flying the b-52

FlyingtheB52Part1MajorKong

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B52GEarly1990s

OKthisisthebigone.Mybigchancetosharemyexperiencesboreeveryonewithwarstories.

Itwasmyprivilegetoflyoneofthegreatclassicsofaviation.OnethatisstillaroundtodayandmaystillbearoundevenafterI'mgone.

IservedasanaircraftcommanderonB52Gsfrom19891992.Thiswasaninterestingtime.TheColdWarwasnearingitsend,buttheSovietUnionwasstillaroundandStrategicAirCommandbombersstillsatnuclearalert.ThentherewasthatlittlespatintheMiddleEast.

NewairdefensesweremakingourlivestougherbutB1swerejustbecomingoperationalandtheB2wasstilladream.Wewerestillthebackboneofthebomberforceinthosedays.Wehadtobegood,damngood,becauseourplaneswereolderthanmostofusflyingthem.Wemayhavebeenbesttrainedbomberforceever.

Thisisaprettybigtopic,soI'lltalkmoreaboutthemissionlater.InthisdiaryIjustwanttointroduceyoutotheairplane.

Firstoff,it'snota"Stratofortress".NobodycalleditaStratofortress.Itwas,andwillalwaysbe"TheBUFF".Ifyoudon'tknowwhatthatacronymmeans,I'llletyoulookitup.It'snotapoliteterm.

IflewtheB52G,orthe"Gmodel".They'renotaroundanymore.Theywereallretiredaround1993.BytreatywiththeRussianstheywereallchoppedintopiecessothattheycouldneverbeputbackintoservice.WhenIsawthembeingcutupontelevisionIcried.

TheGwasbuiltbetween1957and1959.Itwasaninterimmodelbetweentheearlier"talltail"modelsandtheHmodel,whicharetheonlyonesstillflying.The"new"oneswerebuiltin1960by

theway.

Solet'stakealookatthisthing.

B52GConfigured

Firstoff,it'ssinisterlooking.Itlookslikeitwasbuilttokillthings.....itwas.They'vehadmanypaintschemesovertheyears.Ourswerepaintedeitheraverydarkgreenoraflatblack.IfDarthVaderhadaplane,thiswouldprobablybeit.

Bythenthesleeklinesofthelate1950shavegivenwaytoallkindsofbumpsandbulgesfromcamerapodsandjammingantennas.Acloselookwouldrevealaveritable"antennafarm"alongthebellyoftheplane.

Damnit'sbig.Thatwingismassive189feettiptotip.It'sgoteightengines.Nothingelsehaseightengines.Sure,they'recrappylate50sturbojetsbutthere'seightofthem.That'scool.Eightnoisy,smokebelching,gasguzzling,waterinjectedturbojets.Nobodyusesturbojetsanymore.Evenfightershaveturbofansin1989.

Suretherearebiggerplanesbutthisthingjustseemsimpressive.Ahulkingbruteofanairplane.Itcanweighinat500,000pounds.Mostofthatisfuel.Atypicalfuelloadwas280,000pounds.Toputthatinperspective,myentire757onlyweighs200,000poundsfullyloaded.IttakesalotoffueltoflytoRussia.Another50,000poundsofthatcouldbeweapons,conventionalorotherwise.Moreonthatlater.

It'salsodifferent.There'snothingnormalaboutit.AllBoeingshavealotincommon,exceptforthisone.I'veflownthe707(KC135),727and757now.TheB52isnothinglikethem.It'sliketheoddfamilymemberthateveryonewondersiftheywereadopted.

Airplaneslookthewaytheydoforareason.Inthiscasethemassivebombbay,thepurposeforthisplane'sexistence,isthatreason.Tomakeroomforittheyhadtoputasetofmain"trucks"infrontofitandanotherbehindit.Thefrontwheelsarethesamesizeasthebacks.Thenarrowstanceofthemaingearrequiredthemtoputsmallwheelsoutatthewingtipstokeepthewingsfromtouchingtheground.

Theythenhadtoattachthewingatanupwardsanglejustsothethingcouldtakeoffandlandwiththatfunkylandinggear.Ifyoueverseeonetakeoff,thewingstartsto"fly"beforetherestoftheplane.That'salsowhytheysometimesappeartobeflyingnosedowntheyare.It'sjustdifferent.

