Around the World: Operation Power Flite

On January 18, 1957, five planes took off from Castle Air Force Base in California on "by far the most colorful and perhaps the most important of all peacetime operations ever undertaken by the United States Air Force.”
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #B52

Пікірлер: 383

  • @rexmyers991
    @rexmyers991 Жыл бұрын

    I turn 80 in two days and I can clearly remember my dad flying B-25’S up until about 1954 when he transitioned to the B-47. Then, while still at Lincoln AFB, he upgraded to the B-52. Before retiring in 1971, he bombed North Vietnam in B-52’s. I have pictures of him and his crew in a B-25 during WWII. He was my hero. He never talked about WWII, the Cold War, or the Viet Nam war. He did finally admit he was carrying live Nukes during most flights during the Cold War.

  • @derrickwillie4449

    @derrickwillie4449

    Жыл бұрын

    Man he must be really old!

  • @Benson_aka_devils_advocate_88

    @Benson_aka_devils_advocate_88

    Жыл бұрын

    I hope you have a wonderful 80th birthday! Here's to as many more as you're ready for!

  • @richness1644

    @richness1644

    Жыл бұрын

    My dad was a bombardier/navigator from 1956 to 1965 at Lincoln AFB. He was in the first squadron to transition from the B29 to the B36. He transitioned to the B47 just before transferring to LAFB.

  • @ClayCult

    @ClayCult

    Жыл бұрын

    Happy Birthday, ol' bean!

  • @MetsMagic0416

    @MetsMagic0416

    Жыл бұрын

    Happy birthday!!!

  • @nordan00
    @nordan00 Жыл бұрын

    I got out of BUFF H models in 1992 when the ones I flew were already 30 years old! That was 30 years ago and those pigs are projected to fly for another 30 years! Amazing! Incidentally, the final “F” in BUFF does not stand for “Fellow!”

  • @rabbi120348

    @rabbi120348

    Жыл бұрын

    You're right, but this is a family-friendly channel!

  • @argentum530

    @argentum530

    Жыл бұрын

    True, and we should not let History sanitize the real nickname. Those who worked on and/or around won't forget, and I have occasionally corrected someone in polite conversation. It was an affectionate term, for me at least. I never flew in a BUFF, I worked in CFR and I did put some wet stuff on the red stuff, big planes sure do make a hot fire...

  • @flagmichael

    @flagmichael

    Жыл бұрын

    @@argentum530 As the comments show, the name is not widely sanitized. The original form has weathered half a century already; I think it will be around longer then the airframes will.

  • @tavi9598

    @tavi9598

    Жыл бұрын

    Most people are aware of this if they are at all aware of the nickname. But the sanitized version of the name is used when in polite company. That includes the airmen that have flown them when talking to a TV camera. BUFF is nonetheless one of the legacies of the B52, even if you can't say it properly in front of your kids.

  • @richardstaples8621

    @richardstaples8621

    Жыл бұрын

    Must have been a little SNAFU...

  • @mightaswellbe
    @mightaswellbe Жыл бұрын

    My father was one of the pilots on The Lonesome George. He was added to the crew as an instructor/relief pilot. He was also on the Quick Kick mission. I have his hand written notes for a presentation he gave after Operation Power Flight. I was five at the time.

  • @RetiredSailor60
    @RetiredSailor60 Жыл бұрын

    Good morning from Ft Worth TX to everyone watching...Former Carlswell Air Force Base (now Joint Reserve Base Ft Worth) is within 20 miles from my house in Watauga.

  • @ande100

    @ande100

    Жыл бұрын

    excited. from Fort Worth, a great day and an interesting story!

  • @EndoftheBlock7224

    @EndoftheBlock7224

    Жыл бұрын

    Good morning from Grand Prairie TX

  • @slartybarfastb3648

    @slartybarfastb3648

    Жыл бұрын

    Howdy from the free state of Florida!

  • @alancohen5688

    @alancohen5688

    Жыл бұрын

    Good morning from El Paso Texas

  • @bepbep7418

    @bepbep7418

    Жыл бұрын

    @@slartybarfastb3648 as someone who grew up in Florida...."Free" 🤣

  • @MrScott1171
    @MrScott1171 Жыл бұрын

    I served at Castle AFB in the 93rd Bomb Wing from 1992-94 working on the B-52G. I was impressed with the history of the B-52. These early missions of the B-52 also made it necessary for the KC-135 to be created. I shared this with the B-52 group on Facebook and the Air Force Retiree group too. Thank you for this fascinating history of the oldest Combat Aircraft in the USAF inventory.

  • @Lemiwinks89

    @Lemiwinks89

    Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for your service!

