USAF Photo of the Day: One Big Bomber Over Kansas

ChamorroBible.org ^ | September 9, 2011 | U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Courtney Witt

[EnjoyingLife]

The Photographer 
Senior Airman Courtney Witt, United States Air Force  

Via 
http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-200905.htm (medium, large, huge) 

[EnjoyingLife]

"The Plane That Would Bomb Iran: Inside the cockpit and culture of the B-2, whose pilots may carry the greatest responsibility in the U.S. military today" by Robert D. Kaplan

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/09/the-plane-that-would-bomb-iran/306133/?single_page=true

[brownsfan]

Obama’s wish: To have the bomber bomb Kansas.

[V_TWIN]

The reflection off the pilots helmets look like eyes, pretty cool.

[MNDude]

That’s what I thinking. A bomber over Kansas is nothing to be excited about these days.

[ozzymandus]

When I was a kid in Kansas, B-52 bombers would accasionally pass overhead at a few hundred feet. If you were out in the middle of nowhere driving a tractor and couldn’t hear them coming, it would scare the crap out of you.

[Fast Moving Angel]

Gorgeous photo. I’d love to be in the photo plane. Thanks for posting!

[MrB]

You can’t hear the B2 until it has passed, either.

[chris37]

That is just ****ing awesome!

[moovova]

New desktop background pic.

Thanks!

[BenLurkin]

They are things of beauty. I’m glad I’ve had a chance to see a few close up, both on the ground and in the air.

[OKRA2012]

What if Napoleon had a B-2 at the Battle of Waterloo?

[DJ MacWoW]

Tired Of FReepathons That Last Longer Than A Month?
We Are Too

Donate and End It In April

[Man from Oz]

I would bet you grew up W of Salina??

MFO

[lacrew]

I haven’t been able to go...yet...

But the local Air National Guard in Topeka lets some people on ride-alongs. You go up with the 190th Air Refueling Wing on a KC135 tanker, and it refuels somebody (usually a B-2). A friend of mine got footage from the refueling station...the boom and the B-2 lining up and everything.

It looks like this photo i9s from a similar training mission. I think the bombers are at Whiting in Missouri, so they do alot of refueling exercises with the Topeka unit.

[ozzymandus]

Yep.

[tpmintx]

B-52 bombers would occasionally pass overhead at a few hundred feet.

Same here - I have seen a group of 4-5 B-52's flying low over the water on a big lake in Kentucky. They seemed like they were actually BELOW the level of the hills on the sides of the lake. I would guess no more than 200 feet AGL. This was probably in late 70's/early 80's.

[MosesKnows]

When I was a kid in Kansas ...

When I was a kid in Kansas, I often heard B-29s overhead. In fact, to this day I can identify a B-29 by the sound overhead. I confirmed that about ten years ago at an air show.

All I recall are B-47s when the Air Force created the Strategic Air Command and opened SAC bases in Kansas. I understand Boeing in Wichita flew B-52s but I didn’t think there was a B-52 Wing at McConnell.

[JRios1968]

Looking at the full-size picture, I see that's aircraft 82-1070, the Spirit of Ohio. Fifth B-2 to be built. 82-1070 was part of the test program at Edwards AFB before it was reconfigured for operational use.

82-1070 was the jet used for climactic testing at the McKinley lab in Florida, earning the nickname "Fire and Ice."

I was able to see 82-1070 in its "Fire and Ice" regalia in 1995 while visiting Edwards and the Northrop plant as part of the B-2 team stationed at Whiteman AFB, Missouri.

Disclosure: the B-2 on display at the Air Force Museum in Wright-Patterson AFB is actually a test airframe (which never flew) painted to resemble this jet, with its "Fire and Ice" artwork.

[Oatka]

I think it was back when the b-52s were around. A couple of ‘em flew low and loud enough to break windows in the area, and a spate of complaints came in.

One was from a rancher, who said,”Your aircraft came in low and broke the sound barrier - and three of my windows. However, I can’t gripe. If it was the Russians, they’d have broken more than my windows. Keep ‘em flying.”