The most insane photos of a US bomber ever taken!
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- Опубликовано: 26 мар 2024
- A series of incredible photos taken by sailors in the USS Ranger carrier strike group in 1990 grants us a rare glimpse into the dangerous world of nap-of-the-earth bomber operations meant to allow these massive aircraft to penetrate enemy airspace undetected.
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Citations:
theaviationgeekclub.com/the-s...
theaviationgeekclub.com/that-...
www.wearethemighty.com/tactic...
theaviationist.com/2013/05/28...
www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Shee...
www.popularmechanics.com/mili...
www.afgsc.af.mil/About/Fact-S...
When you're trying to spot a plane and the pilot says "look down" LMAO
"Look down"
"I beg your fuckin pardon"
@@Hughjaoses8766fuckin what?
B-52 pilot: I could have gone lower but that carrier has a big wake.
yup, I did a full on LOL
My estimations about the height above sea level from those pictures was were made using the height of the tail of the B52 (and that part of the fuselage) and comparing that to the reflected shadow (that alone says a lot) to the (flat) sea. My estimation is 2x tail height (plus that part of the fuselage). I best add, this is from eyeballing and finger measurements so I could still be off by 50%, but whatever the tail height of a B52 is (plus that part of the fuselage) x2 is my eyeballing, finger measuring guess.
"Do you want us to do that again?"
"HELL YES!"
“Do you want us to do that again?”
“Do Marines chew on crayons and scare the hell out of us?!”
"I mean, a big plane like the B52, like VROOOM just frying chickens in the barnyard" Gen Buck Turgidson
I was standing on the port side of the USS Ranger flight deck for that photo. My buddy took the pic from a HS-14 SH-3. I’m in the pictures standing next to the Fresnel lens.
I was wondering who that weirdo was, thanks for pointing that out
Mate, thank you.
Cool!
Is that a Snickers in your pocket there or were you just happy to be in …*_THE NAVY!_* you can put your mind at ease!
What month in 1990 was that?
I'm betting it was between Aug. 2-16...
I was on Guam for a joint-forces exercise, and the B-52s ingressed at such a low altitude, that we could see big rooster tails behind them, from our vantage point on top of a 3-story building adjacent to the flightline.
When they got to the island, they pulled up to the 200 ft. "hard deck" and opened their bomb bays as they commenced their bombing runs right over our heads.
It was pretty surreal, and totally bitchin'! 🤙😎
The start of that exercise just happened to coincide with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait (Aug 2)... so our briefing when we arrived was "We're in a wartime situation". 😳
Back in May 1977, I was hiking in the Adirondacks with a group of friends. We were going up a fairly narrow valley, when a low rumble behind us made us turn. It was a B-52, maybe a 100ft above the tree tops, and passing right over our heads. An indelible memory of something that lasted a few heartbeats.
I think there was a bomber base in Upstate New York back then.
I remember reading an article in Air and Space magazine. It was about a multi national exercise in Alaska that the B-52s were invited. They were told to fly to the target at 1000' AGL at a specific vector. The debrief in the auditorium featured a cartoon of an elephant with a bunch of arrows stuck in it. The bomber crews were pissed and asked the commander if they could use their full capabilities explaining that it would give a better training exercise. He said OK, if it is done safely. The crews had a meeting with maps and the navigators plotted a flight path. The three bombers approached their first waypoint and split up and descended to low level...then dropped down some more. The debrief was completely different with a lot of pissed off fighter pilots. Only one B-52 was intercepted...egressing the target area. A British F-4 pilot said that it looked like a big aluminum wall went up in front of him when a B-52 threw out flaps and spoilers to suck him into tail gun range. An F-16 pilot that chased a bomber in the canyons and valleys remarked that was the best low level flying that he had seen. He wasn't able to get any gun camera footage.
That could have been me in that bomber, station out of Griffiss AFB. For us in the USAF, that area was known as the FORT DRUM low level route. Several times had to scrub pine pitch off the bottom of a B52 after a practice run.
@@rpeltier2621 That must have been quite a sight. Looking UP at some very abrasive rock off of your wingtips.
