vulcan bomber....another flying legend
I betcha you found the Vulcan Cockpit a tight squeeze compared with the luxury of freedom to move in the B52 cockpit. I was in the RAF and was fortunate enough to get a flight in this magnificent aircraft while the B52s were in England for competition against our Victor Bombers (converted to air-to-air refueler) in the mid - late 1970s. One of the best aircraft I've had the privilege to fly in thanks to the USAF.
@@trfmamurphy9885 Yes sir, the Vulcan was a real tight squeeze. :) The Vulcan was a beautiful aircraft. While stationed in England, I watched them do touch-and-goes several times.
They may be aging, but they're still proud beautiful birds. I enjoy visiting the B-52 Memorial Park at Orlando International where you can walk around and underneath one and actually touch it. This one served in Vietnam in its day.
98cebu I was working contraction outdoors, Conway rd when they flew that beast in for the last time. Did a fly by, all eight roaring! What a beautiful sound!
This sweet old bird is as old as I am. And still does her job. Boeing did it again, just like the B-17. Great design!!! Earlier today I saw a C-130 fly over town. Cool Beans!!!!!!!!!!!!
The only thing that comes to mind, is WOW, what a monstrously big bird!!! It eats up a lot of runway to get airborne! I saw one take off for real many years ago, it was one of the thrills of my life, my heart was pounding as I watched! I'm a GA pilot but I can't begin to imagine that kind of aircraft in my hands! The other aviation thrill I had was a flight on the Concorde in 1974, a truly stellar experience. But watching that Superfortress take off was the other big thrill. Thank you for letting us feel a little bit of what it would be like in the cockpit of that incredible aircraft!
I was part of the mighty 96th BMS at Barksdale AFB, LA.. Hated the extreme heat there, but otherwise loved the place! Spent 11 of my 21 years there... Was initially part of the opening of the new SQDRN 11th, then moved onto the 96th BMS, and then onto the 20 BMS when I retired there at Barksdale, Louisiana... Logged at least over 5000 flying hours with the numerous B-52's there... Was and will always be a flying Crew Chief, or as we like to call ourselves, "Crew Dawgs"
I grew up around these planes, and I still LOVE the sound of their engines. My dad was a navigator in B-52's. After Dad's flying days were over, we lived on Barksdale AFB where he worked in a building without windows and played nuclear war games all day. I LOVED that base, loved my house, directly across from the tennis courts and close to the Officer's Club and BIG pool.
Hey my dad was a navigator for B-52’s as well. He was at Mather AFB in the SAC squadron. We could hear the engines running all the time day or night in the early mid-60’s. it was the life to live on base. And the Air Shows. We were Air Force Brats. Great memories. This is great to see what my dad saw when he was flying in this huge bird.
A childhood friend of mine flew BUFFs for years out of Barksdale AFB in either the late 00s or early 2010s. R.I.P. Captain Paul "Stuck" Barbour. When my dad was at Minot AFB in the 70s, he said they'd hear the B-52s all the time and that it was hard to get work done😅
I was crew chief during operation Arc Light 68 & 69 tdy to Guam from Westover AFB. Actually got to sit a few missions over Nam. Loved this aircraft. My Buff was a D model.
VIETNAMVET Katz I spent 18 mos. to the day! at Andersen. Shipped out to ZI on 11-1-70. Was an OMS guy for some time on the D-series Model. I still remember the numbers on those tip tanks: 100, 067, 066, 103, 677, 699, 601, etc, etc. Yes, they were old already, they had many issues...but overall: what a magnificent aircraft. I just turned 70 this month, and the BUFF will always be my FAVORITE airplane. Towards the last 6 months in Guam, I became a Crew Chief as a lot of Airmen were going back home on "early outs". Great memories!!! REF
Great video! I saw the B-52's when I attended my first air show with my dad at Rickenbacker (then Lockbourne) AFB in Cols, OH in 1956. The Blue Angels were on the same program! Talk about a day never forgotten! I'm not sure if Rickenbacker has and 52's there today, but there something out there. Thanks for posting!
