Around the World: Operation Power Flite

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ม.ค. 2023
  • On January 18, 1957, five planes took off from Castle Air Force Base in California on "by far the most colorful and perhaps the most important of all peacetime operations ever undertaken by the United States Air Force.”
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    This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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    Script by THG
    #history #thehistoryguy #B52

ความคิดเห็น • 383

  • @rexmyers991
    @rexmyers991 ปีที่แล้ว +127

    I turn 80 in two days and I can clearly remember my dad flying B-25’S up until about 1954 when he transitioned to the B-47. Then, while still at Lincoln AFB, he upgraded to the B-52. Before retiring in 1971, he bombed North Vietnam in B-52’s. I have pictures of him and his crew in a B-25 during WWII. He was my hero. He never talked about WWII, the Cold War, or the Viet Nam war. He did finally admit he was carrying live Nukes during most flights during the Cold War.

    • @derrickwillie4449
      @derrickwillie4449 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Man he must be really old!

    • @Benson_aka_devils_advocate_88
      @Benson_aka_devils_advocate_88 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      I hope you have a wonderful 80th birthday! Here's to as many more as you're ready for!

    • @richness1644
      @richness1644 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      My dad was a bombardier/navigator from 1956 to 1965 at Lincoln AFB. He was in the first squadron to transition from the B29 to the B36. He transitioned to the B47 just before transferring to LAFB.

    • @ClayCult
      @ClayCult ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Happy Birthday, ol' bean!

    • @MetsMagic0416
      @MetsMagic0416 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Happy birthday!!!

  • @nordan00
    @nordan00 ปีที่แล้ว +107

    I got out of BUFF H models in 1992 when the ones I flew were already 30 years old! That was 30 years ago and those pigs are projected to fly for another 30 years! Amazing! Incidentally, the final “F” in BUFF does not stand for “Fellow!”

    • @rabbi120348
      @rabbi120348 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      You're right, but this is a family-friendly channel!

    • @argentum530
      @argentum530 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      True, and we should not let History sanitize the real nickname. Those who worked on and/or around won't forget, and I have occasionally corrected someone in polite conversation. It was an affectionate term, for me at least. I never flew in a BUFF, I worked in CFR and I did put some wet stuff on the red stuff, big planes sure do make a hot fire...

    • @flagmichael
      @flagmichael ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@argentum530 As the comments show, the name is not widely sanitized. The original form has weathered half a century already; I think it will be around longer then the airframes will.

    • @tavi9598
      @tavi9598 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Most people are aware of this if they are at all aware of the nickname. But the sanitized version of the name is used when in polite company. That includes the airmen that have flown them when talking to a TV camera. BUFF is nonetheless one of the legacies of the B52, even if you can't say it properly in front of your kids.

    • @richardstaples8621
      @richardstaples8621 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Must have been a little SNAFU...

  • @mightaswellbe
    @mightaswellbe ปีที่แล้ว +14

    My father was one of the pilots on The Lonesome George. He was added to the crew as an instructor/relief pilot. He was also on the Quick Kick mission. I have his hand written notes for a presentation he gave after Operation Power Flight. I was five at the time.

  • @RetiredSailor60
    @RetiredSailor60 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    Good morning from Ft Worth TX to everyone watching...Former Carlswell Air Force Base (now Joint Reserve Base Ft Worth) is within 20 miles from my house in Watauga.

    • @ande100
      @ande100 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      excited. from Fort Worth, a great day and an interesting story!

    • @EndoftheBlock7224
      @EndoftheBlock7224 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Good morning from Grand Prairie TX

    • @slartybarfastb3648
      @slartybarfastb3648 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Howdy from the free state of Florida!

    • @alancohen5688
      @alancohen5688 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Good morning from El Paso Texas

    • @bepbep7418
      @bepbep7418 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@slartybarfastb3648 as someone who grew up in Florida...."Free" 🤣

  • @MrScott1171
    @MrScott1171 ปีที่แล้ว +86

    I served at Castle AFB in the 93rd Bomb Wing from 1992-94 working on the B-52G. I was impressed with the history of the B-52. These early missions of the B-52 also made it necessary for the KC-135 to be created. I shared this with the B-52 group on Facebook and the Air Force Retiree group too. Thank you for this fascinating history of the oldest Combat Aircraft in the USAF inventory.

