Posted on 07/06/2006 7:59:03 PM PDT by GoldCountryRedneck
B-52 Flyby of USS Ranger
This picture is real because I witnessed this flyby personally.
This picture was taken in the spring of 1990 as we started our deployment to the Persian Gulf.
I was up in the "tower" with the air boss as the Viking squadron rep for the launch/recovery and these Buff drivers (2 of them) called that they were at 8 miles for a flyby. They had been 'orange air' for a big war - at - sea exercise we were doing When they called 5 miles the boss said "we don't see you" and we heard back "look low".
Out on the water we saw this smoke trail first, (the planes merged with the color of the water) at about a 1-2 miles we could make them out and the two buffs came by at 20-30 feet off the water splitting the ship at about 350kts. Then they pulled up and did a big plan form 180 and said "do you want to see that again" - The air boss said "hell yea" so they went back out and did it again. It was the only time in my 20-year career that I have seen any service jets purposely flying below flight deck level.
One of my reserve buddies showed me this picture this weekend and I got all excited about it. It was always one of those moments at sea that I had talked about.
All the best.
N. T.
The Ranger, a BUFF, and the Loch Ness monster.
All we need now is Beerman from New Orleans during Katrina.
I think you must've been at our spring air show.
With the cards we have here @ FR, it won't take long for LooterGuy to show up in the pic. Question is, where will he be?
Have a look at this. It's a 7 frame gif I made just for the occasion:
It doesn't necessarily "prove" anything but the similarities are, well, striking. That is to say, the angles and lighting(such as it is) are virtually identical with one of a landing buff I pulled off the web. Resized and flipped horizontally yields the exact(except for some apparent trimming in a photo editing program off the bottom of the "original" buff. The physical size difference of the original pic and this one could account for some random fuzziness/lighting/detail.
Also note, that overlaying the pic off the web shows the buff in a "landing" attitude(just before flaring one would suspect), just off the deck, er, runway. I left the landing gear(barely visible) on the overlay.
FWIW, comparing the second, smaller pic posted on the thread yields identical results; exact angle and lighting. What are the odds? I say they're fakes ;^)
Also, I spent quite a while(God only knows why!) looking for a pic of USS Ranger that may have been used for the original. The only candidate I found didn't exist any more and all I had to look at was a thumbnail, that when zoomed in lost most of its detail.
Another aside; I probably looked at several hundred pics of buffs in flight and found several that would suggest the fuselage is virtually parallel to the horizon when in straight and level flight. Like when on a bombing run, etc...
FGS
THANKS MUCH.
What an awesome amount of very clever work! Impressive.
Have a blessed weekend.
;^)
A very good friend of mine provided me the pic...
Yes, Looterguy, not Beerman.
Maybe we can get your handle, USS Enterprise of Star Trek reknown, in the picture too?
Not a bad idea.
The picture makes it look like the BUFF was shot of the slanted part of the deck and the catapult didn't have enough umph to fling it aloft. As a result, the BUFF is going into the drink.
Neat picture though. Two fine examples of US power projectors.
Agreed. Besides, I didn't think a B52 could fly that low and still remain aloft (except for landings and takeoffs).
The outline of the plane in the above photo is correct, though.
These photos help to give a sense of scale. They are huge aircraft.
I'm game. I went to a school during my active duty days (1998) where we spent a few hours discussing Bud Holland.
Agreed on your last post...
The Fairchild AFB B-52 incident has been made a case study in poor leadership at Air Force professional military education schools. What a gross embarrassment.
I like it whaen the MSM told us what "BUFF" meant, of course the PC version. :)
The B52 is another marvel of US arms development. As old as it is, it STILL is a viable platform that serves a purpose within the airframe mix the USAF has!
http://www.dumpalink.com/media/1129710400/B52_Crash
You can see the film of that Fairchild AFB/ Bud Holland crash here-- I know next to nothing about planes (except that I love them) and even I can see what a dumb move something like that was. Wow how sad.
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