Not sure what all was stationed there, but we saw the tankers, B47, B52, C130 (or some variants) some fighters and the Angles that day. I know they did refueling training there at some point, as a friend of my dad's was stationed there. And we used to see ships from Wright Pat coming in too. What I do know is that it was an amazing time to be a kid! When I was in my teens, I used to play music at Air Haven for base social events. Being on the base at night was a very cool thing for me. Always felt like something was going to happen any minute!
Th3uNn3rV3d I would say the USAF got its money's worth on the B-52. I grew up during the Vietnam war, about 4 miles south of an airbase. I must have watched 15-20 B-52s a day fly right over our house. That was back in the days when kids mostly played outside. We got used to the roar - great memories.
+Th3uNn3rV3d I was stationed at March AFB in 1970/71, if that's what you mean. There were several other bases that started with an M, Mather for one. Which one were you near? March was 22nd Bomb Wing Headquarters. Back then it was Strategic Air Command that flew the bombers. On the headquarters building was a sign "Peace Is Our Profession". One of our pilots had his flight jacket embroidered with that on the back and below it in parenthesis he had them put "War Is Just a Hobby".
+Th3uNn3rV3d Whats up Fire Dawg! I was at Minot from 97-99, I think I was on B Shift with TSgt Richard as AC. I had some good times there. I wish I would have stayed to see the New Station.... I PCS to Honduras in March of 99
LOVE this plane and its power. Every soldier loves to look up and see this BEAST, every fanatical looney nutcase gets ready to die when its near. God Bless America !
I was a crew chief on the B-52 H model at Ellsworth AFB . South Dakota 1981-1985. I was crew chief on two tail numbers 0007 And 0012 . H models have turbo fans made by Pratt and Whitney TF-33 They had to be logged in and their I D engine kept in the 781 Forms . I didn’t realized that so much of the plane got painted the gray / black . When I was in they just at the end of my enlistment started painting the. Nose Radome black . Before that it was white . The B-52 gets it main lift during take off from the tail section . It’s doesn’t go straight up . The Aft section Horizontal stabilator lifts first . Amazing mass of power . 8 engines - 2 external fuel tanks 185 ft from Wing tip to wing tip .
Nice vid. Fun to watch for an old Naval Aviation guy. ("And now for something completely different"). Great view over the nose! Long takeoff roll. Looks really heavy handed. No wimps allowed here! Great aircraft folks!
Was at U-Tapao '70-'71 as an avionics technician. Was lucky enough to fly 12 combat missions as "flight mechanic" in the IP seat. A truly awesome experience for a young and dumb 20 year old. While I never got to fly in a fast mover, out of KC-135's, C-130's, and others I flew in regularly, the BUFF was the best. Also, most professional crews I ever encountered. I worked on D models at U-Tapao, but was on G's in the states. One of my most fond memories was sitting on the beach near the end of the runway and hearing 8, J57 engines at full throttle and water injection. Awesome sound. I think one of the reasons the AF never upgraded to more modern avionics was because the BUFF was a strategic weapon until recently, and the avionics were EMP resistant, unlike modern avionics. I was touring a J model C-130 several years ago at an airshow and was a bit shocked to see the same avionics I had worked on 40 years ago. Old vacuum tube boxes. I asked the crew chief where they got vacuum tubes these days and he told me they bought them from China. Go figure!
I was a B-52 crew chief and did 2 tours over Vietnam called ARC LIGHT in 68 & 69. Flew out of Guam and Utapao in Thailand. This is one of the greatest aircraft ever built. These things definitely paid for itself 10 times over. Viet Cong feared the B-52 more than any other weapon because they never heard or saw us coming
I have just come back from Darwin Australia where they have a B 52 on permanent display at the Aviation Museum having been donated by the USAF to the people of Darwin . The mighty B 52 has been named Pride of Darwin. Is send heaps of videos of this great aircraft but was floored by the sheer size of this giant up close. Had to go back again the next week to have another look. You have to look at this giant up close to see the wing span of this giant Thank you Boeing and the the mighty USAF from Melbourne Australia to
It's amazing to think that these aircraft will be nearly 100 years old by the time they are planned to be out of service. Ironically the only aircraft that comes close is the TU-95 which I guess is the Soviet equivalent of the B-52.
