B-52s vid; 15ship mito

I know one young aspiring aviator who will REALLY enjoy this!
 
Ah memories!! Those H model guys had it lucky. The RVR didn't hardly drop at all like it did with the water burning G model!! Great vid!
 
Dont forget to turn the volume up!

I was thinking, hm not too hard to make your wingmen (with that cloud of smoke behind them!)
 
Wow, that brought back some memories. Spent my first 4 years in the AF as a Crew Chief at Minot. Nothing like alert to airborne in less than 10 minutes!
 
When I was stationed at Griffiss this many airplanes spooling up and fast-taxiing to the runway meant the balloon went up and we had about 8 minutes.

:yikes:

Thankfully, every time they did they pulled power 1/3rd down the runway -- meaning it was only an exercise.
 
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maddog52 said:
Ah memories!! Those H model guys had it lucky. The RVR didn't hardly drop at all like it did with the water burning G model!! Great vid!
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I remember those "G" model water injected 12 second MITO departures.
I was number 9 one day.. just follow the black smoke in front of you. :yikes:

This looks more like 30 second ORI Departure, complete with the run from the alert shack and cart starts.
 
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BillTIZ said:
I remember those "G" model water injected 12 second MITO departures.
I was number 9 one day.. just follow the black smoke in front of you. :yikes:

This looks more like 30 second ORI Departure, complete with the run from the alert shack and cart starts.
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You really had to have the ears perked up listening for the "aborting airspeed" call cause you sure weren't going to see it till you ran into the dragchute of the guy ahead!!

I timed it and it did average about 30 seconds. Definitely an ORI, no external ordinance.

I flew the G and H models at KBAD. Where did you fly the G?
 
maddog52 said:
You really had to have the ears perked up listening for the "aborting airspeed" call cause you sure weren't going to see it till you ran into the dragchute of the guy ahead!!

I timed it and it did average about 30 seconds. Definitely an ORI, no external ordinance.

I flew the G and H models at KBAD. Where did you fly the G?
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I was at KBAD, 596BMS, from Feb '85 to Aug '87.
Then I moved to the Bone at El Forko Grande (KRDR, Grand Forks ND).

Coming up on 70 seconds NOW,... Committed..
Coming up on Water Runout NOW.. GET THAT NOSE DOWN !!
 
dmccormack said:
When I was stationed at Griffiss this many airplanes spooling up and fast-taxiing to the runway meant the balloon went up and we had about 8 minutes.

:yikes:

Thankfully, every time they did they pulled power 1/3rd down the runway -- meaning it was only an exercise.
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Clarify for those of us who weren't there..

This slang for... "oh crap we are at war... no, wait.. its a drill?"
 
BillTIZ said:
I was at KBAD, 596BMS, from Feb '85 to Aug '87.
Then I moved to the Bone at El Forko Grande (KRDR, Grand Forks ND).

Coming up on 70 seconds NOW,... Committed..
Coming up on Water Runout NOW.. GET THAT NOSE DOWN !!
Click to expand...

No kidding! I was in the 596/96 from Apr '88 to Jan '96. Then went to the T-34 at KNPA. Still hear the "Doom" callsign from FW center every once in a while. BTW, my first "Hooter" was the last "Mover" we did at KBAD. I've even got a "SlipStick" in my bag somewhere.

"One and Four above the green band, Center and Aft contain more than 2000 lbs each.... One, Two, Three, and Four ON, 13 and 16 OPEN, 26 and 28 to Engine Feed." Still
 
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maddog52 said:
No kidding! I was in the 596/96 from Apr '88 to Jan '96. Then went to the T-34 at KNPA. Still hear the "Doom" callsign from FW center every once in a while. BTW, my first "Hooter" was the last "Mover" we did at KBAD. I've even got a "SlipStick" in my bag somewhere.

