[MilCom] Re: B-1 bomber crashes at base in Middle East/B-52

[Dave Holford]

Peter Tomlinson wrote:

> Declared_Hostile wrote:
>
>> Duane Mantick wrote:
>> > The Lancer really has not had a particularly visible
>> > role in much of anything and most of the public I
>> > doubt even remembers what it is!
>> >
>> > As for simply grounding them - that's a lot easier to
>> > do when mission requirements are minimal as they seem
>> > to be for the B-1B.
>>
>> It has a very visible role and nor are the mission requirements minimal.
>>
>> The B-1B has been indispensable in Iraq and Afghanistan.  They carry 
>> a very heavy bomb load, get to the target area very fast and can 
>> loiter for a very long time.  The USAF named it "Most Valuable Plane" 
>> of Operation Iraqi Freedom where they  dropped nearly 40 percent of 
>> the total tonnage during the first six months of  the war. In 
>> Operation Allied Force they delivered more than 20 percent of the 
>> total ordnance while flying less than 2 percent of the combat 
>> sorties.  In Afghanistan and Iraq they've even used it to deter enemy 
>> activity and conduct psychological operations by sending them over 
>> the bad guys at high speed and a few hundred feet above the ground at 
>> full power as a show of force.  It's quite an ear shattering 
>> thunderous display and sends the bad guys scurrying for cover and 
>> likely requires the changing of their pantaloons.
>
> Until he was too infirm to get out, I used to take a WWII RAF Regiment 
> veteran to the International Air Tattoo here in the UK. One year we 
> were standing as close as we could, at the east end, when a B1 came in 
> from the west too fast but very impressive, low along the runway line. 
> We could not hear him coming, and then there was an almighty crack 
> sound as he went past... I heard later from a photographer that 
> someone got a talking to...
>
> In my teens I had lived very close to where the Vulcans were built, 
> and so was used to loud noises. For those who had not heard, one 
> Vulcan is flying again, but the restorers have run out of money.
>
> Peter
>
Peter,

do you think he was actually supersonic?
I ask because back when the F-104 was new one made a supersonic pass at 
the opening of the new (at least it was then) passenger terminal at the 
Ottawa International Airport. The shock wave practically destroyed the 
terminal building. The news photos of the pile of broken glass 
surrounding the building were quite spectacular. I know the controllers 
who were in the tower when the windows caved in, and also an individual 
who was inside the lobby when the ceiling fell in.
I would have thought that a supersonic pass by a B1 would have done at 
least as much damage.

Dave