    • @Lemiwinks89
      @Lemiwinks89 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Thank you for your service!

    • @ricksanchez3176
      @ricksanchez3176 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      I have a buddy, he was B-52 crew Vietnam era, showing this to him soon. That famous poster with the weapons layout, he spent 15 minutes showing me the actual combinations that could be loaded for one flight.

    • @flagmichael
      @flagmichael ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@ricksanchez3176 I recall a report by a US pilot who was shot down and spent quite some time evading in Vietnam. He had been on the ground a few days when he found himself in the path of an Arc Light strike. He was incredulous when it ended just short of him.

    • @donnybrookinhooligan1088
      @donnybrookinhooligan1088 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Thanks for serving. I grew up with B-52s, KC-35s and the occasional C-5 overhead. All flying out of Castle

    • @jeffking8890
      @jeffking8890 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      We could use a few B-52Gs now to increase the H-model bunch.

  • @cdjhyoung
    @cdjhyoung ปีที่แล้ว +80

    Thank you for including the picture that clearly showed the size difference between the B29 and B36. I had never really understood how large the B36 really was.

    • @truckdaddy1957
      @truckdaddy1957 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      If you get a chance, stand under one. The only aircraft that seemed larger to me, from that perspective, was a Goodyear blimp.

    • @pauljensen5699
      @pauljensen5699 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      ...of course, there was that Monogram model...
      "...over 36 inches long!!!"

    • @cdjhyoung
      @cdjhyoung ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@truckdaddy1957 Does a B36 still exist on display anywhere?

    • @bobmartin4942
      @bobmartin4942 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@cdjhyoung there are 4 on permanent display. One at the national museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton Ohio. One at the SAC Museum near Omaha Nebraska. One at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson Arizona. And finally one in what was Castle Air Force base museum in California.

    • @cdjhyoung
      @cdjhyoung ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@bobmartin4942 Thank you Bob. Dayton is a four hour drive from my home. I've been thinking it is about time I made another visit. Maybe this summer.

  • @GraemePayne1967Marine
    @GraemePayne1967Marine ปีที่แล้ว +13

    I understand that there are now B-52 crewmembers who are operating the same aircraft (same serial number, not just same type) that their grandfathers flew. Another historical "first".
    When I was a teenager, in the mid 1960s, I built a lot of model airplanes. On reading an article about an jet engine that had been developed for flying models, I thought about making a flying B-52 scaled to accomodate eight of the new jet engines. After doing the math, and then having my father (an aeronautical engineer) check it, I realized what a monster it would have been. Just to take off it would have needed a very long, straight stretch of four-lane highway as a runway! Oh well, yet another great idea defeated by math and physics. But since then I have at least been able to see one on display at an air show.
    When I was in Vietnam (1969-70), several times I felt the rumbing of the ground from B-52 strikes, and I was on the coast south of Da Nang, about 50 miles away! The first time, I thought it was an earthquake I was feeling, but a fellow Marine (who had been there longer) told me what it _really_ was.

    • @TS-ev1bl
      @TS-ev1bl ปีที่แล้ว

      My big brother was with a USMC arty unit at An Hoa near Da Nang in 1969. He didn't talk about Nam much after he got home and for the rest of his life, but one of the things I remember him mentioning was being able to feel the B-52 strikes. He described them as you did, like an earthquake, or rolling thunder (hence the name). The feeling of sheer power made a big impression on him, which is saying something for a Marine who served on 175mm guns.
      Ironically, I ended up in the USAF on B-52D's later in the '70s through '82, when our D's went to the bone yard. Being "Big Belly" D models (aka the Dirty Dogs), my wing's aircraft could have easily been some of the same BUFFs he (and you) heard and felt in '69. I sent home a B-52 shirt for him and found out years later he wore it until it was ragged. I had to chuckle at the idea of a Marine wearing a USAF shirt, but his experiences in Nam made him a big fan.

  • @finscreenname
    @finscreenname ปีที่แล้ว +9

    In 1932 we were flying around on wood, canvas and wires with open cockpits. Just twenty years later in 1952 the B-52 took flight.