I was at a boy scout weekend camp in 81 or 82 in Montana while the B52s were running an excercise. All weekend at treetop height and yeah it's something you dont forget
Thanks for this story. I was on the Ranger when this happened and have had folks call BS when I would tell this sea story.
Vindicated at last! haha
how long have you waited to be vindicated???
Basically the Air Force figured out how to make a B52 into a stealth bomber back in 1990.
This type of flying is common for radar evasion, and it goes back long before 1990. This is still the way attack helicopters operate. It's called Nap of the Earth (NOE) and is standard for all military pilots.
Back in 1960....
@@johnsmithe4656 Take a look at the B-58 Hustler's flight profiles. Nap of the Earth AND supersonic, although not necessarily at the same time,....... but..........
@@johnsmithe4656 Right. Any competent Air Force has been doing this for as long as radar-guided missiles have been a thing. Any bomber designed in the 1950s was designed for high-altitude flight, followed immediately by whoopsie!, better retrofit NOE capability and pop up at the last minute to bomb from altitude.
@@beeble2003 Right. And the Russian Air Force has been trying to do it and hitting the water instead. Oh well, if at first you don't succeed.... Keep going.
My father was a civilian assigned to schedule logistics and repairs at Kelly AFB, 1962-64, and he tells stories of the B-52‘s coming in for repairs after low altitude training with trees stuck in the fuselage of the planes, they got that low!
A la Richard Dreyfus and his A-24 Fireeater in the great Spielberg movie, 'Always'!
A movie all fans of Airpower should see!!
We (B52 crew) often came back with pine sap or cactus needles, depending on the low level route. Lost more than a few belly ECM antennae.
@@rpeltier2621 Give me a shout when you guys get the nerve to fly under powerlines and wind turbines, I'll give you some tips.
Why were they low level with the gear down if they weren’t landing?
Some friends of ours and my wife and myself were jumping off his boat off of Hernando Beach here in Florida years ago when I heard a familiar sound. I grew up near MacDill AFB in Tampa and in the 70's it was a fairly common occurrence to have BUFF's , my favorite bird, fly overhead. Sure enough we looked BARELY up and saw her coming in hugging the coast. As they got closer we started waving like maniacs and the pilot actually and gently rocked the wings. Talk about thrilled beyond belief. To this day I get goosebumps thinking back on it.
Being a USAF vet it warms my heart seeing your perma-grin while telling this story. Some stories are just fun to tell.
That picture is historical ❤
... or hysterical😅
@@michaelburggraf2822. .
'Well, aren't we feeling frisky, today!
I almost _past_ out laughing.
"Habitual Linecrosser" has a variety of videos which are rather comical. One of his characters is "Grandpa Buff." There's an episode where an F-35 is explaining why the Internet was down. Grandpa Buff responds "yeah, we get it, you're a flying computer; when you becoming a flying apocalypse, like me, we'll talk."
He's not joking. When you consider how much "things that make ya go boom" it can carry, that's a valid description.
As another favorite creator calls them, "bologna mist technology"
@@isaacbrown4506 A chubby electron guy?
The speed at which Grandpa Buff can switch from 'kindly old grandpa' to 'flying apocalypse' is scary in itself.
@@mpr6486 Man... you got it in ONE! ;^)
"Moses may have parted the Red Sea, but I'm gonna widen it!"
Years ago, I was Officer of the Deck on an Aegis cruiser underway in the Pacific. Our Combat Information Center (CIC) had been doing exercises with an F-14. The F-14 did a fly-by on our port side after the exercises were done. From the Bridge, we were looking DOWN on the F-14 which was just above wave top. The pilot hit afterburner and pulled back on the stick. In an instant, the F-14 was rolling out into level flight up in low clouds. It happened in seconds. It was beautiful.
I was stationed at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam when this went down, and one of the crewmen told me about it. Cool story. Although I generally hated Buffs. Loud SOBs when your barracks room is less than 500 yards away. 😅
You got barracks? Guam 72 - 73, we got tents. They made us go to the barracks when a typhoon came through, but we liked the tents better.
Bone said hold my beer
You ain't lying how loud they are. I lived there in the 80s and 90s and they would fly directly over my house on the southern approach to Guam airport. Couldn't been more than 1500ft up. It was amazing looking up at something that big flying overhead at probably about 200 knots, idk maybe less. Them damn Chinooks were loud as hell too!