"One and Four above the green band, Center and Aft contain more than 2000 lbs each.... One, Two, Three, and Four ON, 13 and 16 OPEN, 26 and 28 to Engine Feed." Still
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Roger on "Doom" we had not gone to fixed call signs when I left KBAD.. still had the rotating callsigns according to "da book".

LOL on the fuel drill...

The Bone was easier, "Wing 15, Flaps, Slats, Gear, Main's in the Green, 1 and 4 above 35, total fuel xx, Approach speed is.. "
 
Doggtyred said:
Clarify for those of us who weren't there..

This slang for... "oh crap we are at war... no, wait.. its a drill?"
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Yes.

If the "balloon went up," the Russians were pouring through the Fulda Gap in Southern Germany, the Subs were launching ICBMs, and those of us that knew it were deciding whether to stay on base or rush home for a last few moments with sweethearts.

I'm glad it never went up.
 
dmccormack said:
Yes.

If the "balloon went up," the Russians were pouring through the Fulda Gap in Southern Germany, the Subs were launching ICBMs, and those of us that knew it were deciding whether to stay on base or rush home for a last few moments with sweethearts.

I'm glad it never went up.
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And those of us turning oil and water into black smoke trying to get airborne in time... we knew we had work to do.. there would be nothing to come home to.

(On Alert, 100% engines running.. ready to taxi when the US went into Lybia)
 
Great vid Dave! I landed on that runway once in a C-175 and another time in a 180 Comanche during "friends and neighbors days". Not too hard to get it down on a 300'X13,200' runway!:sleep:

It looked like the wing tip support gear retracted forward after take-off but kind of hard to tell for sure. Is that what happens on B-52s?

Rick
 
BillTIZ said:
And those of us turning oil and water into black smoke trying to get airborne in time... we knew we had work to do.. there would be nothing to come home to.

(On Alert, 100% engines running.. ready to taxi when the US went into Lybia)
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I was a Nuke puke. Once the Buffs deaprted we were to drag the remaining inventory to Syracuse for regeneration. At 15 MPH.

Riiiiight....
 
Oh, heck -- we used to launch 47 in a row at Upper Heyford. Maybe an F-111 isn't as big as a Buff, but 47 aircraft, one after another, with 15-second intervals on opposite sides of the runway even on peacetime ORI's? Sure got the attention of the sheep in the field off the end of the runway.
 
Ron Levy said:
Oh, heck -- we used to launch 47 in a row at Upper Heyford. Maybe an F-111 isn't as big as a Buff, but 47 aircraft, one after another, with 15-second intervals on opposite sides of the runway even on peacetime ORI's? Sure got the attention of the sheep in the field off the end of the runway.
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Given they were F-111s, you had -- what, 30 of the 47 immediately return for repairs?

:rofl:
 
dmccormack said:
Given they were F-111s, you had -- what, 30 of the 47 immediately return for repairs?
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Ho, ho, ho. No, not at all. Typically we only saw one or two abort on peacetime exercises. The F-111 fleet was pretty healthy by the time I got into the 'vark in 1980.
 
Ron Levy said:
Ho, ho, ho. No, not at all. Typically we only saw one or two abort on peacetime exercises. The F-111 fleet was pretty healthy by the time I got into the 'vark in 1980.
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Hmmm... I guess they sent the duds to Plattsburgh, then. I was at Griffiss in 1980 -83 and had friends at PAFB. They were always complaining about the number of problems.

:dunno:
 
dmccormack said:
Hmmm... I guess they sent the duds to Plattsburgh, then. I was at Griffiss in 1980 -83 and had friends at PAFB. They were always complaining about the number of problems.

:dunno:
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Can't speak to the FB-111's -- they had different engines, bigger wheels and brakes, higher takeoff/landing weights, longer wings, and different avionics. They were also not flown nearly as much, and that's never good for a jet. And more than that, they were SAC, not TAC.;)
 
Ron Levy said:
Can't speak to the FB-111's -- they had different engines, bigger wheels and brakes, higher takeoff/landing weights, longer wings, and different avionics. They were also not flown nearly as much, and that's never good for a jet. And more than that, they were SAC, not TAC.;)
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Well, we all know the SAC motto -- SAC S**ks
 
Dan, every maintainer swears up and down their jet is the biggest mx pig, but yet is still the best jet in the inventory. Nature of the beast.

