Thanks so much for posting these Griffiss AFB videos. I was born and raised in Rome, NY. Graduated from RFA in 83'. Worked every summer on Griffiss cutting grass and working in the mail room. I got into OTS thanks to base commanders reccomendation, and the B-52 squadron commanders letter also. Great guys stationed at Griffiss AFB! Rome misses the Base Bad!
I was a pilot in the 41st AREFS there at the Griff from 1974 to 1978 and spent exactly 52 weeks of my career on alert - most at the Griff, but some also at Minot AFB in NoDak. Some great people and fun flying times at Griffiss, and I married the OIC of the Vault - 416th BMW at Griffiss, where all the secret stuff was kept back then. Flew in several ORI's where we flew 30-second MITOs wiht the B-52's and KC-135's - made for some very smoke-darkened skies. Best assignment, best base, best people! Sorry it closed - sorry Rome. And when I returned to see the base in 2003, I was greeted by the damn hangar queen of all B-52's - tail #225. Good place for it; Gross George and crew flew that aircraft in an ORI and made it work!!!
+Joe Owen Hello, my thoughts exactly, as I recall 58-225 made an unscheduled (maintenance) landing in Spain perhaps on Chrome Dome Mission, and was returned with a large pig painted on the nose. However the folks in Spain removed and replaced all of the good equipment and sent the bomber back with all of their junk! Live in NY and was contacted to help mothball the ole girl, all of us volunteers have our names enclosed inside. Good base, but SAC was a tenant organization and as such we had to pull KP, SAC Base personnel did not!
Just out of curiosity, was your AC known as Gross George the one and only Gross Grogan, who was also stationed at Columbus, MS?? His crew was a hoot, including the downstairs team that flew with a cobra in a basket between their seats!
Joe Owen I spent more than a little time pulling alert at Minot. Tanker Crew Chief here. My first tour was on the bomber pad, when they decided to park a tanker there for awhile. '81 to '85. Chow hall in the bomber pad hutch was pretty good, better than down the other end. Good omelettes. I had no idea that earlier tankers had reversers, other than on the latest models. My plane was 58 0091. "Tower Tail", because the tail got chopped off up on the pad. Clipped a light tower with a wingtip, swung down and chopped off the entire empennage. They rebuilt it, but slightly crooked. Plane was something of a hooptie. Had a lot of hours. Always needed more rudder trim then other planes to fly straight, ( more or less ). I was talking to a radar troop who remembers working on my plane. He told me when mounting a new radar unit, they had to position it slightly off kilter, to get the correct picture.
I was almost 11 for this show. We were definitely on the Observation pointthe day prior watching all of the arrivals. Seeing the 52's and 135 pre-camo brings it all back. Thanks for sharing.
We were stationed at Griffiss during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I'll never forget it, I was 8 years old. I can remember my father every night for about two weeks getting a phone call and heading to the the flight line. My memory might be a little fuzzy but I think all the fighters would scramble three abreast every 5 seconds and then the B 52's would take off. The whole town would shake. I still get goose bumps thinking of it. Please share your memories and correct me on mine if mine are a little fuzzy over these 57 years. Look forward to your memories.
I was stationed there in 1963/65 . Worked in 416 th SAC on the hill. Remember the crown domes seeing the planes take off one after another .What a great plane the 52's are even today.
+haldiott Hello, Stationed at GAFB 62-65. 416th AEMS B-52 Bomb/Nav Tech. Arrived in Oct 62 just prior to Cuban Missile Crises. Scared shitless as we recovered and cocked/loaded all of our bombers, nothing moving on the flight line except AP's and CDF in blue crew cab pick-ups, knew nothing about why until President Kennedy's speech that evening. Original unit was the 4039 Strat Wing, later changed to the 416 HBW to give us a sense of history. If attacked we were supposed to flee to nearby Verona. Was there when 57-6501 - the B-52G in this video arrived from Wichita where it was one of the first to have reinforced wings for the low level flying for Terrain Avoidance (our system - had a nasty habit of inverting the video display as the aircraft neared an object it was trying to fly around.) It was never put on Alert, but flew training or Hardhead or Chrome Dome missions only. Object was to put large hours on the airframe as a test of the upgrade reliability - as I recall anyway. The MITO's (Minimum Interval Take Off's) were scheduled (save for ORI's) and the locals would flock to watch. Runway was two miles long, had multiple aircraft on it at the same time pumping out black smoke as they strained to take-off in each others jet wash. At lift off they spread out in different angles to avoid the same turbulence of the aircraft ahead. The bombers had GAM's (later AGM - Air to Ground Missiles - Hound Dogs) and used the added two engines at take off. When I was first there, the ORI's (Operational Readiness Inspections) the Alert Birds (loaded with weapons) were sent aloft as if an actual attack. Later they removed the weapons before the MITO. The Alert birds were then just taxied to take-off then recalled and downloaded to await a MITO. There were three levels of alerts, the First; the crews ran to the alert aircraft and started the engines (cartridge starts - much smoke) then stood down. The Second, same engine starts and then taxied before being told to stand down The Third was the first two combined, except....Armageddon. The crews never knew which they were facing. The "crown domes" you refer to one of which may have been the yellow radome atop AEMS where we operated one of the same radars that were installed on the bombers. It was also utilized as a place to hide all of the maintenance supplies we were not allowed to have when were were inspected by 8th AF. The Old Timers had figured out that aircraft down time could be reduced by us repairing the "cans" that we weren't even supposed to open.