@temarikel8674 Yeah, I moved to Mangilao, near the UOG fieldhouse (about half-way down the island) after I made SSgt, so not much of a problem with the noise there. Seems the Buffs have mostly left the island now.
@@MrDlt123 I lived in Agana Heights so I heard everything on the southern approach. Haven't been there since '93 but I think you're right, I think the Buffs are gone. Went to high school with a lot of military kids too from Anderson. Seemed like new classmates every year.
I've seen this picture a million time and always wanted to know the story behind it. Now I do thank you alex.
'Thanks, ALEX HOLLINGS'
And thanks to Ward Carroll for promoting Sandboxx News some years ago!
I was there and I saw this with my own eyes. Naval aviation considers itself some sierra hotel fly boys but this got all of us finding a lot of respect for the BUFF and her crews.
After the low passes they would bank away and seeing that banked wingspan so close to the water was probably even more badass.
One early morning back in 1993, about 0230 or so, I was driving south on US 95 between Jordan Valley, Or and Winnemucca, Nv. A long, boring stretch of desert in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly, it seemed like the sun was rising...in the North. Then all I could hear was a massive rumbling and WHAM ! A B-52 went right over me with every landing light they had turned on. You could see the fuel streaks along the wings and count places in the fuselage where there were missing skin rivets. Apparently they were doing a practice hit on Fallon Naval Air Station and sneaking in along the valley floor behind the mountains. A few seconds later all the lights went out and they just faded away like they were never there. I'm just glad I didn't need to change underwear afterward!
As someone trained one the B-52 without the picture I would find this story hard to believe. But I will accept the picture. You can also see this in the picture. The horizontal stabilizer on a B-52 is so large it creates its own lift. If you look at the picture the tail of this plane shows it flying tail high. It is and has been since it was designed on a table cloth and amazing aircraft. That's why it's still in our Air Force inventory.
I heard of a K I Sawyer B-52 flying under the Mackinac bridge. When asked why they did it, the pilot said because we got away with it the first time.
it was a B-52H from Kincheloe Air Force Base (sometime in the mid 1970's). and someone got a picture of it too.
I walked up to one of these beasts at an airshow with my son and got to look up in the bomb bay. Blew me away how huge these things are and how they can even stay afloat in the air let alone skim the waves at 20 feet. Awesome engineering.
I only saw an F-16 close for the first time and it surprised me how huge it was.
@@O.Shawabkeh I haven't seen them in person, but I noticed how stark a size difference there was between the F-22 and F-35, with the former absolutely dwarfing the latter!
_edit: typo_
They have better quality then.
look up 'ground affect' (aerodynamics). When a aircraft is less than half the wingspan above the ground/water, the lift to drag ratio goes up. A plane can float just above a runway and build up to its climb speed.
@@brucestarr4438 I'd point then towards Ekranoplans, since that would not only explain the use of ground effect AND show them an actual vehicle utilizing it exclusively. _(at least, if they go to Wiki, but I assume most other sites covering then would inherently need to explain it as well)_
I grew up in the Ozarks long ago and can remember having a B52 pop over a hill 100' or less over my head several times, couldn't hear it coming from the other side of the hill, scared the hell out of me every time as you can imagine.
Terrain masking. It's a thing😂
Bobaloo, this is your dry cleaners. We are no longer accepting your underwear for cleaning as it contaminates the rest of our cleaning solution.
Thank you very much. And have a nice day.
Scare the Williams of the mountains
*_I'M ALEX HOLLINGS!!_*
BS... stop tryin' to steal other peoples fame...
No, I'm Alex Hollings.
Before I knew his name I thought. Alex. Was saying I'm alcoholic sorry I'm not native speaker 😂 ! Love the channel
No, I'm Spartacus!
aaand this is airpower!!!!
While the B52 was originally designed as extremely high altitude bombers, this proves that "on the deck" missions are well within its capabilities. The B1, aka BOne, was designed specifically for "on the deck", terrain following missions but have proven that they can take on the same high altitude missions as the B52. Mission flexibility through crew training and aircraft capabilities is a major factor in the extreme terror that American airpower instills in our adversaries. They never see them coming... unless we want them to!
