The first plane I trained on while in the Air Force was the venerable B-52 Stratofortress. It’s remarkable to think this old gal has been in active service since 1955 and that there are still nearly 100 of these planes on active and reserve status. In 2010 all B-52s were transferred to the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). As per the Air Force Office of Information, the B-52 will continue to be in service until 2040!

Watch this video to the end – while this is a fairly routine landing at an air show note the The B-52 has quadricycle landing gear and the gear offsets up to 20 degrees to facilitate landing in up to a 43 knot cross wind and believe me, that was a real thrill.

As big as this beast is, she rotates at just over 130 KIAS when loaded lightly and about 150 full – gear needed to be retracted at 190 KIAS at which time she literally leapt into the sky (or so I recall…) And remember, there was eight of everything to monitor i.e., throttles, tachs, EGT, oil temp, etc..

Modified continuously it’s still in one amazing plane – “Mors ab Alto” is Latin and translates to “Death from Above”. Anyone who’s seen the BUFF in action knows that true.


This Video Shows That You Don't Fly A B-52 You Wrestle It Around The Sky