  • @ricksanchez3176

    @ricksanchez3176

    Жыл бұрын

    I have a buddy, he was B-52 crew Vietnam era, showing this to him soon. That famous poster with the weapons layout, he spent 15 minutes showing me the actual combinations that could be loaded for one flight.

  • @flagmichael

    @flagmichael

    Жыл бұрын

    @@ricksanchez3176 I recall a report by a US pilot who was shot down and spent quite some time evading in Vietnam. He had been on the ground a few days when he found himself in the path of an Arc Light strike. He was incredulous when it ended just short of him.

  • @donnybrookinhooligan1088

    @donnybrookinhooligan1088

    Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for serving. I grew up with B-52s, KC-35s and the occasional C-5 overhead. All flying out of Castle

  • @jeffking8890

    @jeffking8890

    Жыл бұрын

    We could use a few B-52Gs now to increase the H-model bunch.

  • @finscreenname
    @finscreenname Жыл бұрын

    In 1932 we were flying around on wood, canvas and wires with open cockpits. Just twenty years later in 1952 the B-52 took flight.

  • @cdjhyoung
    @cdjhyoung Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for including the picture that clearly showed the size difference between the B29 and B36. I had never really understood how large the B36 really was.

  • @truckdaddy1957

    @truckdaddy1957

    Жыл бұрын

    If you get a chance, stand under one. The only aircraft that seemed larger to me, from that perspective, was a Goodyear blimp.

  • @pauljensen5699

    @pauljensen5699

    Жыл бұрын

    ...of course, there was that Monogram model... "...over 36 inches long!!!"

  • @cdjhyoung

    @cdjhyoung

    Жыл бұрын

    @@truckdaddy1957 Does a B36 still exist on display anywhere?

  • @bobmartin4942

    @bobmartin4942

    Жыл бұрын

    @@cdjhyoung there are 4 on permanent display. One at the national museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton Ohio. One at the SAC Museum near Omaha Nebraska. One at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson Arizona. And finally one in what was Castle Air Force base museum in California.

  • @cdjhyoung

    @cdjhyoung

    Жыл бұрын

    @@bobmartin4942 Thank you Bob. Dayton is a four hour drive from my home. I've been thinking it is about time I made another visit. Maybe this summer.

  • @GraemePayne1967Marine
    @GraemePayne1967Marine Жыл бұрын

    I understand that there are now B-52 crewmembers who are operating the same aircraft (same serial number, not just same type) that their grandfathers flew. Another historical "first". When I was a teenager, in the mid 1960s, I built a lot of model airplanes. On reading an article about an jet engine that had been developed for flying models, I thought about making a flying B-52 scaled to accomodate eight of the new jet engines. After doing the math, and then having my father (an aeronautical engineer) check it, I realized what a monster it would have been. Just to take off it would have needed a very long, straight stretch of four-lane highway as a runway! Oh well, yet another great idea defeated by math and physics. But since then I have at least been able to see one on display at an air show. When I was in Vietnam (1969-70), several times I felt the rumbing of the ground from B-52 strikes, and I was on the coast south of Da Nang, about 50 miles away! The first time, I thought it was an earthquake I was feeling, but a fellow Marine (who had been there longer) told me what it _really_ was.

  • @TS-ev1bl

    @TS-ev1bl

    Жыл бұрын

    My big brother was with a USMC arty unit at An Hoa near Da Nang in 1969. He didn't talk about Nam much after he got home and for the rest of his life, but one of the things I remember him mentioning was being able to feel the B-52 strikes. He described them as you did, like an earthquake, or rolling thunder (hence the name). The feeling of sheer power made a big impression on him, which is saying something for a Marine who served on 175mm guns. Ironically, I ended up in the USAF on B-52D's later in the '70s through '82, when our D's went to the bone yard. Being "Big Belly" D models (aka the Dirty Dogs), my wing's aircraft could have easily been some of the same BUFFs he (and you) heard and felt in '69. I sent home a B-52 shirt for him and found out years later he wore it until it was ragged. I had to chuckle at the idea of a Marine wearing a USAF shirt, but his experiences in Nam made him a big fan.

  • @Paladin1873
    @Paladin1873 Жыл бұрын

    I spent 30 years in the Air Force and was unaware of how serious were the early teething problems of the BUFF. I presume you know what the last "F" really stands for. 🙂 The last B-52 was manufactured in 1962. Many of the later models went through Kelly AFB for complete rebuilds and upgrades more than once. Boeing overbuilt them so well, that such a feat was made possible.

  • @flagmichael

    @flagmichael

    Жыл бұрын

    Fortress? Flying? Functional? Friend? F... aaah! It has been known as "Fellow" in polite society for a very long time. Don't worry - the guys on the point of the spear won't forget.