+Randolph Abercrombie We were on the hill (The Personal Equipment Section ) We made sure all the helmets and life rafts and and other equipment were ok if the crew had to bale out. CMSgt Lynn was in charge of our shop..
+Randolph Abercrombie Funny, but we never really knew many people outside of our Section. We lived together in the three story brick barracks next to the Chow Hall. Did you pull Snow Removal? Was amazed that we highly trained and valuable personnel would be sent up on the bombers and tankers in our arctic gear with a rope attached to our waists connected to a guy who was supposed to keep you from hitting the ground if you slipped like on the aircraft enamel markings. They sprayed the tankers which could not take off with an half inch of ice on them, but the snow still accumulated on the wings anyway. The bombers could take off with tons of snow on them, but we removed it anyway. I recall the first winter we had over three hundred inches of snow and learned what Lake Effect was. As an A2C we did not have access to the NCO Club but did go to the airman's club (no alcohol) down behind the Thrift Store. Recall the country store which supplemented us on our days when the chow was liver? A snack bar, the movie theatre with rows for the Alert Crews, trucks parked outside with the motors running, the library, the base hospital, I think you guys worked around the ejection seats; Bomb/Nav and the Nav positions ejected downwards and sometimes when we were working, Techs would pull the hatches beneath our feet and give us a start! Recall Black Hats, Red Hats, Green Hats and Blue Hats on the flight line. Parachute tape with names and units, stenciled on them before the Blue and White USAF name patches reflective tape on the ear protectors in little plastic vials, Short Timer Ribbons - actually ribbons from Seagram's Whiskey which had to be consumed in one day. Some us had been issued the grey fatigues from the early days instead of the Army Olive Drab ones.
+Randolph Abercrombie My wife and I lived off base in Utica ,New York . When my four years were up they offered me E-5 and $1000 for each year I would re up,but they said I may have to go back to southeast Asia again and I said No thanks,
I remember this day vividly! and watching this B-52's angle of climb. What i think gets lostin this video is how close the B-52 seemed to come to stall. Great base, great people, Great area. I too was CE 84-88. Pawlak.
Thanks for posting this GREAT footage of a Griffiss BUFF vonderlinn! I was stationed at the Griff from 1984-1986 in the 416th MMS & supplied these B-52's with ALCM's & SRAM's. Griffiss was a beautiful base & I hated to see it close.
I was also in the 416 MMS from 1985 until I retired in 1986. Started as the NCOIC of the weapons release shop, was the acting first sergeant for a month and worked in supervision.
@@MikeMurphy-ev6hg ...Tom Daniels, 416th MMS late '62 to '64 SAC. Cuban missile crisis, Things were "jumping" then. The U.S. encircled the USSR with B-52's, 24-7 until things calmed down. Griffiss afb was rotating the "heavys" from all over. Plattsburg was doing the same..
Stationed at Castle AFB, Ca... 84-90, 46 BUFF hardstands.... Never saw a climb like the one at 2:00. Then again, Castle was a pilot training base for new pilots...Sure miss the chest rumbling awesomeness of 8 TF33s pounding water. The smell and sound of freedom... Thanks to all who served, serving and those who support the war fighters..
TF-33's were on H models, they were turbo-fan engines with no water. You must be mistaking it with the J-57 turbo-jet which is what the G model in this video has
Stationed at the Griff from May 1982 to Feb 1984. I plowed snow off of the runway all hours of the day and night. Was in the 416th CES. Sad to see that the base closed.
416th CSG there (graphics & photo) from '80 to '83. Use to LOVE driving the perimeter road at night and see light snow on the BUFF's that weren't in the hangers, so quiet, surreal & deadly! Some great memories... beautiful countryside there, up to Lake Delta and all that area, concerts in Syracuse (Rolling Stones, Genesis & the Kinks), and Utica for college classes. I did the NCO club poster-calendars and SAC/TAC briefing stuff.
Remember seeing these guys both at the airshow and also now and again flying over the Southern-Tier of New York. Was always in awe of them. 668th Bomb Squadron if I remember correctly...some of them later had the Statue of Liberty painted on the tail...Revell made a 1/144 plastic model of one of them.
You are right....there is a B52 on display at the old Griffiss AFB...when there I took loads of pics....was with the 494thBW, 862BSq out of Sheppard for 10 years and then with 933BW in Guam....flew backwards (tail gunner on B52Ds)...this bird will never be replaced.....retired after 25 years in USAF...best career I ever had. If yo live near by, I really suggest you go to Rome and Griffiss and see that BUFF up close and personal.
I lived near GAFB as a kid, lot's of strange and loud noises at night. 1973 was crazy, new screamer at night, turned out to be SR-71 was doing recon over the Yom Kipper war zone. In the 1980's they would do these low level night scrambles, tankers and B-52 would come low over our suburb 20 miles from the base, nose to tail making a hell of a racket. In the early 1990's I was working for a large company and two guys were AF pilots, both flew out of Griffiths, they laughed when I told them.
my house is lined up with a runway so aircraft on final fly right above my house. once a f/a 18 landed and then 45 minutes later took off in the night. woke up both times
I was stationed at Griff 72-74. I worked in hanger 101 in the engine shop building the J57 engines for both the B-52 and KC135. I was also right next to those SR-71 ‘s. At the peak of operations, there were 5 of them in one hanger bay of bldg. 101. I got to see them every day while they were there.