When a kid I use to go McCoy AFB and watch these bad boys take off and land. What an awesome site. Thought I would fly one someday but the Marine Corp didn't have any but they gave me my own M-14.
I live and work close to Barksdale air force base, back in the 70's when they had a nuclear take off drill, WOW for thirty minutes it was a Glorius thing to see the power of our B-52's. If you were on the telephone, you might as well hang up for 30 minuets and try again, that goes for talking to someone standing right next to you, HA! those were the days.
Referring to a lot of comments about the avionics upgrades for these old warhorses even back in the 70's they were starting to integrate solid state in place of some of the older tube type radios. The replacement radios were designed to fit in place of the control boxes and the space and weight allowance where the original Radio Transmitter/Receiver would have been was used for something else. They had to be careful about that because some of the radios were quite large and their weight was used as part of the weights and balances necessary for any airplane. Remove to much weight from the rear end, where a lot of the larger electronics modules were mounted, and you would need to counterbalance that weight or you ended up with a nose heavy configuration that would be stable but inefficient. One thing no one here seems to mention is that the two bomb/weapon bays are centered as close to the Center of Gravity as they could be. When you watch a video of them dropping the 500 pound bombs over Viet Nam notice that they come from both bays, not just one. If I remember right, each bay can carry 18 Short Range Attack Missiles. It's been a long time. All I ever knew about the SRAM's was from Air Force Now films so may have been some propaganda there. Those may have been propaganda but they were fun to watch. Especially the one about the Streak Eagle.
Amazing aircraft. I remember often driving past March AFB & seeing them lined up, so many years ago, during the Cold War. At least I think they were B-52's...
You would not believe the overall size of the Bomb Navigation system in the B-52 dating back to 1961. The 'computer' system was mechanical/electrical and the entire system was distributed in about dozen 'black boxes' throughout the aircraft, and each of them was a couple feet square. I expect that was replaced with a system you could 'hold in your hand' with the advent of the computers of today! Amazing, and thanks for a great video!
Chris Baker I worked on these at Edwards AFB in CA. Radios were replaced with ARC-164 UHF units. I worked communications on all assigned aircraft. Tail number 0050 is still flying today.
52's used to fly out of Castle air base, and the take off often took them right over Merced, California. My whole damn car would shake, and people on the street stopped to cover their ears when these beauties powered over. Made you feel safe and scared at the same time. My father was a tailor in Thousand Oaks, Ca. and Slim Pickens was his favorite customer.
+R.Mariano FYI, when the wing/body tanks are fully loaded, the wingtips sit about 3ft off the ground. On takeoff roll, the wings start to move up and at liftoff have raised about 18ft to level with the top of the fuselage, i.e., 21ft off the ground, shortly after liftoff, the wings raise another 10ft for a total of 28ft wingtip deflection! The flexible wing actually makes the aircraft much softer to fly when experiencing turbulence, especially during long low level flights 200-300ft above ground during the hot summer months. Every crewdog I knew still carried a barf bag along on these flights . . . . just in case!!
I know this is over 2 years old but unless its the number 2 or 8 engine, it is an emergency bc the other 6 engines are linked to hydro, power, or the A/C system
After a year in ATC, you will never Want to see ATC again. Back in The 80s when they were court-martialing that navy guy, I went to A construction site and burnt all I had. And never spoke of it again.
Seeing those dermatologist-free hands and obvious young-age makes me very thankful for the excellent folks that our country produces to fly the B-52, and other craft. Safe flying, happy hunting & come back safe.
I was a B-52 crew chief and did 2 tours over Vietnam called ARC LIGHT in 68 & 69. Flew out of Guam and Utapao in Thailand. This is one of the greatest aircraft ever built. These things definitely paid for itself 10 times over. Viet Cong feared the B-52 more than any other weapon because they never heard or saw us coming. They were not worried about our polluting the atmosphere.