The B-1B is the one that was was designed for nape of the earth flying. The B-1A, on the other hand was designed as a high-flying strategic bomber.
Lets also remember the original Bone was an even faster aircraft.@@thedabblingwarlock
AND the B-52 is now being equipped with hypersonic missile capabilities. It's like an old man standing across a field from a group of thugs with a rifle and hollering "I can kill you from clear over here. I don't need to come fight you youngin's up close!"
I served on the flight deck of the USS Coral Sea CVA-43 from 71-74 and in truth when I looked at those pictures I felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff with all of the butterflies…look down. No thank you.
Amazing.
I was there that day (VAW-116). I ran up to the flight deck for the second pass. When I came out from the island on the starboard side, all I saw was the top third of a Buff's vert stab passing by the port side. I finally saw the whole bomber as they climbed off the port bow.
Those BUFF crews were just showing that SAC legacy that never gets old!
I think Nutnfancy said he did a low altitude fleet-at-sea flyby in his Tanker. I think he basically said that the morale value for the navy crews and also his own crew was priceless.
Try watching a low level B52 bomber crossing your vessel from the deck of the frigate. Talk about jet wash!
@@rpeltier2621 I bet !
Is fancynuts even making videos these days? Dude's a relic now like hickok45 and fpsrussia.
People call the B-52 ugly, but without the "bumps" they added for all the new sensors, it was as sleek and beautiful as any jet airliner.
It is a true testament to the perfection of design achieved in the 1950s on basic jet aircraft.
The B-52 one of the models I put together as a kid hanging by fishing line from my ceiling.
One kid's dream is another kid's nightmare.
@@johnsmithe4656 very profound
@@justsayen2024 That's what I'm here for! 👍👍
We all had a model of the B52 hanging with fishing line in our bedrooms back in the day!
@@skozacik Some had Vulcans. 😉🇬🇧
On a ship stationed in Guam, I had the opportunity to look down on more than one aircraft type, but a B-52 “welcoming you home” is truly special.
B-52s were seriously over-engineered, which has allowed them to be continually re-invented.
Now, they will be able to launch AGM-183A.
Back when Boeing was good
Empire State Building was over engineered and took only one year to build. A B-25 crashed into it yet it's still standing.
@@713Tankbuster Back when nuclear war was a real threat and an ungodly amount of money was spent on defense. This is why we were able to go to the moon in 1969 and younger people today think it didn't happen. Sometimes, money does trump technology. During WW2 we spent 40% of GDP on the defense. In the years immediately after, we spent as much as 15% but hovered around 10%. We now spend in the low single digits. The US defense industry has greatly benefitted from the US defense spending. If we poured money like that back into our military, someone would/could easily do it again. There's just no need.
May Grandpa BUFF live forever. Because he's awesome AF.
@@roots4x "There's just no need." We've heard that line from before. There's never a need, until it's nearly too late!
B-52's used a technique called "terrain avoidance" for low level bomb runs!B-1B's used the technique called "terrain following"! Two completely different techniques. I know because I worked on both planes. I flew in and worked on B-52's and worked on the Offensive Avionics System of the B-1B's. The "OAS" system of the B-1B's encapsulated the terrain following system.
The OAS (Ring Laser Gyros) Offensive Avionics System was introduced on the B-52H. (It was actually first used on the ALCM cruise missiles)
"September 3, 1980: B-52 Tests Offensive Avionics System. When we got B-52H at Carswell in Fort Worth Texas in 1983 they had OAS.
Just before they were retired the B-52D models were equipped with the DBNS, Digital Bomb/Nav System.
@@rael5469 Grand Forks AFB, where I was stationed, tested and brought the ALCM's online in the 80's. B-52G models were used. The OAS system of a B-1 is much more involved than the one in an "H" model B-52.
@@duanedoepke9697 "The OAS system of a B-1 is much more involved than the one in an "H" model B-52."
Well it's been more than 40 years so I would hope so.