Any Crew Chiefs remember TSgt Wood? aka Woody. I was Griffiss from 86-90. I can't believe they tore down the base housing. I don't miss the sound of engine runs in the middle of the night. Or do I miss having to monitor the scanner before and after work so I knew what was going on, because if you didn't know what was on, Woody would eat you for lunch. What I do miss is going out to the plane at midnight on Sunday. It was so quiet and I can still remember the sound of walking across the flight line and the snow crunching beneath my feet. Then one by one the power units would startup ending the quietness. And I certainly don't miss having to shovel from my front door to the car, shovel out my parking place at work, then shovel off the planes and grounding spots and paths for the equipment, etc. etc. etc. When there I missed when the Delta Darts left, they were so cool.
I remember as a kid when the darts would break the sound barrier. We live on Gansevoort, by Dominick st. We rode our bikes to the observation point most days in the summer.
@@robwade642 Woody was your worst nightmare if you didn't know what you were supposed to know or you tried to BS or lie to him, he would literally chew you a new one. If E.F. Hutton was tuned into the flight line chatter, even they'd drop what they were doing to listen.
@@JesusIsaFlatEarther Woody never bothered me. I worked Bomber Phase and didn't have to deal with him except for weekend duty that we usually pulled on the flightline. I remember him always ranting about how he could outpull anyone with his truck :).
@@robwade642 Bomber Phase, that was when they did the 50 hour inspections, etc.?Just once did I get tasked with washing my plane. I used to run the weekend duty for Crew Chiefs, it was so laid back most of the time, I even had my 6 year old son ride in the cockpit during a tow, he loved that. But if it snowed heavy, we'd be called up to the alert pad sometimes in the middle of the night to push snow off those planes. I often use as an example, the B-52 mechanical attitude indicator to prove planes never compensate for any curvature to the Earth. Because if you set the auto-pilot if the Earth had any curvature, at 500 mph after just one hour, you'd end up in space, as theirs 166,666 feet of curvature in 500 miles and at 1,000 miles, it's 666,666 feet of curvature, which is 126 miles of curvature. They don't call it sea level for nothing.
I attending my follow on training from Sheppard AFB at Griffis prior to heading to my assignment at Loring AFB. I really enjoyed working on those aircraft.
Those pups coming in for landings at GAFB,..right over our house at 2100 Baker Ave in Utica...made us feel good about our being Americans.. but we knew we would be a major target if the you know what hit the fan.
Dave, do you ever remember a story from the Alert Pad about 1989, where when the sun came up your sentry found a Crew Chief tied to the fire bottle in front of a plane, that was right next to the Alert Pad? The grave yard shift of Crew Chiefs were infamous for doing stupid stuff to people when it was their last day. Once at day shift roll call we find they tied a guy to an office chair, gagged him and covered him with some nasty liquid and flour and raised him in the chair to the top of the hanger via a hoist.
@@JesusIsaFlatEarther , Yes I do... The Tower guy that night got an Article-15, Demoted to Sra... My last day @ Eglin AFB... They tied me to a tree, poured Used motor oil over me. I was prepared, brought towels & clothes with me... It's Tradition !
@@daveschozer6166 wow, never heard that story about the article 15, the demotion was overboard, that really sucks and I don't recall anything happening to the Crew Chiefs. I hadn't heard the SPS guys were doing similar stupid stuff. I was prepared too, I didn't show up for my last day. I remember riding in the Crew Chief van and they would pull over next to someone just walking on the flight line and abduct them, like something out of a movie. Another time a guy was driving the van on the flight line and they yanked him right out of his seat. I used to laugh when we pulled up to one of the specialty guys, they wouldn't get near the truck, they looked at us like hoodlums from the wrong side of the tracks and rightly so. I made the mistake of falling asleep in the dorm at this bare base deployment in Oklahoma, while everyone was still awake and drinking. I woke to find myself duct taped to my cot and being put outside in the freezing cold. The vans had these tool racks you could sleep on when empty. Well if you did, they would take safety wire and make a cage out of it and when day shift came on and got in the truck, there the guy was still asleep with no way to get out. If I had to choose between being tied to a tree and having motor oil poured on me, of face MSgt. Wood in a bad mood, it would be a toss up.
@@daveschozer6166 I came out of the alert shack with a couple of crew mates of mine sometime around that timeframe (89-92) to see an SP’s standing at X-ray with a young, shirtless dude duct-taped to a chair. The tape was wound around his face and hair, too. (I’d forgotten until reading this that the poor bastard had also been doused in some liquid.) Naturally, we headed over to see just what the hell was going on. The standing SP explained that this was the victim’s first duty tour on the alert pad and this was his initiation. It’s funny, but I brought this incident up within the past couple of weeks with a buddy of mine who was stationed with me at the bomb wing there. It was just one of many crazy things I witnessed during my 5 year stint as a so-called SAC Warrior at Griffiss and Mather!