  • @brantleytinnin6258

    @brantleytinnin6258

    Жыл бұрын

    😆 I was wondering what word he was going to say there

  • @kdrapertrucker

    @kdrapertrucker

    Жыл бұрын

    Now the Rolls-Royce engine facility in Indianapolis, Indiana are building the engines that are an important part of the new B-52 upgrade program. Meanwhile 50 miles north in West Lafayette, the rear half of the Air Force 's new supersonic Jet trainer/attack aircraft is being built at the new SAAB facility.

  • @kdrapertrucker

    @kdrapertrucker

    Жыл бұрын

    @@flagmichael well, it certainly doesn't stand for Fokker.

  • @Paladin1873

    @Paladin1873

    Жыл бұрын

    @@kdrapertrucker If you're Scandinavian you might pronounce it that way. 🙂

  • @LuckyBaldwin777
    @LuckyBaldwin777 Жыл бұрын

    I remember as a kid in the '60s watching B52s take off from Travis. The roar of the 8 engines and all the black smoke they put out plus the knowledge of all the destruction it contains made for a scary looking aircraft.

  • @slartybarfastb3648
    @slartybarfastb3648 Жыл бұрын

    The B-52 and it's supporting KC-135 have gone on to be, quite likely, the most economically successful machines any military has ever purchased. The B-52 may still be flying in 2055 using airframes built in 1964.

  • @bepbep7418

    @bepbep7418

    Жыл бұрын

    Designed. Not built.

  • @russvoight1167

    @russvoight1167

    Жыл бұрын

    The last B-52 was built in 1962

  • @-Stop-it

    @-Stop-it

    Жыл бұрын

    @@russvoight1167 - That is amazing!

  • @BlueBaron3339
    @BlueBaron3339 Жыл бұрын

    Wonderful episode! Oddly, it also reminded me that it's been quite some time since I've watched Dr. Strangelove 😆

  • @-jeff-
    @-jeff- Жыл бұрын

    Thanks THG for showcasing a real historic BUFF for us history buffs! ✈️🌎

  • @sillyone52062
    @sillyone52062 Жыл бұрын

    When I was talking flight training at a civilian school at Hagerstown, a fellow student was also a BUFF pilot. I remarked that the Cessna 150 he was training in weighed less than a main landing gear on his B-52. He said that it felt funny to fly an airplane that did not take off nose down.

  • @abbeyjane1306

    @abbeyjane1306

    Жыл бұрын

    Why would an Air Force pilot be taking flying lessons? Was he getting an instructor rating? I got my private pilot's license at the MCAS El Toro Aero club in 1974. Good times.

  • @kylebarton778
    @kylebarton778 Жыл бұрын

    I enjoy the entire show but man, the way you wrap it up always tugs at my history loving heart. Thank you!

  • @woodwaker1
    @woodwaker1 Жыл бұрын

    I was fortunate to be stationed at Offutt AFB -SAC HQ from 1970 - 1973 and saw both a SR-71 and B-52s land on the same day. My barracks was just off the flight line, so saw many take offs and landings. I was part of the communications ground crew for Looking Glass, another part of history.

  • @Carburetors_and_calamaties
    @Carburetors_and_calamaties Жыл бұрын

    My grandmother used to work for Boeing. First she helped build the b-29s but later on helped build the b-52s. The BUFF will always have a special place in my family.

  • @Thehistoryguy1.....

    @Thehistoryguy1.....

    Жыл бұрын

    Text me on telegram☝️☝️✍️

  • @korbell1089
    @korbell1089 Жыл бұрын

    Air Force public affairs: "we're here to address the safety concerns about our new bomber and..umm, well....OOH LOOK we're breaking a record!!"😉

  • @johnmorykwas2343
    @johnmorykwas2343 Жыл бұрын

    Excellent video. As a bonfire B-52 Crewdog the world needs to know more about SAC and the B-52. Read the books "We Were Crewdogs'. Thanks!

  • @TheDeepening718
    @TheDeepening718 Жыл бұрын

    Will you please do a history of telescopes? I want to demonstrate how we never know better because the more knowledge you gain the more knowledge you discover you don't have. The history of telescopes proves this.

  • @navret1707
    @navret1707 Жыл бұрын

    I am only 6 years older than a BUFF. I had been a crewman on a P-3 for about 10 years when I went to Mather AFB for in-flight nav training. We got base housing, substandard of course, because we were there for only about 8 months. Mather was a BUFF base and the housing was off the end of one of the runways. When the BUFFs would come or go the whole house shook. Until then, I had no idea just how big the BUFF really is.