@@rael5469 DBNS!!!! My God, I haven't heard that in decades! B-52D's - the "Big Bellies"!!!! Not only did I work on B-1's and B-52G's, my first assignment was Guam and D models! I worked the Defensive Fire Control System on the D's and G's. The four .50 cal. machine guns mounted in the tail turret! I went by the name Obe Wan in Guam, Loring, Maine and Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Hey Duane, did you go through Lowry AFB for training?
Before even looking at this… it has to be the B-52 flying below flight deck level passing a carrier
EPIC pic
I have loved this story and the BUFF pretty much all my adult life...I was in my very early 20s when this happened, and I learned of it almost immediately. It is always so fun to see coverage of it on YT.💯
You should do a video on the Royal Navy and RAF Buccaneers - their attack profile regularly had them flying at under 50'. There's a legendary story of aggressor squadrons on Red Flag exercises at Nellis being unable to shoot them down because they couldn't point down enough to use their guns, even when right behind them.
In the early 1970s I was at West Point just prior to an Air Force V Army football game. While standing near a parade ground I heard a growing roar coming from the north along the Hudson. As the roar reached its loudest a couple of B-52s popped up from the Hudson and flew overhead (imitating a bombing run??).
Several Army officers were very unhappy with this display. Service rivalry at its finest!
When I was a kid in the early 80s we lived in the tiny Nevada town of Pioche. On more than one occasion my little brother and I watched B52s fly by our mountain town so low we could see the tops of the wings. I’ll never forget that awesome high pitched scream of those 8 engines.
The B-52 always flies with a nose down attitude so the nose had to be the closest part of the aircraft to the water. 20-30 feet above the water is insane. Even when taking off the buff climbs with a nose down attitude. Crazy.
If you want to see similar nose down, search "Armstrong Whiteworth Whitley" bomber from WWII RAF
*14 stories. We don’t have 13 story buildings. Murica.
If we really wanted to get lucky we would stop building after Floor 3.
That’s why they skip the 13th floor on many high rise elevators,
The thing that really impresses me about that aircraft is there are pilots flying today whose grandfather's possibly flew that aircraft!
I was at my grandfather's place. He lived in north east Montana. His place used to be used as bombing practice for crews out of Minot. I was in his shop and the whole place started shaking and there was a terrible roaring sound. I stepped outside and saw one of those monsters pulling up right over the house. An impressive scary sight.
Love your even-handed attention to detail...
My buddy was part of a SAC B-52 crew. He said the maintenance crew chief had a 'talk' with his pilot and told him he never ever wanted to see salt splotches on their fuselage again. The pilot just grinned.
Not quite as visually spectacular but in either 1990 or 1991 I was a member of an Australian cavalry regiment and we went to RAAF Base Tindal as the RAAF Airfield Defence Gaurds (ADG - Adgies - I think they have been disbanded and combined into the RAAF security police now) wanted to trial the use of armoured vehicles, so we were driving them around in some of ours as a trial.
We got an air alert red weapons free and a few minutes later a B-52 came in low level and flew directly above us. I would estimate it was maybe 7-10 meters above us - like about 3 or 4 vehicle VHF whip antenna lengths above us. It literally blocked out the sun and though it could only have been a second or two it felt like we were in shadow for ages.
We could see every detail, we saw the pilots in the cockpit nose on, on their way in.
Unfortunately for them we were in M113AS1s which have a small T50 turret each turret having a .30 M1919 and .50 M2HB MG. - 5 vehcles, 10 machine guns - exercise kill.
That was an awesome exercise for a young plane spotter we spent most of our time between the air craft shelters and the end of the runway so we saw every that came and went.
In the earlier B-52D I was told that flying low over the water was dangerous. They said that sometimes the water would get smooth like glass and that the radar could then not get a return from it. One Navigator told me their system had a feature called "Memory Point" so that when the system lost the return signal the system would go into memory point which means it would stay with the last parameters it had and assume those same conditions until it received a return signal again. He said the danger was that if you didn't notice the memory point light come on you could fly into the water. Especially true at night but also dangerous during the day because the glare off the water could blend with the sky and you could lose your reference to the horizon. If I'm not mistaken, this same thing resulted in an F-111 flying into the water. Sept 1968.
I can imagine it to get disorienting, but you'd be fighting against ground effect to push it into the water, no?
@@livestock9722 I'm not a pilot. You'd have to ask a BUFF pilot that.