I remember that day, still an impressive and capable airframe. Spent lots of long hours on that and many other Griff G's, wouldn't give up a minute of it. Sad to see GAFB close and even sadder to see SAC get murdered.
@@petermccavington8232Your comments a year old but if you’ve not been told or Googled it” SAC” stands for Strategic Air Command”up until it was disbanded(1946-1992)and the USAF reorganized it(to Global Strike Command)was the group that operated the Nuclear bombers and ICBM(missiles)!🇺🇸
Notice how the B-52 is slightly nose down in level flight during the flyby. That's because her wings are swept so far aft that her center of lift is slightly behind her center of gravity. Most airplanes are just the opposite and travel slightly nose up in level flight.
Well, no. CG better be in front of CL, or the airplane would be longitudinally unstable. The Buff flies in that attitude because the wings are mounted at a 6 degree angle of incidence. For that same reason, the Buff doesn't "rotate" at liftoff, it takes off in pretty much level attitude (the flight manual describes liftoff speed as "unstick" speed, not rotation speed).
At 4:47, that is a bad ass, mean looking MF and saying "I can kick your butt anyplace on this globe so sit down!". Griffiss AFB was one of the most beautiful bases in the nation. I wasn't able to PCS to the Hudson vally, but did make it to Glasglow AFB :). Thks 'vonderlinn' for the vid and memories. Now to part 2. 081013.
Is this base still open? I remember always seeing the big plane with the satellite on top. Plane was going pretty low & slow. I guess they was just practicing
Many individuals commenting were at this base at the Same time or just leaving as some were arriving. Seems like many were based there 80-90 with the year 1984 coming up a few times.
Good old #6501! I'm pretty certain that more that one SP from the 416th SPS can tell you exactly how many rivets held her together. (No disrespect intended, I was a member of the 416th SPS.)
heh i was 7 or 8 back in 89-90 and the f-117a had just been declassified to the public, and it was publicly shown ofr one of the first ever times at an air show at griffiss
The B-52 in this a G model, they were powered by the J-57 turbo-jet with water injection. The tanker is an E model powered with the TF-33 Turbo-fan engine (no water injection, because of the increased thrust of the turbo-fan) which was also used on the B-52H which was the last version of the B-52 produced.
I'm always interested in hearing stories from the cold war. Particularly stories from SAC crews and people stationed on the DEW line. Got any good ones? Tailed by the Soviets ever?
The runway was in a semi valley. The land at one end was a whole lot higher the the other end. If you parked on "perimeter road" at the high end, when one landed, you would have thought that they would sweep you off the road. As they touched down, you were looking at the top of the aircraft. The wind could get really nasty at times. I watched some B-52's land with the gear turned so far that the cockpit was pointing to one side of the runway and the tail to the other. (at an angle ).
see that brick building in the background at 3:55, at the B52 turn? That was my first duty station, AFK shop. i was thaere during this filming, could be in the building at that moment!
Thanks so much for posting these Griffiss AFB videos. I was born and raised in Rome, NY. Graduated from RFA in 83'. Worked every summer on Griffiss cutting grass and working in the mail room. I got into OTS thanks to base commanders reccomendation, and the B-52 squadron commanders letter also. Great guys stationed at Griffiss AFB! Rome misses the Base Bad!
Man do I love the sound of those engines and remember it so well at Griff........
I was a pilot in the 41st AREFS there at the Griff from 1974 to 1978 and spent exactly 52 weeks of my career on alert - most at the Griff, but some also at Minot AFB in NoDak. Some great people and fun flying times at Griffiss, and I married the OIC of the Vault - 416th BMW at Griffiss, where all the secret stuff was kept back then. Flew in several ORI's where we flew 30-second MITOs wiht the B-52's and KC-135's - made for some very smoke-darkened skies. Best assignment, best base, best people! Sorry it closed - sorry Rome. And when I returned to see the base in 2003, I was greeted by the damn hangar queen of all B-52's - tail #225. Good place for it; Gross George and crew flew that aircraft in an ORI and made it work!!!
+Joe Owen
Hello, my thoughts exactly, as I recall 58-225 made an unscheduled (maintenance) landing in Spain perhaps on Chrome Dome Mission, and was returned with a large pig painted on the nose. However the folks in Spain removed and replaced all of the good equipment and sent the bomber back with all of their junk! Live in NY and was contacted to help mothball the ole girl, all of us volunteers have our names enclosed inside. Good base, but SAC was a tenant organization and as such we had to pull KP, SAC Base personnel did not!
Just out of curiosity, was your AC known as Gross George the one and only Gross Grogan, who was also stationed at Columbus, MS?? His crew was a hoot, including the downstairs team that flew with a cobra in a basket between their seats!
Joe Owen
I spent more than a little time pulling alert at Minot. Tanker Crew Chief here. My first tour was on the bomber pad, when they decided to park a tanker there for awhile.
'81 to '85. Chow hall in the bomber pad hutch was pretty good, better than down the other end. Good omelettes.
I had no idea that earlier tankers had reversers, other than on the latest models. My plane was 58 0091. "Tower Tail", because the tail got chopped off up on the pad.
