Vintage Picture

[Super A]

The other is to see a B-52 fly by IN PERSON.

I saw many of these in 1971. An awesome sight at the time just watching it leave the ground, let alone wondering how it ever stayed in the air.

This gives me the chance to tell one of my all-time favorite stories. The closest I have ever come to seeing a BUFF in person was in the mid-late '80s. I live about an hour from Seymour-Johnson AFB in Goldsboro, NC, so it's not unusual to see the occasional AF jet fly over. (Since we are only 15-20 minutes from Camp Lejeune, most military AC we see are Marine Corps.) Anyway, I was in middle school, and we were out of school for a holiday. At that time, we had two old chicken houses where the machinery was stored. I was out hitching up a piece of equipment in one of them, when I heard a roar, getting louder, coming from the north. It was loud enough to get my attention, so I ran outside just in time to see about a half a dozen BIG AF planes come over the horizon, low and slow--they were so close to the ground they needed license plates! Since then, from what I could find out on the internet, the B 52's at Goldsboro left in '83, but they still have tankers. So, I think what I saw were either KC-10 or KC-135 tankers. Don't know where they were going, but they put on quite the show! Sometime after, we happened to be in Goldsboro for farm business, and stopped at Wilburs BBQ for an early supper. Got there just in time to see the tankers come in to land. Again, an impressive sight.

Al

[RaymondDurban]

I've never flown on a Buff, but I've crawled over over them from front to back, inside and out!
As big as they are, they can sneak up on you. I was working on the top of one on a cold day with low cloud cover. We had several up and doing pattern work when one came in directly over me, low and fast. I didn't realize it was there until it was directly above and needless to say, scared the day-lights out of me! I just know it was gonna land/crash on top of me! I was off the plane in no time flat, then had to go inside and change my shorts!
8 TF33 engines screaming at full power 500' over your head will rattle you a bit I guarantee!

[Super A]

I've never flown on a Buff, but I've crawled over over them from front to back, inside and out!
As big as they are, they can sneak up on you. I was working on the top of one on a cold day with low cloud cover. We had several up and doing pattern work when one came in directly over me, low and fast. I didn't realize it was there until it was directly above and needless to say, scared the day-lights out of me! I just know it was gonna land/crash on top of me! I was off the plane in no time flat, then had to go inside and change my shorts!
8 TF33 engines screaming at full power 500' over your head will rattle you a bit I guarantee!

Funny now, but I bet it wasn't at the time!!

My wife's uncle was a B-52 radar navigator. I never knew about it until his funeral, I just knew he had been in the Air Force. That has piqued my interest as well.

Al

[Like-em-all]

This was the set of cultivators that came with the '52 that I have. They were still on the pallet from the dealer unbtil about 10 years ago when the PO used them for the first time. They had come with the Cub when bought back in 1952.

Are these pictured shields blue or black? I have always thought shields were blue, and these likely are blue too. The Cub, Cub equipment colors and WWII airplane photo is a most interesting thread.

Bill

[Super A]

The shields look blue to me. I have some stashed in the shed, and they're blue as well.

Al