  • @BlueBaron3339
    @BlueBaron3339 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    Wonderful episode! Oddly, it also reminded me that it's been quite some time since I've watched Dr. Strangelove 😆

  • @LuckyBaldwin777
    @LuckyBaldwin777 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    I remember as a kid in the '60s watching B52s take off from Travis. The roar of the 8 engines and all the black smoke they put out plus the knowledge of all the destruction it contains made for a scary looking aircraft.

  • @Paladin1873
    @Paladin1873 ปีที่แล้ว +60

    I spent 30 years in the Air Force and was unaware of how serious were the early teething problems of the BUFF. I presume you know what the last "F" really stands for. 🙂 The last B-52 was manufactured in 1962. Many of the later models went through Kelly AFB for complete rebuilds and upgrades more than once. Boeing overbuilt them so well, that such a feat was made possible.

    • @flagmichael
      @flagmichael ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Fortress? Flying? Functional? Friend? F... aaah!
      It has been known as "Fellow" in polite society for a very long time. Don't worry - the guys on the point of the spear won't forget.

    • @brantleytinnin6258
      @brantleytinnin6258 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      😆 I was wondering what word he was going to say there

    • @kdrapertrucker
      @kdrapertrucker ปีที่แล้ว

      Now the Rolls-Royce engine facility in Indianapolis, Indiana are building the engines that are an important part of the new B-52 upgrade program. Meanwhile 50 miles north in West Lafayette, the rear half of the Air Force 's new supersonic Jet trainer/attack aircraft is being built at the new SAAB facility.

    • @kdrapertrucker
      @kdrapertrucker ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@flagmichael well, it certainly doesn't stand for Fokker.

    • @Paladin1873
      @Paladin1873 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@kdrapertrucker If you're Scandinavian you might pronounce it that way. 🙂

  • @-jeff-
    @-jeff- ปีที่แล้ว +24

    Thanks THG for showcasing a real historic BUFF for us history buffs! ✈️🌎

  • @slartybarfastb3648
    @slartybarfastb3648 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    The B-52 and it's supporting KC-135 have gone on to be, quite likely, the most economically successful machines any military has ever purchased. The B-52 may still be flying in 2055 using airframes built in 1964.

    • @bepbep7418
      @bepbep7418 ปีที่แล้ว

      Designed. Not built.

    • @russvoight1167
      @russvoight1167 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The last B-52 was built in 1962

    • @-Stop-it
      @-Stop-it ปีที่แล้ว

      @@russvoight1167 - That is amazing!

  • @kylebarton778
    @kylebarton778 ปีที่แล้ว +28

    I enjoy the entire show but man, the way you wrap it up always tugs at my history loving heart. Thank you!

  • @woodwaker1
    @woodwaker1 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    I was fortunate to be stationed at Offutt AFB -SAC HQ from 1970 - 1973 and saw both a SR-71 and B-52s land on the same day. My barracks was just off the flight line, so saw many take offs and landings. I was part of the communications ground crew for Looking Glass, another part of history.

  • @sillyone52062
    @sillyone52062 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    When I was talking flight training at a civilian school at Hagerstown, a fellow student was also a BUFF pilot. I remarked that the Cessna 150 he was training in weighed less than a main landing gear on his B-52. He said that it felt funny to fly an airplane that did not take off nose down.

    • @abbeyjane1306
      @abbeyjane1306 ปีที่แล้ว

      Why would an Air Force pilot be taking flying lessons? Was he getting an instructor rating? I got my private pilot's license at the MCAS El Toro Aero club in 1974. Good times.

  • @carloscastellano8617
    @carloscastellano8617 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    They should do that at various latitudes to prove the shape of the earth
    Constant, documented speed registered throughout the trip at various locations to keep everyone on the same page

    • @rabbi120348
      @rabbi120348 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      We already know that the earth is not flat -- if it were, cats would already have pushed everything off the edge!

  • @paulkinzer7661
    @paulkinzer7661 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Wow! Seeing that B-36 next to the B-29 really brought home to me how big prop planes got.
    My brother worked on the computers in B52s when he was in the Air Force in the 1970s. I recall him saying that, at that time, those computers were mechanical as much as electronic. That they are still in service after this long shows how a good design can last. They've been constantly updated, I know, but it's good to see something continually improved rather than simply replaced.

