Why the B-2 is Still a Hanger Queen

Strategy Page ^ | 4/28/06

[painter]

I live in Central Missouri and they fly over my house every once in awhile.

[Paul Ross]

I love the B1-B. Supersonic swing-wing bomber, pretty darn cool!

Yeah, they all have their places...

[Red6]

:)

But Iran was Ross Perots fault according to good ole Jimmy.

[Constitution Day]

Yes. Contrast with this:

Proper spelling...isn't it fun?

[-YYZ-]

Nice pics. Are those photos or artwork?

I got to have a really good look all-around and through a B1-B about 10 years ago. I was working at CFB Shearwater for the HT-406 (helicopter training squadron) when they were having the airshow, and the B1-B that came up for the show suffered some minor damage on a landing, so they parked it in the hangar I was working in for a few days while they waited for a part to come. Its aircrew noticed me having a good look at it while I was walking by, from one side of the hangar to the other, and invited me to have a good look around the inside, not something you usually get at the static displays at the airshow, due to the relatively tight quarters inside. Very, very cool.

[Dixie Yooper]

Wow!
Sinbad and his sailboat would never have a chance out on the open water, even if he has one of Iran's 200 mph torpedos

Thanks for the pictures.

[Red6]

In fact, what did good ole Jimmy do about Afghanistan? Whose fault was that? Obviously not his. What's your opinion? Was Clinton or good ole Jimmehe worse?

[Blueflag]

artwork
;-)

[Dixie Yooper]

I grew up 90 miles south of KI Sawyer AFB. Back in the early 70's they used to fly radar evasive missions against the base with B-52's. It was incredible to be under the flight path of one when they flew over you at 500 feet or less. I can't imagine what a B-1B is like going Mach 1 at sea level.

[Red6]

Haven't heard about a "nitrogen Bomb". Sure you're not talking about a "hydrogen Bomb"?

[Dixie Yooper]

"In fact, what did good ole Jimmy do about Afghanistan? Whose fault was that? Obviously not his. What's your opinion? Was Clinton or good ole Jimmehe worse?"

He boycotted the Olympics.
Jimmy is the worst. Clinton never provided the mental depression Jimmy dished out.

[Dixie Yooper]

Neutron Bomb. I alway knew getting a D in chemistry would never pay off.

[Red6]

Ah yea! I should have realized that's what you meant.

[Tallguy]

It took many years before the B-1B could maintain any kind of realistic readiness. This is the kind of thing that happens when you push a lot of new technology into a single platform. Some of that technology doesn't work as advertised, and the maintenance issues need to be worked through.

[Paul Ross]

Survivability is an open question... clearly stealth is the best defense. But once spotted visually... can the B-2 survive against a Mig or Su? Did the Serbs just "get lucky" against the F-117 they downed...March 27, 1999...or did they have some pretty sophisticated help? E.g., China has been working hard to develop 'passive radar' that detects...and tracks in real time... stealth planes against the background of cell phone tower and ambient microwave emissions. I wonder if the May 7th bombing by a B-2 of the Chinese Embassy was an "accident" at all...or unrelated to the F-117 downing.

I know there has been a lot of speculation as to each of these...but anyone ever look at the sequencing of these events? Less than a month and a half apart. The public story goes that the Chinese were supposedly aiding and abetting Mlosivc...with "rebro" rebroadcasting military transmissions after we had taken down the Serbians transmitters. Valuable targetting if true to be sure...but how much more valuable to our long term national security if in fact they were operating a prototype passive radar installation intended to track our stealth aircraft, and relay it to the Serbians? If that were the case...then the B-2 mission was an extremely-high-stakes test of American technology and resolve: Would we let China defacto abuse its embassy privileges to engage in active hostilities against our forces...and test out its newest advances against our very best weapons?

If this isn't just conspiratorial conjecture...then we must have come up with a 'fix' for the passive radar problem...perhaps some kind of disruption precedent...and the B-2 put the final kabosh on their operation to "send a message" back to Beijing.

[-YYZ-]

I've been buzzed by a much smaller plane going supersonic about 100-150 ft off the deck (while on my father's Canadian naval ship during exercises, when I was 12 or 13), and it was, uh, mind-blowing. Went by like a flash, but the sonic boom when that close to the plane is pretty incredible.

[Red6]

I agree. The Soviet threat was also larger than the threat from islamists today. Jimmy failed us at a worse time than Clinton. Clinton benefited from the ned of the cold war and an economic up turn at the end of the Bush H. administration. He basically just rode on other peoples success. But Jimmy actually damaged us. That guy was a threat to national security.

[kAcknor]

The term "hangar queen" reminds me of the late 70's, when you had to keep an aircraft in the hangar to scavange for parts to fix the rest, compliments of Mr. Jimmah carter....

I remember the late 1970's from a European Cold War perspective.

75 F-15's and a 45% FMC goal. To the non AF types that means we tried to keep 45% of them ready at any one time. This number dropped to 23% to 30% after a day's normal training flights. No parts. No money. No one cared. Add to that the war game scenario's (Exercises) we practiced always ended with us launching the remaining aircraft to the rear and we were to destroy the base, and then surrender for a nice vacation in Siberia (and that was the lucky option).

Jimmy Carter was President and his policies were at fault.

When Clinton was elected I retired, because I just could not do it again.

[Paul Ross]

Nice pics. Are those photos or artwork?

They are artwork.

Here is a real picture of a low-level run...

[Lx]

When I was much younger, we used to sit at the end of Mather Field's runway drinking beer when several B52s would take off.

What a sound and sight!!!