@@livestock9722 Ground effect isn’t noticeable when you’re already in it. The change from descent to horizontal flight during the flare makes it quite noticeable, but flying along at low level, it just becomes part of the overall sensations and you don’t notice it.
Growing up in Northern Michigan there is an urban legend of a B-52 being flown UNDER the Mackinaw Bridge. I think it was during the 80s and in the local paper
its true, not a urban legend....(it was in the mid 1970s)....
I was stationed on the Ranger when that was going on. It was to test the Ranger's radars upgrades to see if a bomber could get under radars. Crazy bomber driver gave us a show on how low he can fly, nuts lol. Captain Davis was our commanding office at the time. The XO would get on the 1MC and say, "Do the job right the first time". We all got used to that when he got on the mic. lol
I had a truck driving job years ago where I would make occasional deliveries to military bases. One delivery I had was to Dyess . It was a large wooden crate about 20 foot long , no idea what it was ( Rule #1 about hauling military cargo is not to ask questions). I had to follow an escort out across the runway to a C 17 where the crate was to be loaded. One of the airmen handed me some earplugs and told me to put them in right away. A few moments later a B 1 touched down on another runway, powered up to full afterburner and lifted back up. It was out of sight in what seemed like seconds. Never seen an aircraft that size move that fast and the decibel level was off the chart even with earplugs. From that moment forward the B 1 became my favorite aircraft.
Your enthusiasm for these topics is infectious
Vaccine coming soon!
@@roberthevern6169 After our last experience with vaccines, I can say with confidence that the disease is better than the "cure."
Finally a title that isn't click bait. That was insane and awesome at the same time.
My old boss did that. Carrier group wanted a B52 to do a penetration run on the carrier. So, he obliged and flew his buff just off the water. He came at the carrier on its beam. They never saw him coming. He said the popped up, opened the bomb bay doors, and radioed “Bang, you’re dead” as he passed like 60 feet over the deck. Did it a couple times. A buddy of his on a destroyer said he got a photo of the top of the BUFF as it flew by.
I'm a 24 year retired USAF vet and these pics amaze me! Cool...really cool!
I would love to see more of these short, light hearted history lessons, to go along with all the cutting edge “near peer” adversary talks. ❤ This was a great way to start my morning. ❤
I love it! My Pops drove a BUFF from 1953-1957. He remembers flying at 60,000ft. I'm sure he would have loved this!
I made eye contact with a b52 pilot doing this in the 80’s south of Minot airbase about 110 miles. I was riding my ATV on a gravel road south of Glen Ullin ND. One of the most vivid memories I have.
I used to work with a guy that was a navigator on a B-52 back in the late 70's. I think he was out of the base in Goldsboro, NC. Anyway, he said they would fly that low to evade radar. They went against USMC anti-aircraft radar units in Camp Lejeune or Cherry Point. He said they always remained undetected until they were flying over the AA units. He added the B-52 was rooster tailing water as they passed over the Atlantic. He also added, back in those days, almost every flight they experienced at least one real in-flight emergency. Hopefully, our current fleet has been upgraded and better maintained.
I was a weather officer to the 2BW back in early 80s when they acquired the capability of carrying Harpoon anti-ship missiles and they did practice missions over water at similar altitudes. Their comments were generally that doing that over water was a piece of cake compared to doing it on the bombing ranges along the Rockies. I remember one time SAC put out a warning that a certain farmer was using them as skeet practice.
A British Vulcan nuclear bomber flew along the Grand Canyon below the height of the lip. Yes they should not have done that but nobody told them until afterwards. Needless to say they got to their target undetected.
Great video Alex. I love stories like these!
I was on the USS Indy CVA-62 from 75-79. We had a bombing demo during a Med Cruz and had 1 Vigilante on board. We witnessed a mech 2 flyby that was amazing, the Captain calling out distance. Hard to believe something could go that fast... it was far out of site before we got the *BOOM* !!!
Fighter pilots always love ribbing the bomber guys. I remember this joke told to me by my commander in SAC in '75, he was a former tanker pilot.
