MAN...THOSE B-52 PILOTS ARE GOOD!

I grew up about one mile from Barksdale Air Force Base, and still live about a mile from the West Gate. Barksdale is home to the B-52s, and I have watched B-52's fly almost daily. It is one impressive flying machine. The things are so big you can't really believe that they're airborne...but they are.

The B-52 can carry about 500 one thousand pound bombs, and can fly for about forty-thousand miles on one tank of gas. I'm exaggerating of course, but it is one of the U.S. military's most prized weapons.

It's amazing to me that they built these big rascals before I was born, and they are still in service today...still whippin' hiney! I got this photo and computer letter from an old pilot (just private, not AF) friend. When I saw the photo I thought, "Dang...that old boy really knew what he was doing."


True story...bet the bad guy's satellites went berserk looking at this one...!
(and it wasn't the Navy paying off a bet against AF!)

Subject: the real story

While this may look like a gag shot, it is actually a "transport of a transport" necessity.

The B-52 was in Beirut, Lebanon undergoing routine fuel tank cleaning. Workmen accidentally damaged the bladder system and had to install the bladders from smaller C-130s temporarily.

The plane was flown to nearby McCollough air base where it was lifted upon a barge bound for Tyre on the Mediterranean. Once there it was off-loaded onto the carrier deck for transport to Crete where the appropriate tank bladders were installed. It was then flown back to Beirut. Military cooperation in action.