Clipped a light tower with a wingtip, swung down and chopped off the entire empennage. They rebuilt it, but slightly crooked. Plane was something of a hooptie. Had a lot of hours. Always needed more rudder trim then other planes to fly straight, ( more or less ). I was talking to a radar troop who remembers working on my plane.
He told me when mounting a new radar unit, they had to position it slightly off kilter, to get the correct picture.
I probably fixed your plane on alert
I was almost 11 for this show. We were definitely on the Observation pointthe day prior watching all of the arrivals. Seeing the 52's and 135 pre-camo brings it all back. Thanks for sharing.
We were stationed at Griffiss during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I'll never forget it, I was 8 years old. I can remember my father every night for about two weeks getting a phone call and heading to the the flight line. My memory might be a little fuzzy but I think all the fighters would scramble three abreast every 5 seconds and then the B 52's would take off. The whole town would shake. I still get goose bumps thinking of it. Please share your memories and correct me on mine if mine are a little fuzzy over these 57 years. Look forward to your memories.
I heard a U-2 landed at Griffiss during the crisis. There are also pics of an SR71 or 2 in the big hangar online.
I was stationed there in 1963/65 . Worked in 416 th SAC on the hill. Remember the crown domes seeing the planes take off one after another .What a great plane the 52's are even today.
+haldiott
Hello, Stationed at GAFB 62-65. 416th AEMS B-52 Bomb/Nav Tech. Arrived in Oct 62 just prior to Cuban Missile Crises. Scared shitless as we recovered and cocked/loaded all of our bombers, nothing moving on the flight line except AP's and CDF in blue crew cab pick-ups, knew nothing about why until President Kennedy's speech that evening. Original unit was the 4039 Strat Wing, later changed to the 416 HBW to give us a sense of history. If attacked we were supposed to flee to nearby Verona.
Was there when 57-6501 - the B-52G in this video arrived from Wichita where it was one of the first to have reinforced wings for the low level flying for Terrain Avoidance (our system - had a nasty habit of inverting the video display as the aircraft neared an object it was trying to fly around.) It was never put on Alert, but flew training or Hardhead or Chrome Dome missions only. Object was to put large hours on the airframe as a test of the upgrade reliability - as I recall anyway.
The MITO's (Minimum Interval Take Off's) were scheduled (save for ORI's) and the locals would flock to watch. Runway was two miles long, had multiple aircraft on it at the same time pumping out black smoke as they strained to take-off in each others jet wash. At lift off they spread out in different angles to avoid the same turbulence of the aircraft ahead. The bombers had GAM's (later AGM - Air to Ground Missiles - Hound Dogs) and used the added two engines at take off.
When I was first there, the ORI's (Operational Readiness Inspections) the Alert Birds (loaded with weapons) were sent aloft as if an actual attack. Later they removed the weapons before the MITO. The Alert birds were then just taxied to take-off then recalled and downloaded to await a MITO. There were three levels of alerts, the First; the crews ran to the alert aircraft and started the engines (cartridge starts - much smoke) then stood down. The Second, same engine starts and then taxied before being told to stand down The Third was the first two combined, except....Armageddon. The crews never knew which they were facing.
The "crown domes" you refer to one of which may have been the yellow radome atop AEMS where we operated one of the same radars that were installed on the bombers. It was also utilized as a place to hide all of the maintenance supplies we were not allowed to have when were were inspected by 8th AF. The Old Timers had figured out that aircraft down time could be reduced by us repairing the "cans" that we weren't even supposed to open.
+Randolph Abercrombie We were on the hill (The Personal Equipment Section ) We made sure all the helmets and life rafts and and other equipment were ok if the crew had to bale out. CMSgt Lynn was in charge of our shop..
+Randolph Abercrombie
Funny, but we never really knew many people outside of our Section. We lived together in the three story brick barracks next to the Chow Hall. Did you pull Snow Removal? Was amazed that we highly trained and valuable personnel would be sent up on the bombers and tankers in our arctic gear with a rope attached to our waists connected to a guy who was supposed to keep you from hitting the ground if you slipped like on the aircraft enamel markings. They sprayed the tankers which could not take off with an half inch of ice on them, but the snow still accumulated on the wings anyway. The bombers could take off with tons of snow on them, but we removed it anyway. I recall the first winter we had over three hundred inches of snow and learned what Lake Effect was.
As an A2C we did not have access to the NCO Club but did go to the airman's club (no alcohol) down behind the Thrift Store. Recall the country store which supplemented us on our days when the chow was liver? A snack bar, the movie theatre with rows for the Alert Crews, trucks parked outside with the motors running, the library, the base hospital,
I think you guys worked around the ejection seats; Bomb/Nav and the Nav positions ejected downwards and sometimes when we were working, Techs would pull the hatches beneath our feet and give us a start!
Recall Black Hats, Red Hats, Green Hats and Blue Hats on the flight line. Parachute tape with names and units, stenciled on them before the Blue and White USAF name patches reflective tape on the ear protectors in little plastic vials, Short Timer Ribbons - actually ribbons from Seagram's Whiskey which had to be consumed in one day. Some us had been issued the grey fatigues from the early days instead of the Army Olive Drab ones.