  • @korbell1089
    @korbell1089 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Air Force public affairs: "we're here to address the safety concerns about our new bomber and..umm, well....OOH LOOK we're breaking a record!!"😉

  • @TheDeepening718
    @TheDeepening718 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Will you please do a history of telescopes? I want to demonstrate how we never know better because the more knowledge you gain the more knowledge you discover you don't have. The history of telescopes proves this.

  • @Carburetors_and_calamaties
    @Carburetors_and_calamaties ปีที่แล้ว +5

    My grandmother used to work for Boeing. First she helped build the b-29s but later on helped build the b-52s. The BUFF will always have a special place in my family.

  • @MCOult
    @MCOult ปีที่แล้ว +2

    My father was in the USAF. In 1955 we were stationed at what had been Roswell Army Air Field, in Roswell, NM, but was by then renamed Walker Air Force Base; it was a part of the Strategic Air Command system. As young children, my brother and I used to watch the B-52s and other aircraft, landing (our base housing was near the runway) and taking off. It was awe-inspiring to us. They are so big, they seemed to blot out the sky.
    Fifteen years later, while I was in the Army, I saw B-52s going to missions over Vietnam. I can remember wondering if any of them were the same planes I had seen in New Mexico. So many of them never returned.
    When everything is considered, the B-52 is possibly the greatest military aircraft ever built.

  • @johnmorykwas2343
    @johnmorykwas2343 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    Excellent video. As a bonfire B-52 Crewdog the world needs to know more about SAC and the B-52. Read the books "We Were Crewdogs'. Thanks!

  • @BoltUpright190
    @BoltUpright190 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    It's a shame you didn't mention the B-47, being an essential stepping stone in the development of the B-52, although the video does show a B-47 @ 12:40.

    • @RANDALLBRIGGS
      @RANDALLBRIGGS ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Good catch! And, yes, the B-47 was a key step in the development of the B-52. It proved the concept of a swept-wing jet-powered bomber for the USAF. The B-47 was a sleeker, more-elegant design, IMO.

    • @BoltUpright190
      @BoltUpright190 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@RANDALLBRIGGS And if you look REALLY close, you'll see Jimmy Stewart flying that B-47.
      Ok, I made that part up.

    • @markridgaway3060
      @markridgaway3060 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@BoltUpright190 Jimmy Stewart with one bad arm... 😉

    • @ralf7817
      @ralf7817 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I to was disappointed no mention of the B47.
      I guess the B47 is just to be a forgotten part of History?

  • @wirebrushofenlightenment1545
    @wirebrushofenlightenment1545 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    18:46 - Wow! - that shot with the B-50 in frame gives a great perspective on the sheer size of the B-36.

  • @wrecklass
    @wrecklass ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I remember seeing and walking (crawling) through the fuselage of the Lucky Lady II in the early 60's as a youngster. The fuselage had been stripped of the wings for storage in a yard where other aircraft were being stored for potential restoration. I remember the men, my dad included, telling me the story of the first flight around the world and explaining to me how in-flight re-fueling worked. The big plane felt cramped to me, and I was just a small lad at the time.

    • @TheHistoryGuyChannel
      @TheHistoryGuyChannel  ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Lucky Lady II crashed in the desert. That is why only the fuselage remains.

  • @dirtcop11
    @dirtcop11 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    I see you sanitized the nickname of the BUFF. The second "F" is actually X-rated. I remember the "Reach out and touch someone" as part of the ATT commercials, I never thought it would apply to the USAF.

    • @TheHistoryGuyChannel
      @TheHistoryGuyChannel  ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Some might use "fella"...

    • @marckyle5895
      @marckyle5895 ปีที่แล้ว

      I remember pictures of some of the precision munitions from Kuwait had Reach Out and Touch Someone painted on them.

  • @rogerd777
    @rogerd777 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    The B-50 was a modification of the B-29 with different engines and some structural changes. There were 370 B-50 models built as opposed to 3,970 B-29 models.

    • @johnosbourn4312
      @johnosbourn4312 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Right, it was designed around using 75ST Aluminum, and the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major, 28 Cylinder radial engine, producing 3,500 horsepower, plus, to offset the massive torque from that big engine, the tail was taller than the B-29's tail, also, due to the increased hight, the entire fin, and rudder could fold, so it could fit existing hangers. Now, here's two more things about the B-50 that you didn't know about, before: One, the designation of B-50 was chosen by the air force to fool Congress into funding the plane, when in fact, it was an evolved variant of the original B-29 design, and the second thing is the fact that the B-50 was the first aircraft in the USAF's history that was equipped for in flight refueling, from the start, plus, it, and the B-52 are the only heavy bombers in the air force's history, to have a pair of external fuel tanks located under the outboard wing panels.