Technologywiseitrunsthegamutfromlate1940stostateoftheartforthetime.ThebombracksandreleasemechanismarerightoutofaB17.Theradar,howeveristhesameunitastheB1.It

evenhadGPSandsatellitecommunicationswhenthosewerenewtechnologies.

Andithasguns!Howcoolisthat?Thereare4fiftycalibermachinegunsinthetail.Justlikeinallthoseoldmovies,exceptthegunnersitsinthecockpitandcontrolsthemremotely.MostlyIjustliketheideaofhavingsomethingtoshootbackwith.

Let'stakealookinside.It'shardtogetinto.Youclimbupasmallladderunderthebellyoftheplane.It'scrampedinthere.Asbigasitistheydidn'tleavemuchroomforpeople.Whatspaceisn'ttakenupbyfuelorweaponsistakenupbyelectronics.

Thecockpithasanupperandlowercompartmentwithanotherladderthatgoesbetweenthem.Thatladderistheonlyplaceyouhaveroomtostandupright.

Thetwonavigatorssitdownstairs,inthedark.Nowindows.Theyhaveejectionseatsbuttheseatsfiredownwards.Notsogoodforlowlevelmissions.

Nowindowsdownhere.

Behindthemarethe"facilities"consistingofacanwithalidonit,whichsometimesleaks.EveryB52Iflewinsmelledlikestalesweat,pissandengineoil.

UpstairstheGunnerandElectronicWarfareOfficer"EDub"sitfacingbackwards,inthedark.Theydon'thavewindowseither.Theyatleasthaveproperejectionseatsthatgoup.

MyselfandtheCopilotsitupfrontofcourse.Thereisnoflightengineer.Oddforsomethingbuiltinthe1950s.TheplanewassetupfortheAircraftCommandertoflyandtheCopilottomostlyactastheflightengineer.

ClimbingintotheAircraftCommander'sseat,it'sreasonablycomfortableforanejectionseat.After12hoursnotsomuch.

Notmuchroominhere.

Onceagainit'samixofveryoldandverynew.Italmostlookssteampunk,orlikea1950smadscientistmovie.Alotofitlookslikeitwas"tackedon"overtheyearsbecauseitwas.

Humanfactorsweren'tabigdealinthelate50'sanditshowsinthecockpit.Theyprettymuchstuckswitchesandgaugeswherevertheyhadroomforthem.OnlyIcanreachthehydraulicsystems,onlytheCopilotcanreachtheelectricalsystems.Flyingthisthingwillbeaseriousteamefforttheairlinescallit"CRM",SACcalledit"CrewConcept".

Still,itfeelsgoodsittinghere.Feelstough.Feelspowerful.Lookbackatthosemassivewingsandthoseenginepods.Grabholdofthoseeightthrottles.Itmaynotbeasleek,pointynosedfighterbutit'sawarplane.

That'sallfornow.We'llgoflyinginthenextdiary.

FlyingtheB52Part2MajorKong

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InthelastdiaryIintroducedyoutotheB52,atleastasIrememberthemfromthelate80sandearly90s.

FlyingtheB52Part1

Todaywe'regoingtotakeitoutonatrainingmission.Betterpackalunch,trainingmissionstypicallylasted12hours.Wenormallydidoneortwoaweek.

AsSACusedtosay"You'vegottobetoughtoflytheheavies".

Atrainingmissionactuallystartsthedaypriortotheflight.You'dspendthebetterpartofadaymissionplanning.Thecrewwouldstudytherouteofflight,especiallythelowleveltrainingroute(s),airrefuelingprocedures,formationproceduresandthentheAircraftCommander(me)wouldconductaformalcrewbriefing.

Onanormalmissionyoumightbedonemissionplanningby2:00PM.Ifyouwereplayinginabigexerciseitmighttakeacouplemorehourstocovereverything.

Mymemoryishazyonthis,butIthinkweshoweduponthedayoftheflight21/2hoursormorebeforetakeofftime.Daysortiestookoffaround6:30AMandnightsortiestookoffaround6:30PM.Thismeanteithergettingupatridiculousoclockorgettingtobedatludicrousoclock.Itwasprettycommontohaveadayandanightsortieinthesameweek,whichreallythrewoffyoursleepschedule."Fatigue"wasnotawordinSAC'svocabulary."Yougottabetough....."

