I was a SAC trained killer for my first 9 years, 76-85. Barksdale and Griffiss had Gs at that time, and Andersen still had Ds, the tall tails. Amazing birds. They must’ve been over-engineered to a fare-thee-well.
There could literally be grandsons of the first H pilots now flying those same Hs (the only ones left in the active inventory). And if they’re around as long as they claim, there could be great, great grandsons flying them.
The pucker factor maxed out whenever we saw the crews run to the birds cocked on alert on the Christmas tree. You hoped that when they got to the end of the runway, they didn’t go full military power and MITO. That would’ve been a bad day.
full military power and MITO
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Back in the early 90s I got to experience that (I assume) from a B52, about two miles away at Ellington field from a Natural Gas Storage facility. Every building was shaking and it drowned out normal conversation.
We had often seen practice landings and take-offs of military aircraft. That one stands out in my mind 2 decades later.
When I lived near Wichita back in the sixties, I frequently drove past McConnell AFB and saw the B-52s on alert at the end of the runway.
The image conveyed was brooding birds of prey, you could easily imagine their "eagle eyes".
I felt palpably safer for their presence...