+Randolph Abercrombie My wife and I lived off base in Utica ,New York . When my four years were up they offered me E-5 and $1000 for each year I would re up,but they said I may have to go back to southeast Asia
again and I said No thanks,
I miss Griffiss. RCH 1988 graduate.
Man I miss this Base. 82-83 416th CES, short time there but for some reason I remember it more than any other duty station.
I remember this day vividly! and watching this B-52's angle of climb. What i think gets lostin this video is how close the B-52 seemed to come to stall. Great base, great people, Great area. I too was CE 84-88. Pawlak.
I sure do miss this base. Lived there as a kid.
Me too, brother was born there as well.
Thanks for posting this GREAT footage of a Griffiss BUFF vonderlinn! I was stationed at the Griff from 1984-1986 in the 416th MMS & supplied these B-52's with ALCM's & SRAM's. Griffiss was a beautiful base & I hated to see it close.
I was also in the 416 MMS from 1985 until I retired in 1986. Started as the NCOIC of the weapons release shop, was the acting first sergeant for a month and worked in supervision.
@@MikeMurphy-ev6hg ...Tom Daniels, 416th MMS late '62 to '64 SAC. Cuban missile crisis, Things were "jumping" then. The U.S. encircled the USSR with B-52's, 24-7 until things calmed down. Griffiss afb was rotating the "heavys" from all over. Plattsburg was doing the same..
Thanks for the Griffiss footage. I only made one visit mid-60s for AFROTC physical & line tour.
My dad spent several years at Griffiss in airfield ops. Miss that base
Stationed at Castle AFB, Ca... 84-90, 46 BUFF hardstands.... Never saw a climb like the one at 2:00. Then again, Castle was a pilot training base for new pilots...Sure miss the chest rumbling awesomeness of 8 TF33s pounding water. The smell and sound of freedom... Thanks to all who served, serving and those who support the war fighters..
TF-33's were on H models, they were turbo-fan engines with no water. You must be mistaking it with the J-57 turbo-jet which is what the G model in this video has
I was a castle after Guam
@@jrftworth correct, my brain fart and mind slipping. Thanks for correcting me. We had G model BUFFs, 135 As and a few 135 Rs.
@@chassearle1870 spent 2 TDYs at Guam. Beautiful location!
Stationed at the Griff from May 1982 to Feb 1984. I plowed snow off of the runway all hours of the day and night.
Was in the 416th CES. Sad to see that the base closed.
Well it has turned into an international airport and many airlines are looking to fly into Rome. i live here
A friend of mine use to plow the runway with the Rollovers! Keith Philo.....he went to Ft Drum after closure and is now retired.
I was there. Brought back memories. I remember the B52 full throttle take offs.
I was there from 78 to 81. 416th MMS (bomb trailers) and then worked at FTD 211 as the AGE instructor. Really enjoyed My time there.
416th CSG there (graphics & photo) from '80 to '83. Use to LOVE driving the perimeter road at night and see light snow on the BUFF's that weren't in the hangers, so quiet, surreal & deadly! Some great memories... beautiful countryside there, up to Lake Delta and all that area, concerts in Syracuse (Rolling Stones, Genesis & the Kinks), and Utica for college classes. I did the NCO club poster-calendars and SAC/TAC briefing stuff.
Remember seeing these guys both at the airshow and also now and again flying over the Southern-Tier of New York. Was always in awe of them. 668th Bomb Squadron if I remember correctly...some of them later had the Statue of Liberty painted on the tail...Revell made a 1/144 plastic model of one of them.
I remember that model kit!
I went to this open house when I was 17. My dad was in the 416th Bomb wing and i helped him work the concession stand they had.
That is a wonderful sight seeing those birds landing and taxing in after a great demonstration of their abilities.
You are right....there is a B52 on display at the old Griffiss AFB...when there I took loads of pics....was with the 494thBW, 862BSq out of Sheppard for 10 years and then with 933BW in Guam....flew backwards (tail gunner on B52Ds)...this bird will never be replaced.....retired after 25 years in USAF...best career I ever had. If yo live near by, I really suggest you go to Rome and Griffiss and see that BUFF up close and personal.
memories. I was there at Griff from 91 to 93, I was 416 SPS A flt.
416 ams was me
I lived near GAFB as a kid, lot's of strange and loud noises at night. 1973 was crazy, new screamer at night, turned out to be SR-71 was doing recon over the Yom Kipper war zone. In the 1980's they would do these low level night scrambles, tankers and B-52 would come low over our suburb 20 miles from the base, nose to tail making a hell of a racket. In the early 1990's I was working for a large company and two guys were AF pilots, both flew out of Griffiths, they laughed when I told them.
i live less than a mile away. IT IS MUCH LOUDER.
my house is lined up with a runway so aircraft on final fly right above my house. once a f/a 18 landed and then 45 minutes later took off in the night. woke up both times
I was stationed at Griff 72-74. I worked in hanger 101 in the engine shop building the J57 engines for both the B-52 and KC135. I was also right next to those SR-71 ‘s. At the peak of operations, there were 5 of them in one hanger bay of bldg. 101. I got to see them every day while they were there.
@@paulkoch9871 there were 5 SR 71's?!?
john puccio Yes, for two days. The rest of their operation time there only two or three. They were flying around the clock.
