B-52 Age Legacy

I have two B-52 stories:

1. We were testing digital imaging from helicopters at 10,000 feet (service ceiling) for potential use in Bosnia. My best friend was flying and when we returned to Minot a Buff flew under us. I took an awesome picture (which is buried somewhere in my stuff) of it. I loved seeing the B-52s up close when I was assigned both at Minot and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency in DC.

2. I was the Crew Commander at the Space Command war fighting HQ when Operation IRAQI FREEDOM kicked off. We were watching the Common Operating Picture (COP) and tracking the Air Tasking Order (ATO), so we knew when things would happen. We saw a flight of B-52s flying in from the south towards Baghdad. Suddenly the blips representing the Buffs multiplied like rabbits. The cruise missiles were in flight bringing part of the shock and awe to the Iraqi regime. 3 years later I found myself on the ground toting a rifle in the desert. I'm so glad we're out of there.

The B-52 is an amazing tool. It has phenomenal reach and true global striking power. Worth every penny spent on it.


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The B-52 has a looong service life yet to go.



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mostly generic stuff, but, check out the guy with the vise grips at 4:42 made me laugh, I bet the guy picked up a hammer next (the vid editor did not have to include that )



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I guess if vicegrips are good enough for belt changes on Ferraris......

 

Have you ever been in the factory? Don't be too quick to laugh. Once on 777 (1st aircraft) a part was not fitting. Shop foreman told everyone to go to lunch. When we came back after lunch it fit

 

Nothing new here. The old saw when I was a mechanic was, " Beat it to fit, paint it to match." and, "If it don't fit, get a bigger hammer."

 

So, pretty much the Ferrari method....

 

Bigger hammer aka Ford wrench.......

 

The stress engineers then had a collective heart attack.

 

Old story.

 

Considering the instance I witnessed, which is what I was relating, happened in 1994 I guess you could say that.

Also shows that CATIA and digital mockup were and still are only as good as the driver of the machine.

 

The digital mock up was done in the group of which I was a member. It was composed of the most experienced "drivers" in the company and we produced the first digital mock up in world. It successfully exposed interferences in structures, mechanical components, and systems. It was a phenomenal tool and I can't recall any errors that effected the assembly of the airplane. In fact, we received an award for it. One of my sons was an inspector in final assembly and he recalled that 90% of parts that had problems were caused by the suppliers that didn't build to CATIA specs. I saw many prints of the Digital Mock Up on the office walls of the supervisors and leads that ran the 777 shops.