Ron, 47 aircraft is impressive, but in my experience, fighters take roughly 1/2 the time and manpower to generate compared to heavies. That might have been different back in your day, though. And these BUFFs are ACC, which is a derivative of TAC, so carefull, you might be criticizing your own kind! ;)
 
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AWACSEng said:
Ron, 47 aircraft is impressive, but in my experience, fighters take roughly 1/2 the time and manpower to generate compared to heavies.
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No argument. That means generating 47 'varks is about 50% more work than generating 47 Buffs. And we'd've been over our targets about nine hours before them (albeit with smaller weapons, but when you're talking nukes, what's a megaton or two here or there?).

That might have been different back in your day, though. And these BUFFs are ACC, which is a derivative of TAC, so carefull, you might be criyicizing your own kind! ;)
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That happened after I retired, so I can't speak to whether the Buff types were un-SAC-umcised as a result of the merger. However, I doubt many F-111 types went willingly to B-52's when the 'vark was retired. OTOH, SAC exchange guys rarely wanted to go back.
 
The first 8 years of my career were in ACC. They treated the BUFF like a single seater. On the same note, the E-3 was TAC pre-ACC and is treated the same way. Some powers that be just can't fathom it taking 8+ hours to prep ONE airplane for a launch. With the missteps of the Nuke progrom over the last few years, the USAF has established Global Strike Command. Hopefully the bomber force get back to their roots, which is not in line with the fighter mentality.
 
AWACSEng said:
With the missteps of the Nuke progrom over the last few years, the USAF has established Global Strike Command.
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The who? Is that like "son of SAC" or something? Who's in it -- just missiles and B-planes? Just like the Air Force to come up with a sexy new name for the same old thing. Do the tankers remain in AMC (nee MAC) or join their old buddies in the GSC?
Hopefully the bomber force get back to their roots, which is not in line with the fighter mentality.
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Without throwing stones, I think all parties can agree that there is no doubt the two mentalities are quite different.
 
Yep, it's kinda baby-SAC. All of the AF's nuke assests are now under one command. No tankers or fast movers. Just fat kids and missles. Keep in mind the B-1 no longer fills nuclear roles. I don't think the entire BUFF fleet is under AFGSC, just a couple of squadrons. They even stood up a "new" Sq. in Minot to take the mission in the great north.

No rock-tossin' here. I'm just happy to see the missions separate. From someone who saw normal (i.e. conventional ops) 11 months out of the year, then expected to still master non-conventional ops the other month out of the year, i'm happy the proper emphasis is being placed on both missions.
 
We managed to master both roles in the USAFE F-111 community for many years (the F-16's did a pretty good job of it, too), but we did both on a daily basis, and times change.
 
It most certainly is a different world we opperate in now. Now these powerful aircraft are being used for CAS instead of sitting alert waiting for the world to end. No matter the mission, the BUFF will no doubt do it to the best of it's abilities. (I'm only a little biased ;))
 
B2Soar said:
It looked like the wing tip support gear retracted forward after take-off but kind of hard to tell for sure. Is that what happens on B-52s?

Rick
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The Tip Gear retract inboard. One side main gear retracted forward and inboard while the other side retracted aft and inboard.
 
Ron Levy said:
Oh, heck -- we used to launch 47 in a row at Upper Heyford. Maybe an F-111 isn't as big as a Buff, but 47 aircraft, one after another, with 15-second intervals on opposite sides of the runway even on peacetime ORI's? Sure got the attention of the sheep in the field off the end of the runway.
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I remember that some of the larger bases, used the parrallel taxi way to launch the smaller fighter aircraft while the heavy bombers and tankers went to the runway.
 
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