AbuswouldtakeustoLifeSupporttocollectourflightgear,theFlightKitchenforourboxlunches,CommandPostfortheflightplan(thesewerestoredonportablecomputertapedrives).Finallywe'dheadtoBaseOperationsforourweatherbriefingandtoconductafinalcrewbrief(andalastbathroomstop!)beforeheadingouttotheairplane.

Attheplanewe'dcheckthemaintenancelogs,andthenmyselfandthecopilotwoulddotheexteriorinspection(we'deachtakeaside)whiletherestofthecrewsettledin.

Normallyyoudon'tjustjumpintoabomberfireitupandgofly.Ittakestimetoaligntheplane'snavigationalsystemsandtorunthelengthyinteriorinspectionchecklist.There'salsoagoodchanceofsomethingrequiringmaintenanceattention.Theseareoldplanesandthere'salotofthingsthatcanbreak.I'veactuallytaxiiedtotherunwaywithelectronicstechsworkingonsomepieceofequipmentintheplaneandkickedthemoutjustbeforetakeoff.

Everythinginabomberisbasedontiming.Weneedtotakeoffontimetomeetupwithourtankerontimeandtomakeourlowlevelrouteontime.There'ssomeslopbuiltintotheflightplan,butasignificantdelaywillrequiretheschedulerstostartcoordinatingnewtimesforeverything.

Onceeverythingwasreadyenginestartwasnormallybygroundaircart.We'dstartengines4and5(themostinboardoneachwing)withtheaircartandthenusethoseenginestostarttheothersix.

Withtheenginesrunningit'sanextremelynoisyairplane,bothoutsideandinside.Wealwaysworehelmetsorfullheadsetstocancelsomeofthenoise.Unlikeanairlinercockpit,theonlywaytotalkbetweencrewmemberswasbyusingtheintercom.Mycopilotsittingthreefeetawaywouldnothavebeenabletohearmetalk.Theairconditioningsystemseemedtogeneratemorenoisethancoldair.

Oncetheenginesarerunningwebringtherestofoursystemsonlineandgetreadytotaxi.Evenwiththeairconditioningonit'slikeasaunaintheairplane.MostoftheACisbeingsenttokeeptheelectronicscool.Wesweatinthecockpituntilwereachaltitude."Hey,yougottabetough....."

Thehardestpartofflyinganylargeairplaneistaxiingitontheground.TheB52especiallysobecausetherearewheelsoutonthewingtipsandyoualwayshavetokeepinmindwherethoseare.FortunatelySACbaseshadnicewidetaxiwaysandrunways.Thenosetrucksarequiteawaysbehindthecockpit,soyouhadtomakebigsquareturnslikeacitybus.Therewasnotillerforthenosewheelsteeringlikeanairlinerwouldhave.Itwasalldonethroughtherudderpedals.Therewasasettingfortaxiandalowrangefortakeoffandlandingthatlimitedhowmuchsteeringyouhad.

Neartheendoftherunwaytherewouldbeanotherpilot,sittinginatruckwitharadioandactingasasafetyobserver.Hewouldgiveusaonceoverlookingforanythingoutofplaceontheplane.Wealldidour"turninthebarrel"pullingthisduty.Onceclearedtogowe'dpulloutontotherunway.

Takeoffwasdifferentfromanyotherplane.Iftherewasacrosswind,wecouldactuallypivotthemainwheelssothattheplanewouldfaceintothewindwhilethewheelsfacedstraightdowntherunway.Whentheplanewasbrandnewthiswasactuallyclassified,andtheywouldn'tshowthelandinggearinpublicityphotos.

Theflapsarehugeandelectricallypowered(mostheaviesusehydraulicsforthis).Theflapsareactuallyaslargeasthewingonsomeairliners.Therewasonlyoneflapsetting,100percent,andittookthemafullminutetoextendorretract.

AswelinedupontherunwayI'dshiftthenosewheelsteeringtolowrange,advancethethrottlesandthenturnonthe