  • @Thehistoryguy1.....

    @Thehistoryguy1.....

    Жыл бұрын

    Text me on telegram ☝️✍️

  • @MCOult
    @MCOult Жыл бұрын

    My father was in the USAF. In 1955 we were stationed at what had been Roswell Army Air Field, in Roswell, NM, but was by then renamed Walker Air Force Base; it was a part of the Strategic Air Command system. As young children, my brother and I used to watch the B-52s and other aircraft, landing (our base housing was near the runway) and taking off. It was awe-inspiring to us. They are so big, they seemed to blot out the sky. Fifteen years later, while I was in the Army, I saw B-52s going to missions over Vietnam. I can remember wondering if any of them were the same planes I had seen in New Mexico. So many of them never returned. When everything is considered, the B-52 is possibly the greatest military aircraft ever built.

  • @carloscastellano8617
    @carloscastellano8617 Жыл бұрын

    They should do that at various latitudes to prove the shape of the earth Constant, documented speed registered throughout the trip at various locations to keep everyone on the same page

  • @rabbi120348

    @rabbi120348

    Жыл бұрын

    We already know that the earth is not flat -- if it were, cats would already have pushed everything off the edge!

  • @paulkinzer7661
    @paulkinzer7661 Жыл бұрын

    Wow! Seeing that B-36 next to the B-29 really brought home to me how big prop planes got. My brother worked on the computers in B52s when he was in the Air Force in the 1970s. I recall him saying that, at that time, those computers were mechanical as much as electronic. That they are still in service after this long shows how a good design can last. They've been constantly updated, I know, but it's good to see something continually improved rather than simply replaced.

  • @avnrulz8587
    @avnrulz8587 Жыл бұрын

    One of the veteran DC-6s from The Berlin Airlift is presently sitting on the ramp of my local airport.

  • @BoltUpright190
    @BoltUpright190 Жыл бұрын

    It's a shame you didn't mention the B-47, being an essential stepping stone in the development of the B-52, although the video does show a B-47 @ 12:40.

  • @RANDALLBRIGGS

    @RANDALLBRIGGS

    Жыл бұрын

    Good catch! And, yes, the B-47 was a key step in the development of the B-52. It proved the concept of a swept-wing jet-powered bomber for the USAF. The B-47 was a sleeker, more-elegant design, IMO.

  • @BoltUpright190

    @BoltUpright190

    Жыл бұрын

    @@RANDALLBRIGGS And if you look REALLY close, you'll see Jimmy Stewart flying that B-47. Ok, I made that part up.

  • @markridgaway3060

    @markridgaway3060

    Жыл бұрын

    @@BoltUpright190 Jimmy Stewart with one bad arm... 😉

  • @ralf7817

    @ralf7817

    Жыл бұрын

    I to was disappointed no mention of the B47. I guess the B47 is just to be a forgotten part of History?

  • @dirtcop11
    @dirtcop11 Жыл бұрын

    I see you sanitized the nickname of the BUFF. The second "F" is actually X-rated. I remember the "Reach out and touch someone" as part of the ATT commercials, I never thought it would apply to the USAF.

  • @TheHistoryGuyChannel

    @TheHistoryGuyChannel

    Жыл бұрын

    Some might use "fella"...

  • @marckyle5895

    @marckyle5895

    Жыл бұрын

    I remember pictures of some of the precision munitions from Kuwait had Reach Out and Touch Someone painted on them.

  • @wrecklass
    @wrecklass Жыл бұрын

    I remember seeing and walking (crawling) through the fuselage of the Lucky Lady II in the early 60's as a youngster. The fuselage had been stripped of the wings for storage in a yard where other aircraft were being stored for potential restoration. I remember the men, my dad included, telling me the story of the first flight around the world and explaining to me how in-flight re-fueling worked. The big plane felt cramped to me, and I was just a small lad at the time.

  • @TheHistoryGuyChannel

    @TheHistoryGuyChannel

    Жыл бұрын

    Lucky Lady II crashed in the desert. That is why only the fuselage remains.

  • @kevinferrin5695
    @kevinferrin5695 Жыл бұрын

    I knew about the Douglass flight and the B-52 flight, but I had not heard of the two intervening circumnavigations. That's immensely cool. Thank you.

  • @Thehistoryguy1.....

    @Thehistoryguy1.....

    Жыл бұрын

    Text me on telegram ☝️✍️

  • @paulcochran1721
    @paulcochran1721 Жыл бұрын

    I was stationed at Castle in the late 80s, Glad to see it mentioned. Big Ugly Fat "Fella" 😂 - Small nit pick - At 12:45 the plane being refueled is a B47 (only 6 engines). B52s are getting an engine upgrade soon.