Any Crew Chiefs remember TSgt Wood? aka Woody. I was Griffiss from 86-90. I can't believe they tore down the base housing. I don't miss the sound of engine runs in the middle of the night. Or do I miss having to monitor the scanner before and after work so I knew what was going on, because if you didn't know what was on, Woody would eat you for lunch. What I do miss is going out to the plane at midnight on Sunday. It was so quiet and I can still remember the sound of walking across the flight line and the snow crunching beneath my feet. Then one by one the power units would startup ending the quietness. And I certainly don't miss having to shovel from my front door to the car, shovel out my parking place at work, then shovel off the planes and grounding spots and paths for the equipment, etc. etc. etc. When there I missed when the Delta Darts left, they were so cool.
I remember as a kid when the darts would break the sound barrier. We live on Gansevoort, by Dominick st. We rode our bikes to the observation point most days in the summer.
It was MSgt Wood when I left Griffiss in July of 95. He was still there helping to shut down MPF. I was Bomber Phase from 85-95.
@@robwade642 Woody was your worst nightmare if you didn't know what you were supposed to know or you tried to BS or lie to him, he would literally chew you a new one. If E.F. Hutton was tuned into the flight line chatter, even they'd drop what they were doing to listen.
@@JesusIsaFlatEarther Woody never bothered me. I worked Bomber Phase and didn't have to deal with him except for weekend duty that we usually pulled on the flightline. I remember him always ranting about how he could outpull anyone with his truck :).
@@robwade642 Bomber Phase, that was when they did the 50 hour inspections, etc.?Just once did I get tasked with washing my plane. I used to run the weekend duty for Crew Chiefs, it was so laid back most of the time, I even had my 6 year old son ride in the cockpit during a tow, he loved that. But if it snowed heavy, we'd be called up to the alert pad sometimes in the middle of the night to push snow off those planes.
I often use as an example, the B-52 mechanical attitude indicator to prove planes never compensate for any curvature to the Earth. Because if you set the auto-pilot if the Earth had any curvature, at 500 mph after just one hour, you'd end up in space, as theirs 166,666 feet of curvature in 500 miles and at 1,000 miles, it's 666,666 feet of curvature, which is 126 miles of curvature. They don't call it sea level for nothing.
I attending my follow on training from Sheppard AFB at Griffis prior to heading to my assignment at Loring AFB. I really enjoyed working on those aircraft.
Those pups coming in for landings at GAFB,..right over our house at 2100 Baker Ave in Utica...made us feel good about our being Americans.. but we knew we would be a major target if the you know what hit the fan.
Stationed here 1980-1984, 416th MMS, out in the WSA visible on the far side of the runway.
Was there '62 to '64 416th MMS S.A.C.
416th AMS from 1974 to 1977, I remember some of these , like 519 and 170.
Brings back memories worked on KC135 IFR maintenance Altus AFB OK 75-78
416th SPS '84-91
BEST YRS OF MY LIFE !🇺🇸🇺🇸
'62-64 416th SAC.
Dave, do you ever remember a story from the Alert Pad about 1989, where when the sun came up your sentry found a Crew Chief tied to the fire bottle in front of a plane, that was right next to the Alert Pad? The grave yard shift of Crew Chiefs were infamous for doing stupid stuff to people when it was their last day. Once at day shift roll call we find they tied a guy to an office chair, gagged him and covered him with some nasty liquid and flour and raised him in the chair to the top of the hanger via a hoist.
@@JesusIsaFlatEarther , Yes I do... The Tower guy that night got an Article-15, Demoted to Sra...
My last day @ Eglin AFB... They tied me to a tree, poured Used motor oil over me. I was prepared, brought towels & clothes with me... It's Tradition !
@@daveschozer6166 wow, never heard that story about the article 15, the demotion was overboard, that really sucks and I don't recall anything happening to the Crew Chiefs. I hadn't heard the SPS guys were doing similar stupid stuff. I was prepared too, I didn't show up for my last day. I remember riding in the Crew Chief van and they would pull over next to someone just walking on the flight line and abduct them, like something out of a movie. Another time a guy was driving the van on the flight line and they yanked him right out of his seat. I used to laugh when we pulled up to one of the specialty guys, they wouldn't get near the truck, they looked at us like hoodlums from the wrong side of the tracks and rightly so. I made the mistake of falling asleep in the dorm at this bare base deployment in Oklahoma, while everyone was still awake and drinking. I woke to find myself duct taped to my cot and being put outside in the freezing cold. The vans had these tool racks you could sleep on when empty. Well if you did, they would take safety wire and make a cage out of it and when day shift came on and got in the truck, there the guy was still asleep with no way to get out. If I had to choose between being tied to a tree and having motor oil poured on me, of face MSgt. Wood in a bad mood, it would be a toss up.
@@daveschozer6166 I came out of the alert shack with a couple of crew mates of mine sometime around that timeframe (89-92) to see an SP’s standing at X-ray with a young, shirtless dude duct-taped to a chair. The tape was wound around his face and hair, too. (I’d forgotten until reading this that the poor bastard had also been doused in some liquid.) Naturally, we headed over to see just what the hell was going on. The standing SP explained that this was the victim’s first duty tour on the alert pad and this was his initiation. It’s funny, but I brought this incident up within the past couple of weeks with a buddy of mine who was stationed with me at the bomb wing there. It was just one of many crazy things I witnessed during my 5 year stint as a so-called SAC Warrior at Griffiss and Mather!
was there in the 2019 comm squad, 1973 to 1975. lots of snow!!!!!