  • @avnrulz8587
    @avnrulz8587 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    One of the veteran DC-6s from The Berlin Airlift is presently sitting on the ramp of my local airport.

  • @kevinferrin5695
    @kevinferrin5695 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I knew about the Douglass flight and the B-52 flight, but I had not heard of the two intervening circumnavigations. That's immensely cool. Thank you.

  • @outlawd1
    @outlawd1 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    My Father John Sr , In the Navy at 17 and on to Airforce later as a supply clerk SAC was a movie he loved to watch,,outstanding information history guy👦 Johny Subic approves 👍

  • @Cal-cf2vo
    @Cal-cf2vo ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My son is in the USAF as a weapons maintainer on B-52's. Very proud of him and his crew

  • @navret1707
    @navret1707 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I am only 6 years older than a BUFF.
    I had been a crewman on a P-3 for about 10 years when I went to Mather AFB for in-flight nav training. We got base housing, substandard of course, because we were there for only about 8 months. Mather was a BUFF base and the housing was off the end of one of the runways. When the BUFFs would come or go the whole house shook. Until then, I had no idea just how big the BUFF really is.

  • @skeetrix5577
    @skeetrix5577 ปีที่แล้ว

    I could listen to you talk about military aircraft every second of my life and I would not get bored... sending lots of love and thanks from St Louis my friend!

  • @georgeperkins4171
    @georgeperkins4171 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    My dad was a navigator/bombardier on the b37, b47, and b52. I built a large plastic model of the b36 that hung from my ceiling. I got to see these planes up close alot ( except the b36).

  • @michaeljewell3675
    @michaeljewell3675 ปีที่แล้ว

    My father , then a 1st Lt. was the pilot of the Global Queen. He had been a test pilot in those early mid-air refueling tests. They took off from Texas 25 Feb. 1949. Engine problems over the Atlantic forced an emergency landing in the Azores. He had many interesting stories about WWII and the Cold War. He had survived Pearl Harbor, and flown in the Pacific theatre. He retired from the Air Force in 1965 as a Lt. Col. and B-52 command pilot in SAC.

  • @hburns16
    @hburns16 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I attended graduate school with an Air Force officer who was a Buff pilot. At one point, he was assigned to the same plane his grandfather had flown!

  • @paulcochran1721
    @paulcochran1721 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I was stationed at Castle in the late 80s, Glad to see it mentioned. Big Ugly Fat "Fella" 😂 - Small nit pick - At 12:45 the plane being refueled is a B47 (only 6 engines). B52s are getting an engine upgrade soon.

  • @XZoomie
    @XZoomie ปีที่แล้ว +3

    My Dad worked as a mechanic on both B-50s and B-52s. I remember seeing both types fly as a kid. Thanks for the flight down memory lane!

  • @lightbox617
    @lightbox617 ปีที่แล้ว

    1955 to 2023 and for the next 20 years. Constant re engining and electronics updates speak to the talent of original designers and engineers

  • @tomhill7849
    @tomhill7849 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My grandfather Marcus Lee Hill II was a co-pilot durning operation Quickkick and was also copilot on Lonesome George durning operation Power Flight. It was one of greatest honor to be part of both operations.

  • @drzarkov39
    @drzarkov39 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Some years ago, I watch a documentary on the 1924 around the world flight. It was fantastic, exciting, and heroic in the adventures they had. I'd love to see a Hollywood epic made of the flight. I wish you would do an entire episode on it.

  • @tlspud
    @tlspud ปีที่แล้ว +1

    My dad was in the 509th. He went to school to learn the B-29. The day they graduated from ground school, they were told they were going back to school to learn the B-47. Learning those early computerized systems really paid off later in dad's career.