  • @rogerd777
    @rogerd777 Жыл бұрын

    The B-50 was a modification of the B-29 with different engines and some structural changes. There were 370 B-50 models built as opposed to 3,970 B-29 models.

  • @johnosbourn4312

    @johnosbourn4312

    Жыл бұрын

    Right, it was designed around using 75ST Aluminum, and the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major, 28 Cylinder radial engine, producing 3,500 horsepower, plus, to offset the massive torque from that big engine, the tail was taller than the B-29's tail, also, due to the increased hight, the entire fin, and rudder could fold, so it could fit existing hangers. Now, here's two more things about the B-50 that you didn't know about, before: One, the designation of B-50 was chosen by the air force to fool Congress into funding the plane, when in fact, it was an evolved variant of the original B-29 design, and the second thing is the fact that the B-50 was the first aircraft in the USAF's history that was equipped for in flight refueling, from the start, plus, it, and the B-52 are the only heavy bombers in the air force's history, to have a pair of external fuel tanks located under the outboard wing panels.

  • @Cal-cf2vo
    @Cal-cf2vo Жыл бұрын

    My son is in the USAF as a weapons maintainer on B-52's. Very proud of him and his crew

  • @wirebrushofenlightenment1545
    @wirebrushofenlightenment154511 ай бұрын

    18:46 - Wow! - that shot with the B-50 in frame gives a great perspective on the sheer size of the B-36.

  • @georgeperkins4171
    @georgeperkins4171 Жыл бұрын

    My dad was a navigator/bombardier on the b37, b47, and b52. I built a large plastic model of the b36 that hung from my ceiling. I got to see these planes up close alot ( except the b36).

  • @hburns16
    @hburns16 Жыл бұрын

    I attended graduate school with an Air Force officer who was a Buff pilot. At one point, he was assigned to the same plane his grandfather had flown!

  • @Thehistoryguy1.....

    @Thehistoryguy1.....

    Жыл бұрын

    Text me on telegram ☝️✍️

  • @outlawd1
    @outlawd1 Жыл бұрын

    My Father John Sr , In the Navy at 17 and on to Airforce later as a supply clerk SAC was a movie he loved to watch,,outstanding information history guy👦 Johny Subic approves 👍

  • @drzarkov39
    @drzarkov39 Жыл бұрын

    Some years ago, I watch a documentary on the 1924 around the world flight. It was fantastic, exciting, and heroic in the adventures they had. I'd love to see a Hollywood epic made of the flight. I wish you would do an entire episode on it.

  • @XZoomie
    @XZoomie Жыл бұрын

    My Dad worked as a mechanic on both B-50s and B-52s. I remember seeing both types fly as a kid. Thanks for the flight down memory lane!

  • @tomhill7849
    @tomhill7849 Жыл бұрын

    My grandfather Marcus Lee Hill II was a co-pilot durning operation Quickkick and was also copilot on Lonesome George durning operation Power Flight. It was one of greatest honor to be part of both operations.

  • @tlspud
    @tlspud Жыл бұрын

    My dad was in the 509th. He went to school to learn the B-29. The day they graduated from ground school, they were told they were going back to school to learn the B-47. Learning those early computerized systems really paid off later in dad's career.

  • @tfp0052
    @tfp0052 Жыл бұрын

    When you care enough to send the very best!

  • @RazingthenRaising
    @RazingthenRaising Жыл бұрын

    My dad's favorite plane is the B-52. I wish that we had video of him telling all of his stories. He was in the group in the Air Force that kept the B-52 in the air 24 hours a day for several years. He actually built a bench in the house I grew up in that has legs that are made from the compressor inlet pipes of a B-52 engine. I'll have to get a video of that and share it. ;) I still have access to that house for now.

  • @Thehistoryguy1.....

    @Thehistoryguy1.....

    Жыл бұрын

    Text me on telegram☝️☝️✍️

  • @skeetrix5577
    @skeetrix5577 Жыл бұрын

    I could listen to you talk about military aircraft every second of my life and I would not get bored... sending lots of love and thanks from St Louis my friend!

  • @AaronLitz
    @AaronLitz Жыл бұрын

    Just think: if the B-52 program had failed in its infancy, we may never have gotten _Rock Lobster!_

  • @michaeljewell3675
    @michaeljewell3675 Жыл бұрын

    My father , then a 1st Lt. was the pilot of the Global Queen. He had been a test pilot in those early mid-air refueling tests. They took off from Texas 25 Feb. 1949. Engine problems over the Atlantic forced an emergency landing in the Azores. He had many interesting stories about WWII and the Cold War. He had survived Pearl Harbor, and flown in the Pacific theatre. He retired from the Air Force in 1965 as a Lt. Col. and B-52 command pilot in SAC.