I remember that day, still an impressive and capable airframe. Spent lots of long hours on that and many other Griff G's, wouldn't give up a minute of it. Sad to see GAFB close and even sadder to see SAC get murdered.
Whats sac?
@@petermccavington8232 (S)trategic (A)ir (C)ommand
@@petermccavington8232Your comments a year old but if you’ve not been told or Googled it” SAC” stands for Strategic Air Command”up until it was disbanded(1946-1992)and the USAF reorganized it(to Global Strike Command)was the group that operated the Nuclear bombers and ICBM(missiles)!🇺🇸
@trob0914 ok cool it only took a year to get my answer. I guess it's time ⏲️ for sleeping 😴 💤
Notice how the B-52 is slightly nose down in level flight during the flyby. That's because her wings are swept so far aft that her center of lift is slightly behind her center of gravity. Most airplanes are just the opposite and travel slightly nose up in level flight.
Well, no. CG better be in front of CL, or the airplane would be longitudinally unstable. The Buff flies in that attitude because the wings are mounted at a 6 degree angle of incidence. For that same reason, the Buff doesn't "rotate" at liftoff, it takes off in pretty much level attitude (the flight manual describes liftoff speed as "unstick" speed, not rotation speed).
At 4:47, that is a bad ass, mean looking MF and saying "I can kick your butt anyplace on this globe so sit down!". Griffiss AFB was one of the most beautiful bases in the nation. I wasn't able to PCS to the Hudson vally, but did make it to Glasglow AFB :).
Thks 'vonderlinn' for the vid and memories. Now to part 2. 081013.
Bob, Do you have more footage of Griffis during the mid to late 80s? My family is from North Norwich, NY. TY
My base, ‘89-‘92, 668th BMS! Half a lifetime ago!
Great video! 🇺🇸🫡
Really awesome memories ❤️ ♥️ 👏 👌 😍
Damn 0:55 The Older Generation B-52s when they Didn’t even have the distinct Whistle Howl,
It was just a Roar then !?
Is this base still open? I remember always seeing the big plane with the satellite on top. Plane was going pretty low & slow. I guess they was just practicing
Many individuals commenting were at this base at the Same time or just leaving as some were arriving.
Seems like many were based there 80-90 with the year 1984 coming up a few times.
I was stationed at the Griff 81-85 416th oms. Was asst crew chief on acft 57-6498
Lots of alert time and tdy
I was at the Griff-Dome 88-92, and i have a lot of hours in 6498.
@@x-b52navcpa17
She was a good ole bird
BIG BAD & BEAUTIFUL 💪
Do both planes have the old turbojets
That tanker isn't one of ours. It had TF-33 engines so it was probably from Langley.
Hi Jim, flew with you on a TDY to Mcdill. We lost a generator and had to go to Robbins to get it replaced. Remember the Shaffer brothers? 62-3513
Good old #6501! I'm pretty certain that more that one SP from the 416th SPS can tell you exactly how many rivets held her together. (No disrespect intended, I was a member of the 416th SPS.)
I miss the Camo paint, sad to see the G-models go.
the good ol days
heh i was 7 or 8 back in 89-90 and the f-117a had just been declassified to the public, and it was publicly shown ofr one of the first ever times at an air show at griffiss
Are these tankers aka KC-135 have the same engines as the B-52 bomber.?
The B-52 in this a G model, they were powered by the J-57 turbo-jet with water injection. The tanker is an E model powered with the TF-33 Turbo-fan engine (no water injection, because of the increased thrust of the turbo-fan) which was also used on the B-52H which was the last version of the B-52 produced.
At 3:03 you can see an F106. Sweet!
I was at Afb Fairchild tat day
G's?
Good clouds.@2:03: Not enough air speed for that climb.....a hot dog move. Look at the output. @3:19 textbook landing.
I'm always interested in hearing stories from the cold war. Particularly stories from SAC crews and people stationed on the DEW line. Got any good ones? Tailed by the Soviets ever?
I have stories from cold war anderson afb on guam
Never made the news:)
We always took off like an elevator and slightly nose down.
I use to work at Griffiss! Cold war ended and the idiots shut it down....🤣😂😂😂🤣😂 Surprise the world is not safe again! Huh go figure!
Freight train of what
My base 1977 to 1978 :)
Awesome!
485th EIS 73 - 76.
Good Lord, a "G" climbing like that?! He must be BONE empty!
The runway was in a semi valley. The land at one end was a whole lot higher the the other end. If you parked on "perimeter road" at the high end, when one landed, you would have thought that they would sweep you off the road. As they touched down, you were looking at the top of the aircraft. The wind could get really nasty at times. I watched some B-52's land with the gear turned so far that the cockpit was pointing to one side of the runway and the tail to the other. (at an angle ).
8 a smokin, none a joking! Lol
Tankers for that
see that brick building in the background at 3:55, at the B52 turn? That was my first duty station, AFK shop. i was thaere during this filming, could be in the building at that moment!
That's so cool