  • @glorybound7599
    @glorybound7599 ปีที่แล้ว

    I remember as a young teenager visiting my grandmother in Orlando, Florida every summer. She lived close to McCord AFB where a wing of B-52 bombers were based during the 1960’s and 70’s. I would ride my motorcycle to a parking area near one end of the runway just watch them takeoff and land. Beck then the fuel still created a black smoke, I would loose sight of the aircraft as they taxied to the far end of the runway until they turned, displaying that huge vertical stabilizer on the tail section. A huge cloud of black smoke would appear as they throttled up. Taking off from a runway almost two miles long and unlike any other jet the aircraft lifted in a level attitude. I watched as it climbed and retraced it’s unique belly and wing tip landing gear, pass over my head and slowly lumber out of sight.

  • @tfp0052
    @tfp0052 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    When you care enough to send the very best!

  • @RazingthenRaising
    @RazingthenRaising ปีที่แล้ว +3

    My dad's favorite plane is the B-52. I wish that we had video of him telling all of his stories. He was in the group in the Air Force that kept the B-52 in the air 24 hours a day for several years.
    He actually built a bench in the house I grew up in that has legs that are made from the compressor inlet pipes of a B-52 engine.
    I'll have to get a video of that and share it. ;) I still have access to that house for now.

  • @JohnsonChristopher1
    @JohnsonChristopher1 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Watched on Rumble, left a like and a comment to help you with the TH-cam Algorithm. God bless...

  • @Winter_Sportster
    @Winter_Sportster ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Unless I've missed it, I think a new recap of Burt Rutan's "Voyager" and it's 'round the world, non-stop, non-refueled flight would be very interesting.
    I believe your level of handling of this subject would make for a great video.
    Thank You!!

  • @comicus01
    @comicus01 ปีที่แล้ว

    January 1957 is 54 years after the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk (almost 53 years in fact, they flew on Dec 17 1903). And now we are 66 years past that date. I think that is also an amazing detail.

  • @danieljackowitz2343
    @danieljackowitz2343 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Great vid! I learned a lot about the B-52 plane and how it was saved in it's infancy. The only thing that I missed was a listing of the men who gave their lives to test and fly these planes. It really shows caring about them, and honoring their lives and legacy. Just a thought on how I think these great videos could be enriched. Thanks again!!

  • @LowEarthOrbitPilot
    @LowEarthOrbitPilot ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Great episode!
    I love your aviation history segments 🥰🛩️✈️

  • @roberttaylor7637
    @roberttaylor7637 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Another Great Episode!

  • @almostfm
    @almostfm ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks for mentioning the Lindsay Gazette. Lindsay is a city of about 12,000 people about 15 miles from me, and the paper is still printing.

  • @alancranford3398
    @alancranford3398 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I enjoyed this presentation tremendously. Good start with the Douglas World Cruisers and then going through the development of the Stratofortress. There's a 1943 Disney movie called "Victory Through Air Powe" that showcases conceptual B-36 bombers.

    • @allangibson8494
      @allangibson8494 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Not conceptual - the B-36 detail design was already underway in 1943. The first flight happened in 1946 just after WW2 ended.
      The B-36 replaced the B-32 that replaced the B-24 on Convair’s production lines.

  • @larryjohnson7591
    @larryjohnson7591 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Yeah, the B-52 is the only plane in the Air Force that has had a Grandfather, Father, and Grandson fly the same plane. Sometimes you just can't improve on what you have.

  • @AaronLitz
    @AaronLitz ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Just think: if the B-52 program had failed in its infancy, we may never have gotten _Rock Lobster!_

  • @cyankirkpatrick5194
    @cyankirkpatrick5194 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    This has the tune Luck be lady in my head, thank you. Nelly Bly went around the world in 72 days beating the record in 84 days

  • @1KJRoberts
    @1KJRoberts ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Another fine, historical gem.

  • @grantpratt299
    @grantpratt299 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Reminded me of your "The Harrowing Journey of a Pacific Clipper"

  • @ronhaefner7833
    @ronhaefner7833 ปีที่แล้ว

    Back in the late 70s we would have B52 overfly the farm field out of Topeka during the summer. They were so low we could see the crew and they would wave at us and this was several times a day. It was awesome.

  • @cojaxart8986
    @cojaxart8986 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks Lance, great stuff! We appreciate you detailed reporting!

  • @edwardloomis887
    @edwardloomis887 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thank you, Colonel James H. Morris. I hope you are still flying around the world, albeit at a much higher altitude.

  • @BasicDrumming
    @BasicDrumming ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I appreciate you, thank you for making content.