  • @glorybound7599
    @glorybound7599 Жыл бұрын

    I remember as a young teenager visiting my grandmother in Orlando, Florida every summer. She lived close to McCord AFB where a wing of B-52 bombers were based during the 1960’s and 70’s. I would ride my motorcycle to a parking area near one end of the runway just watch them takeoff and land. Beck then the fuel still created a black smoke, I would loose sight of the aircraft as they taxied to the far end of the runway until they turned, displaying that huge vertical stabilizer on the tail section. A huge cloud of black smoke would appear as they throttled up. Taking off from a runway almost two miles long and unlike any other jet the aircraft lifted in a level attitude. I watched as it climbed and retraced it’s unique belly and wing tip landing gear, pass over my head and slowly lumber out of sight.

  • @Winter_Sportster
    @Winter_Sportster Жыл бұрын

    Unless I've missed it, I think a new recap of Burt Rutan's "Voyager" and it's 'round the world, non-stop, non-refueled flight would be very interesting. I believe your level of handling of this subject would make for a great video. Thank You!!

  • @JohnsonChristopher1
    @JohnsonChristopher1 Жыл бұрын

    Watched on Rumble, left a like and a comment to help you with the KZread Algorithm. God bless...

  • @roberttaylor7637
    @roberttaylor7637 Жыл бұрын

    Another Great Episode!

  • @danieljackowitz2343
    @danieljackowitz2343 Жыл бұрын

    Great vid! I learned a lot about the B-52 plane and how it was saved in it's infancy. The only thing that I missed was a listing of the men who gave their lives to test and fly these planes. It really shows caring about them, and honoring their lives and legacy. Just a thought on how I think these great videos could be enriched. Thanks again!!

  • @Thehistoryguy1.....

    @Thehistoryguy1.....

    Жыл бұрын

    Text me on telegram ☝️✍️

  • @LowEarthOrbitPilot
    @LowEarthOrbitPilot Жыл бұрын

    Great episode! I love your aviation history segments 🥰🛩️✈️

  • @alancranford3398
    @alancranford3398 Жыл бұрын

    I enjoyed this presentation tremendously. Good start with the Douglas World Cruisers and then going through the development of the Stratofortress. There's a 1943 Disney movie called "Victory Through Air Powe" that showcases conceptual B-36 bombers.

  • @allangibson8494

    @allangibson8494

    Жыл бұрын

    Not conceptual - the B-36 detail design was already underway in 1943. The first flight happened in 1946 just after WW2 ended. The B-36 replaced the B-32 that replaced the B-24 on Convair’s production lines.

  • @lightbox617
    @lightbox617 Жыл бұрын

    1955 to 2023 and for the next 20 years. Constant re engining and electronics updates speak to the talent of original designers and engineers

  • @larryjohnson7591
    @larryjohnson7591 Жыл бұрын

    Yeah, the B-52 is the only plane in the Air Force that has had a Grandfather, Father, and Grandson fly the same plane. Sometimes you just can't improve on what you have.

  • @comicus01
    @comicus01 Жыл бұрын

    January 1957 is 54 years after the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk (almost 53 years in fact, they flew on Dec 17 1903). And now we are 66 years past that date. I think that is also an amazing detail.

  • @1KJRoberts
    @1KJRoberts Жыл бұрын

    Another fine, historical gem.

  • @grantpratt299
    @grantpratt299 Жыл бұрын

    Reminded me of your "The Harrowing Journey of a Pacific Clipper"

  • @almostfm
    @almostfm Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for mentioning the Lindsay Gazette. Lindsay is a city of about 12,000 people about 15 miles from me, and the paper is still printing.

  • @garneauweld1100
    @garneauweld1100 Жыл бұрын

    Just a fantastic presentation.

  • @tomh6183
    @tomh6183 Жыл бұрын

    Thanks History Guy another well done presentation!

  • @edwardloomis887
    @edwardloomis887 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you, Colonel James H. Morris. I hope you are still flying around the world, albeit at a much higher altitude.

  • @stoneyll
    @stoneyll Жыл бұрын

    Absolutely fascinating~!

  • @cojaxart8986
    @cojaxart8986 Жыл бұрын

    Thanks Lance, great stuff! We appreciate you detailed reporting!

  • @arthurbarrow2847
    @arthurbarrow2847 Жыл бұрын

    Great video! Thanks! Go History Guy!

  • @BasicDrumming
    @BasicDrumming Жыл бұрын

    I appreciate you, thank you for making content.

