They Were Just Passin’ Through But They’re Still Fondly Remembered
During November of 2016, a pair of McDonnell Douglas QF-4E Phantom IIs flew into Alliance Airport in Fort Worth to perform a flyby at nearby Texas Motor Speedway. These two jets were the very last military Phabulous Phantoms to grace Texas skies. Over the years the United States Air Force (USAF) based F-4C, F-4D, F-4E, and RF-4C Phantom IIs at a few Air Force Bases (AFBs) in Texas including Bergstrom AFB near Austin. The Navy and Marines flew the F-4B, F-4J, F-4N, and F-4S variants of the Phab 4 out of Naval Air Station (NAS) Dallas near Mountain Creek Lake in Grand Prairie for many years. The Collings Foundation also bases the only privately owned F-4D out of Ellington Field near Houston. Enjoy these gorgeous HD videos posted by Gotyacovered Photography of the arrival, startup and taxi, and departure of these two QF-4Es.
The two jets were both built as F-4E-60-MC model Phantom IIs. Except for a couple of differences their service lives were remarkably similar. 74-1043 (CN4825), the gray jet in the video, began service with the 57th Fighter Weapons Wings (FWW) at Nellis AFB in Nevada during the late 1970s. In 1979 the jet went to the 336th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) Rocketeers of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) and remained there for a decade. The distinctive gray camouflage paint on 043 was applied by the 704th TFS Outlaws of the 924th Tactical Fighter Group (TFG) Air Force Reserve (AFRES) based at Bergstrom AFB. After only a couple of years she was retired to the boneyard where the jet languished for 17 years but was resurrected for conversion to QF-4E drone AF338.
The second aircraft, 74-0643 (CN 4794) wearing the wraparound gray/green camouflage paint, served in the same squadrons as 74-1043 to begin with but flew with the 335th TFS Chiefs for the majority of its time with the 4th TFW. 643 also received that gorgeous gray on gray camouflage paint job at the 704th TFS while based at Bergstrom. But for a short time right before being retired to the same boneyard at AMARG (Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group) as 043, the jet returned to the 4th TFW. 643 also spent about 18 years in storage before being brought back to serve as QF-4E drone AF354 with the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron (ATRS) out of Holloman AFB in New Mexico. This departure video was shot from the front cockpit looking over the nose of the Rhino.
Iceland blew up on the travel radar last year, becoming the new “it” place to travel, whether you’re looking for a great spot to climb some icebergs, or if you’d just like to laze around in the Blue Lagoon. Whatever your fancy, you can now afford it, thanks to a bevy of low cost airlines who jumped on the Iceland bandwagon, and began offering ultra-reduced fares to this hot spot.
So, who should you consider if you’re planning an Iceland getaway this year (or next)? There are two main airlines most seasoned travelers will name:
WOW Air
Photo: WOW Air
This airline has more recently come onto the scene, founded in 2011. They first flew only within Europe, but then expanded their reach to travelers departing the United States. Now, they have more than 30 destinations over North America, Europe and Asia, and they’ve approximated they’ll carry 3 million passengers this year. As far as their fleet, its all Airbus, with three A320s, 11 A321s and three A330s. If you’re flying to or from North American destinations, you’ll be on the A321 (except for the routes to California, which monopolizes all three of the A330s). They boast that they have the youngest fleet in Iceland with the lowest emissions.
Their fares are low, low, low, like $100 from the United States to Iceland, if you can catch a special deal (something that’s almost unheard of on a domestic flight, let alone an international one). However, remember that, with low prices come little perks. While the cheap tickets are enough to please some passengers, others have been filling the forums with tales of dirty and damaged aircraft and poor service.
WOW Air offers three different types of fares: basic, plus and biz.
Icelandair
Icelandair is more of a staple, and they’re not as budget as WOW Air, but they still offer very lucrative deals. Their history stretches back to 1937, and the name Icelandair has absorbed several other Icelandic airlines during its long existence. Today, they currently have 40 destinations across North America and Europe.
Almost the entire Icelandair fleet is made up of Boeing 757 jets, along with just a few 767s. Many of them have been recently renovated, for a better consumer experience. They’re also one of the many airlines signed up to receive a Boeing 737 MAX when the aircraft is available. If you’ve checked out their social media recently, you’ll also see that they just came out with some spiffy new livery, that they’ve named Hekla Aurora, and which is really just a giant image of the northern lights.
They offer three different types of fares: economy, economy comfort and Saga.