So, the fighter pulls up next to a buff and asks, "wanna see something I can do that you can't?" and proceeds to do a barrel roll. Then he says, "how about this" and flies inverted. The bomber replies, "ok, here's something I can do they YOU can't ". The fighter pilot waits about 10 minutes, and radios back,"uh, are you going to eventually DO something?"
The bomber responds, this time it's the co-pilot who speaks. The fighter jock asks where the captain is, and the co-pilot replies, "Oh, he went to have a sandwich and a cup of coffee, and now he's in the can taking a shit".
What an aircraft what a pair of pilots. Amazing photos. Thanks
I was stationed in Guam when we had an exercise. I went onto the roof of our building (Andersen AFB was over 300 feet above sea level) to watch a B-52 come screaming across the waves and have to gain altitude to make it above the base. This was back in the early 80s, but that scene remains with me today.
Thanks Alex 😊
My dad was the navigator aboard the B-52 back in the early 60s. They used to do the three second alert and let me tell you those planes are LOUD.
Awesome! Thanks for another great video! God bless you!
Flying that low with a B-52 can make turning a real challenge. The B-52's 185-foot wingspan can dip make touching the water (ground) with disastrous results a real hazard. That said, B-52 pilots report that when they get down that low the Wing-in-Ground (WIG) effect takes over for a remarkably smooth ride.
Hard to imagine any maneuver a fighter pilot could pull off that could top this coolness factor. Seeing this wave-skimming B-52 after seeing the B-1 doing a roll is crazy.
While I was a Navy helicopter crewman stationed in Puerto Rico, we took some Generals to watch a B-52 bomb run on the Vieques bomb range. We were airborne observing from a safe distance. We could hear the incoming B-52 on the radio, but couldn’t see it. That’s when we saw the doing this same thing. They were just above the water. When they got feet dry, they pulled straight up and released the bombs which went straight up the mountain.
*They wanted to treat the sailors to the rare view of the top of a B52.*
*Very cool, not many can claim they've seen such a sight.* ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Had the opportunity to see one up close recently and these aircraft are so amazing still today. They will be maintained and in service to 2050; 100 years of service will be quite impressive.
My brother and I were driving in rural eastern Wyoming in the 1980s and witnessed a B-52 doing a low level pass. Quite a sight!
The picture at 3:43 was taken from vultures Row on the USS independence. The F 14 in the picture belongs to VF 154. This particular flyby took place in Hawaiian waters during a January 1990 Rimac exercise. The one of the USS ranger was taken while they were in the Persian Gulf.
I was on CG-29 (USS Jouett) during RIMPAC 90; believe it was in July.
@@ZekeRivers I don’t know if the exact date of that rim pac but in July 1990 we were in the Indian Ocean or the Philippines. I will never forget August 2, 1990, that is the day Iraq invaded Kuwait and our whole deployment got changed into operation desert shield. I have a great picture of your ship with two standard missile extended range on your MK 10 launchers as we went through the straits of Hormuz. I took the picture from the USS Indepenence of the USS Jouett as she steamed between us and the coast of Iran. That was the first week of October 1990 when we sailed into the Persian Gulf for a few days.
@@awg9aim54 You're right - I was on NIMITZ for RIMPAC 88 and that was June/July. We were near Diego Garcia on 02 Aug 90 and had to scramble to get refueled, get the midshipmen off and up to the SOH. Those SM-2(ER) were impressive on the rails. I recall temps in the engineering spaces were around 120 deg, and we spent many days on water hours. Tired old ship, great CAPT & Crew.
That is what I consider a Bonus Video, Thanks !!
My father was a B52H aircraft commander at Grand Forks in the early 60’s. I don’t think think there is anything unusual about flying a B52 at 100 feet AGL or less. Great pilots, dedication and lots of flight hours. LeMay was fanatical about SAC readiness and capabilities.
Cool. I served on the Ranger in 1976-77 as a boiler tech. That would've something I would've missed since I worked below decks.
Dude...that is absolute insanity. That takes MASSIVE stones...
Awesome video!! The legendary Buff!!!
I appreciate you Alex. Giving fixes to a retired ISR executive, SIGINT and UAVs
I was on the USS RANGER CV-61 from 1987-1989. R.I.P. RANGER.😊
I used to park at the fence at the end of the Griffiss AFB runway and watch them land. When they open the wing flaps, the wings double in size, and the engines are screaming to overcome the drag. It was awesome.