  • @mattgeorge90
    @mattgeorge90 Жыл бұрын

    Another great episode!

  • @cyankirkpatrick5194
    @cyankirkpatrick5194 Жыл бұрын

    This has the tune Luck be lady in my head, thank you. Nelly Bly went around the world in 72 days beating the record in 84 days

  • @TheHistoryGuyChannel

    @TheHistoryGuyChannel

    Жыл бұрын

    kzread.info/dash/bejne/X4xkmLGFedHXZpM.html

  • @ronhaefner7833
    @ronhaefner7833 Жыл бұрын

    Back in the late 70s we would have B52 overfly the farm field out of Topeka during the summer. They were so low we could see the crew and they would wave at us and this was several times a day. It was awesome.

  • @lewiswestfall2687
    @lewiswestfall2687 Жыл бұрын

    Thanks

  • @christopherharris6145
    @christopherharris6145 Жыл бұрын

    A B-52 crew member told me at an Air Show that BUFF stood for a much more colorful acronym than yours. He said it stood for Big Ugly Flying F.

  • @johncoe929
    @johncoe929 Жыл бұрын

    I have a model B-50 hanging from my ceiling to commemorate the around-the-world flight.

  • @Thehistoryguy1.....

    @Thehistoryguy1.....

    Жыл бұрын

    Text me on telegram ☝️✍️

  • @Blaklege63
    @Blaklege63 Жыл бұрын

    As always, excellent job

  • @Thehistoryguy1.....

    @Thehistoryguy1.....

    Жыл бұрын

    Text me on telegram ☝️✍️

  • @MarshOakDojoTimPruitt
    @MarshOakDojoTimPruitt Жыл бұрын

    thanks

  • @josemoreno3334
    @josemoreno3334 Жыл бұрын

    My time in the USAF. I enjoyed watching all the aircraft that flew on the bases I went TDY too. As a telephone linesman, We did some work around the airfields installing WX cables for the control towers. I just love watching those aircrafts taxing, Landing and taking off. I loved watching B-52s at the SAC bases I was sent too like March and Castle. I was even sent to Offutt AFB, SAC HQ too.. Best of all in 1980 at Edwards AFB, I walked into a hanger and inside was the first B-1 bombers. There were two of them. One painted gray the other white. That blew my mind. Good story about the B52s by the way. By 2050 I'll be 95 years old, Wow. Good video History Guy.

  • @paulsmodels
    @paulsmodels Жыл бұрын

    Wow! That was an awesome video of some awesome airplanes and their crews!

  • @chrispemberton7000
    @chrispemberton7000 Жыл бұрын

    That is some history alright. Thanks

  • @bigsarge2085
    @bigsarge2085 Жыл бұрын

    Incredible story!

  • @Thehistoryguy1.....

    @Thehistoryguy1.....

    Жыл бұрын

    Text me on telegram ☝️✍️

  • @tristanholland6445
    @tristanholland6445 Жыл бұрын

    The first shot with the KC-97 is actually a B-47 not a B-52 which has a very interesting history itself.

  • @ChessIsJustAGame
    @ChessIsJustAGame Жыл бұрын

    Just watched The Aviator, (2004) and in it, was the claim of a record breaking 3 days around the world by Howard Hughes.

  • @TheHistoryGuyChannel

    @TheHistoryGuyChannel

    Жыл бұрын

    Howard Hughes did break the record in 1938.

  • @AugustusTitus
    @AugustusTitus Жыл бұрын

    The secret that they got right in the design of the B-52 is the wing. No other airplane has such a square wing all the way to the wing tip, and all of that space holds fuel.

  • @scottholman3982

    @scottholman3982

    Жыл бұрын

    And that wing is so heavy it would drag on the ground if not for the tiny little wheels that lower down! The wings flex well in excess of 20 feet during flight.

  • @paulknappcollections
    @paulknappcollections Жыл бұрын

    Could you research and do a story on the SAC bomber that crashed in the woods in West Virginia? I believe it was in the 1960s or early 70s. Thanks

  • @TheHistoryGuyChannel

    @TheHistoryGuyChannel

    Жыл бұрын

    I suspect you mean the Savage Mountain accident in 1964. The accident was in Maryland, but very close to West Virginia. The B-52D's vertical stabilizer broke off. It is discussed around 9:05 in this episode: kzread.info/dash/bejne/q32mtaSmd5ecnps.html

  • @jeffbangkok
    @jeffbangkok Жыл бұрын

    Excellent. Good morning

  • @lynnsample4549
    @lynnsample4549 Жыл бұрын

    I had the honor of being a member of the 96th Bomb Wing in '72-'75 working on the B-52D at that time. I was just a bit older than the aircraft I worked on. Fun times, in retrospect.