  • @josemoreno3334
    @josemoreno3334 ปีที่แล้ว

    My time in the USAF. I enjoyed watching all the aircraft that flew on the bases I went TDY too. As a telephone linesman, We did some work around the airfields installing WX cables for the control towers. I just love watching those aircrafts taxing, Landing and taking off. I loved watching B-52s at the SAC bases I was sent too like March and Castle. I was even sent to Offutt AFB, SAC HQ too.. Best of all in 1980 at Edwards AFB, I walked into a hanger and inside was the first B-1 bombers. There were two of them. One painted gray the other white. That blew my mind. Good story about the B52s by the way. By 2050 I'll be 95 years old, Wow. Good video History Guy.

  • @arthurbarrow2847
    @arthurbarrow2847 ปีที่แล้ว

    Great video! Thanks! Go History Guy!

  • @ChessIsJustAGame
    @ChessIsJustAGame ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Just watched The Aviator, (2004) and in it, was the claim of a record breaking 3 days around the world by Howard Hughes.

  • @chrispemberton7000
    @chrispemberton7000 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That is some history alright. Thanks

  • @tomh6183
    @tomh6183 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks History Guy another well done presentation!

  • @mattgeorge90
    @mattgeorge90 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Another great episode!

  • @paulsmodels
    @paulsmodels ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Wow! That was an awesome video of some awesome airplanes and their crews!

  • @stoneyll
    @stoneyll ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Absolutely fascinating~!

  • @garneauweld1100
    @garneauweld1100 ปีที่แล้ว

    Just a fantastic presentation.

  • @christopherharris6145
    @christopherharris6145 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    A B-52 crew member told me at an Air Show that BUFF stood for a much more colorful acronym than yours. He said it stood for Big Ugly Flying F.

  • @Blaklege63
    @Blaklege63 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    As always, excellent job

  • @btrowbridge8958
    @btrowbridge8958 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Your family car may last 10 years if your lucky. B-52 are more than 60 years old and STILL useful WOW! I would add the KC-135 (Boeing 707)Tanked that fuel it, is also that old and still around. Amazing! Let here it for the designers that did it so quickly and without a calculator or computer.

  • @lewiswestfall2687
    @lewiswestfall2687 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks

  • @tessat338
    @tessat338 ปีที่แล้ว

    Though it is a bit remote, a visit to Castle Air Force Museum in Atwater, CA is well worth the trip and the time, if you are an aircraft enthusiast.

  • @TreeSawyer
    @TreeSawyer ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Hey there! Not sure if you read many of these suggestions in the comment section for future videos due to the large amount I’m sure you get, but I have one that I’ve been wishing to see you do for sometime. It seems that the British attack on French ships at Mers El Kebir would be an amazing story to know more about! It couldn’t have been an easy decision to make. And I’m sure lots of us would love to know any details you could dig up on it! Thanks again for all you do!

  • @mikeneely6190
    @mikeneely6190 ปีที่แล้ว

    I worked as an engineer at Boeing in the late 1970's and early 1980's. I worked on upgrading the avionic systems (putting digital avionics) on the B-52. During that time I worked with a lot of crew members who had a lot of stories about flying in the B-52 including some harrowing ones over Vietnam dodging missiles. Nothing like sitting in a fully fueled and running aircraft sitting on an all wood structure (trestle in Albuquerque)

  • @lynnsample4549
    @lynnsample4549 ปีที่แล้ว

    I had the honor of being a member of the 96th Bomb Wing in '72-'75 working on the B-52D at that time. I was just a bit older than the aircraft I worked on. Fun times, in retrospect.

  • @AugustusTitus
    @AugustusTitus ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The secret that they got right in the design of the B-52 is the wing. No other airplane has such a square wing all the way to the wing tip, and all of that space holds fuel.

    • @scottholman3982
      @scottholman3982 ปีที่แล้ว

      And that wing is so heavy it would drag on the ground if not for the tiny little wheels that lower down! The wings flex well in excess of 20 feet during flight.

  • @billmcdonald4335
    @billmcdonald4335 ปีที่แล้ว

    Closest I got to a BUFF was on exercise in the North Atlantic. Having one of those bad boys fly less than 350 feet overhead with its bomb bay doors open puts the fear into you, for sure. Glad they were on our side. Seeing a Soviet Bear-D do the same thing adds a totally different layer of Pucker Factor, tho'. I appreciate seeing both back in the day; don't really need a repeat view of either now, thanks.