Great upload. Appreciate all the info. 👍👍
Strategic Air Command kept our country safe for more than 4 decades. Been there, done that.
the fact his nose is pointed down like that tells you he's moving pretty damn quick. the wings are producing enough lift that the nose has to point downwards just to fly level.
BUFFs FForever. No joke.
I was on a beach in Hawaii one day when the weather was low clouds and mist, with limited visibility. Offshore about a mile or less, I saw a pair of B-52s emerge from the grey mist, and slowly cruise by, low and slow. Maybe 200 feet over the water. No guess what their speed was, but it was slow. They continued parallel to the coastline and disappeared into the mist and clouds. The best word that comes into my mind to describe it was "majestic". Everybody on that beach was impressed. They were like ghosts.
This reminds me of the time in the late 1970's my wife was a private pilot before I earned my pilot's license. We were flying from DC to Melbourne, Florida for a visit. I don't remember exactly where this occurred but was either over North or South Carolina. As a private pilot we were below 10,000 feet VFR.
Suddenly out of the right side there was a B-52 approaching right below us. There was no chance of a collision, but it was impressive to see such a large aircraft at such a low altitude. A check of the flight chart indicated that we were in fact flying over a designated military low altitude training corridor, but we had not received any notice (NOTAM) that the corridor was active.
Another great video, thank you.
Late 80's my wife and I were driving our white Bronco down a lonely Arizona highway on the highlands in the north of the state. We got buzzed by a B52 at treetop level. As the plane peeled off it waggled it wings at us to say hello! I assume the pilots were having one heck of a laugh as they did it. Completely cool with us! If you are out there, thank you for the experience.
Saw a Russian TU 16 do that exact flight deck fly by in 1968, however, the pilot made a left hand turn and his wing tip hit the water causing a crash. None of the crew survived.
Dangerous unnecessary stunt. Performed poorly causing a crash. No one survived. Yup. Story checks out. That's the Russians alright.
I was there and have the Pics on my wall.
The first pass he was lower and threw a rooster tail above his own tail.
ET2(SW), USS Ranger (CV-61) 1987 - 1990
Thank you for your service.
1981 I was working in the oilfield driving a truck. I was at a rig one evening when B-52s started flying over the rig every 20 minutes. The rig was sitting in a small valley and I was parked on the hill above the rig when one of the b-52 flew over. I could see the pilots very clearly in a orangeish glow the cockpit had.
Thats just nuts! Great video!
I'm loving the switch to daily videos!!! 😉
Was in a fjord in Norway and a Norwegian pilot asked for a fly bye, flipped his plane upside down and came right down the center of the deck lower than the Air Boss on the O 10
witnessed an example of the Buffs capabilities while travelling hwy 212 as it cut the corner of Wyoming between Montana and South Dakota. I spotted the buff approaching from the south flying in a valley below the hwy . He then crossed the road low enough to be seen in my rearview mirror and then turned east and passed me on my left once again lower than the road in another valley. Pretty awesome NOE flying and damn nimble for a large aircraft.
Got a surprise BDay Present at McGuire,AFB. Buddy of ours let us climb in during an Airshow. "MAC" was the 3rd Gen BUFF pilot in his family. He flies another cool Big Bad Bomber now. Awesome report Alex! Oh, sonewhere out there are photos of a Bone cracking Mach 1 while a pilot and RIO watch inbetween the tails of their 14.
I flew on B-52s back in the 60s. They were all the “H” models which are the only models still operational. There was a special feature of the Auto-Pilot system known as TA for “Terrain Avoidance” that enabled the pilots to fly at extremely low levels. We used to practice flying over barren lands in North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming… and there were times I felt as though I could touch the top telephone poles as we flew over them.
This mode of auto-pilot made the steering system very sensitive, so the plane would respond immediately to the slightest adjustments of the human pilot, hence the ability to stay beneath radar. I have no doubt such a system is that being used by the crew in these photos.
Very cool video, photos & story.
Imagine tactical planners going over how to get the B-52's gigantic radar reflection past AA defense radar.
Pilot: "Earth's reflection is bigger."
That picture is incredible!