  • @tessat338
    @tessat338 Жыл бұрын

    Though it is a bit remote, a visit to Castle Air Force Museum in Atwater, CA is well worth the trip and the time, if you are an aircraft enthusiast.

  • @btrowbridge8958
    @btrowbridge8958 Жыл бұрын

    Your family car may last 10 years if your lucky. B-52 are more than 60 years old and STILL useful WOW! I would add the KC-135 (Boeing 707)Tanked that fuel it, is also that old and still around. Amazing! Let here it for the designers that did it so quickly and without a calculator or computer.

  • @TheHistoryGuyChannel

    @TheHistoryGuyChannel

    Жыл бұрын

    Over 100 tankers were used in Operation Power Flite.

  • @btrowbridge8958

    @btrowbridge8958

    Жыл бұрын

    @@TheHistoryGuyChannel cool

  • @timdodd3897
    @timdodd3897 Жыл бұрын

    I worked G model buffs. Such an amazing aircraft.

  • @TreeSawyer
    @TreeSawyer Жыл бұрын

    Hey there! Not sure if you read many of these suggestions in the comment section for future videos due to the large amount I’m sure you get, but I have one that I’ve been wishing to see you do for sometime. It seems that the British attack on French ships at Mers El Kebir would be an amazing story to know more about! It couldn’t have been an easy decision to make. And I’m sure lots of us would love to know any details you could dig up on it! Thanks again for all you do!

  • @callenclarke371
    @callenclarke371 Жыл бұрын

    WOW~! I thought I knew about the BUFF. I knew they had done the circumnavigation mission, but I didn't know the details. Well done THG!

  • @Supahmatt1
    @Supahmatt1 Жыл бұрын

    Cool History on a cool Birthday!

  • @alantoon5708
    @alantoon5708 Жыл бұрын

    Another outstanding program. The remaining B-52's are scheduled to be fitted with new engines and radars, and will serve alongside the new B-21 Raider for many more years. The B-52's will outlive both the B-1 and B-2...

  • @robertroberts5218
    @robertroberts5218 Жыл бұрын

    Oh tge things we learn here. Very cool.

  • @mikeneely6190
    @mikeneely6190 Жыл бұрын

    I worked as an engineer at Boeing in the late 1970's and early 1980's. I worked on upgrading the avionic systems (putting digital avionics) on the B-52. During that time I worked with a lot of crew members who had a lot of stories about flying in the B-52 including some harrowing ones over Vietnam dodging missiles. Nothing like sitting in a fully fueled and running aircraft sitting on an all wood structure (trestle in Albuquerque)

  • @CdA_Native
    @CdA_Native Жыл бұрын

    Fairchild AFB near Spokane was home to the B-36's and then later the B-52's. Great watching them as a kid.....and led me to join the Air Force during the Vietnam Era.

  • @neilperry2224
    @neilperry2224 Жыл бұрын

    The B36 , 6 turning , 4 burning g sometimes literally at times

  • @NoMoreCrumbs

    @NoMoreCrumbs

    Жыл бұрын

    "2 turning, 2 burning, 2 smoking, 2 joking, and 2 as yet unaccounted for"

  • @billmcdonald4335
    @billmcdonald4335 Жыл бұрын

    Closest I got to a BUFF was on exercise in the North Atlantic. Having one of those bad boys fly less than 350 feet overhead with its bomb bay doors open puts the fear into you, for sure. Glad they were on our side. Seeing a Soviet Bear-D do the same thing adds a totally different layer of Pucker Factor, tho'. I appreciate seeing both back in the day; don't really need a repeat view of either now, thanks.

  • @S_M_360
    @S_M_360 Жыл бұрын

    Great one for us airplane history buffs!

  • @MMAGamblingTips
    @MMAGamblingTips Жыл бұрын

    What about the B-52’s who flew the cozy Love Shack plane?

  • @Thehistoryguy1.....

    @Thehistoryguy1.....

    Жыл бұрын

    Text me on telegram ☝️✍️

  • @comicus01
    @comicus01 Жыл бұрын

    At 16:00 THG mentions George Gobel. George is featured in what for me is the funniest ever clip from The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Highly recommend going and watching it here on youtube (Dean Martin is also in it, and if you find the really long version, Bob Hope as well).

  • @markaustin643
    @markaustin643 Жыл бұрын

    Little known fact: The son of the gunner on one of the Power Flite B-52s also became a B-52 gunner.

  • @johnstevenson9956
    @johnstevenson9956 Жыл бұрын

    There's a favorite Air Force saying here. "It's not your grandfather's Air Force. But it might be his airplane."