  • @alantoon5708
    @alantoon5708 ปีที่แล้ว

    Another outstanding program.
    The remaining B-52's are scheduled to be fitted with new engines and radars, and will serve alongside the new B-21 Raider for many more years.
    The B-52's will outlive both the B-1 and B-2...

  • @bigsarge2085
    @bigsarge2085 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Incredible story!

  • @callenclarke371
    @callenclarke371 ปีที่แล้ว

    WOW~!
    I thought I knew about the BUFF. I knew they had done the circumnavigation mission, but I didn't know the details. Well done THG!

  • @paulknappcollections
    @paulknappcollections ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Could you research and do a story on the SAC bomber that crashed in the woods in West Virginia? I believe it was in the 1960s or early 70s. Thanks

    • @TheHistoryGuyChannel
      @TheHistoryGuyChannel  ปีที่แล้ว +9

      I suspect you mean the Savage Mountain accident in 1964. The accident was in Maryland, but very close to West Virginia. The B-52D's vertical stabilizer broke off. It is discussed around 9:05 in this episode: th-cam.com/video/yIrSBmG46n8/w-d-xo.html

  • @MarshOakDojoTimPruitt
    @MarshOakDojoTimPruitt ปีที่แล้ว +2

    thanks

  • @jeffbangkok
    @jeffbangkok ปีที่แล้ว

    Excellent. Good morning

  • @texasdustfart
    @texasdustfart ปีที่แล้ว

    I want to take this opportunity to salute my late friend TSgt Massey, crew chief on both the B52 and the KC135 (the refueling tanker shown here), slow salute Sargent. Don would have loved this video, thank you for posting.

  • @kdrapertrucker
    @kdrapertrucker ปีที่แล้ว

    The plane that is projected to last over 100 years in service was designed in less then 48 hours in a motel room in a small Midwest town.

  • @johncoe929
    @johncoe929 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I have a model B-50 hanging from my ceiling to commemorate the around-the-world flight.

  • @comicus01
    @comicus01 ปีที่แล้ว

    At 16:00 THG mentions George Gobel. George is featured in what for me is the funniest ever clip from The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Highly recommend going and watching it here on youtube (Dean Martin is also in it, and if you find the really long version, Bob Hope as well).

  • @tristanholland6445
    @tristanholland6445 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    The first shot with the KC-97 is actually a B-47 not a B-52 which has a very interesting history itself.

  • @Supahmatt1
    @Supahmatt1 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Cool History on a cool Birthday!

  • @CdA_Native
    @CdA_Native ปีที่แล้ว

    Fairchild AFB near Spokane was home to the B-36's and then later the B-52's. Great watching them as a kid.....and led me to join the Air Force during the Vietnam Era.

  • @robertroberts5218
    @robertroberts5218 ปีที่แล้ว

    Oh tge things we learn here. Very cool.

  • @garydavis5703
    @garydavis5703 ปีที่แล้ว

    I was stationed at Ellsworth AFB, SD, as a telecommunications operations specialists (2148CS) from 1978 - 1982. The 52's were and still are magnificent aircraft. Strategic Air Command (SAC): Our Way or the Highway.....

    • @scottholman3982
      @scottholman3982 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      SAC - Peace is our profession. (War is just our hobby.)

    • @garydavis5703
      @garydavis5703 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@scottholman3982 Yes, sir - that's absolutely right - miss those old days of SAC. We had to follow their regulations to the letter, and their Operational Readiness Inspections were brutal: made our squadron a lot better...

  • @timdodd3897
    @timdodd3897 ปีที่แล้ว

    I worked G model buffs. Such an amazing aircraft.

  • @neilperry2224
    @neilperry2224 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The B36 , 6 turning , 4 burning g sometimes literally at times

    • @NoMoreCrumbs
      @NoMoreCrumbs ปีที่แล้ว

      "2 turning, 2 burning, 2 smoking, 2 joking, and 2 as yet unaccounted for"

  • @scrapiron1952
    @scrapiron1952 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I remember watching B-52's taking off at March AFB Riverside Ca.👌👍💪🇺🇸