On 7/26/2017 just as the National Anthem was concluding, the United States Navy Precision Flight Demonstration Team, better known as the Blue Angels, arrived for their performances at EAA AirVenture 2017. Listen for the lead calling maneuvers and each pilot calling when he breaks for the landing. FYI the tail numbers are often changed week to week and sometimes day to day in order to keep the best birds in the air for performances. That’s why some of their Hornets are two seaters when the Blues arrive for a performance or conduct practices but are usually single seaters for performances. Thanks as always to our good friends at Airshowstuff for uploading both of these clips.
Our second clip was captured during the twilight display put on by the Rockwell Boeing B-1B Lancer on 7/26/2017. The Bone makes three passes over the crowd at Oshkosh and all are flown with burners blazing and full vapor blooms. This jet is flown by the 28th Bomb Squadron of the 7th Operations Group, United States Air Force (USAF) out of Dyess Air Force Base (AFB) near Abilene in Texas. Be sure and turn those speakers up to get the full auditory effect!
Karl Wendell Richter was born on October 4th 1942 in Holly, Michigan. Karl was the youngest of Ludwig Richter’s three children. By all accounts Karl was an all-around standout at Holly High School. He lettered in football, ran track, and played varsity basketball. He was also class president for four years. But Karl was, by his own admission, not a scholarly student. Karl’s prospects for a college education seemed slim. One of things he enjoyed immensely was aviation. His older sister Betty May helped him pursue his interest in aviation and by the time Karl was getting ready to graduate from high school he was an experienced pilot.
Official US Air Force Photograph
From High School to Colorado Springs
Because Karl wasn’t looking forward to more school at a regular college, Betty May talked him into applying for admission to the Air Force Academy. Although Karl figured he probably wouldn’t be accepted, he completed the admissions process anyway. To Karl’s great surprise two Michigan Congressmen made him their primary appointee to the Academy. Just nine days after graduating from Holly High School, Karl Richter became a cadet in Squadron 8. Karl didn’t magically become a better student at the Air Force Academy, but the word is he excelled at sports. He enjoyed intramurals such as rugby, football, soccer, and boxing. Karl graduated from the Air Force Academy and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on June 3rd 1964.
Official US Air Force Photograph
Becoming a THUD Pilot
Karl’s pilot training wasn’t anything unusual for Air Force pilots in those days. He spent 53 weeks at Craig Air Force Base (AFB) in Alabama completing his Undergraduate Pilot Training. From there Karl went to Nellis AFB in Nevada for 26 weeks to complete the Combat Crew Replacement Training syllabus for the Republic F-105D Thunderchief. It was normal, even expected, for a pilot having just completed a little bit more than a year and half of intensive training to take some leave at that point, but Karl decided instead to ferry a replacement F-105D over to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) in Thailand. Karl then became the newest member of the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) of the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW).
Official US Air Force Photograph
No Time for Ground Pounding
Four days after arriving in Thailand Karl flew his first mission over North Vietnam. Karl was one of those pilots who wanted to be in the air whenever possible. He quickly became an excellent Thud pilot despite his lack of previous experience in the cockpit. He would fly anything he could, anytime he could. He once turned down a trip to the exotic destinations of Hong Kong and Bangkok only to spend his leave flying combat forward air controller (FAC) missions in Cessna O-1E Bird Dogs instead.
Official US Air Force Photograph
MiG Killer
Karl bagged a MiG-17 on September 21st 1966. He was flying as an element leader designated Ford 03 near Haiphong in North Vietnam sniffing for surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites. When Karl found a SAM site he was getting ready to clobber it when he spied a section of MiG-17s making a firing pass on another Thud in the lead element. Karl maneuvered into firing position and employed his 20 millimeter M61A1 Vulcan cannon to saw a wing off of one of the MiGs forcing the pilot to eject from his stricken jet and the other to bolt for home. Karl was 23 years old when he shot down his MiG, making him the youngest American pilot ever to down a MiG. Richter went to Saigon to receive congratulations and decorations, but he wanted to fly.
Official US Air Force Photograph
Racking Up the Missions
There was simply no stopping him. He quickly piled up his first 90 missions, which usually meant that he would fly another ten “soft” missions and rotate back to the world. But not Karl. Karl wanted another 100. He had to glad-hand a bit and do some politicking. Meanwhile, Karl was winning medals for his extraordinary bravery and initiative in the air. He led a Wild Weasel (defense suppression) mission on April 20th 1967 that resulted in the destruction or distraction of a large number of enemy SAM and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) crews. This allowed the strike force with whom Richter was working to eliminate an important railroad target even though Richter’s group experienced intense enemy fire and dealt with weather that hindered navigation. Because he had already received the Silver Star, was awarded the Air Force Cross for his skill and heroism that day. And those next 100 missions? He got them too.
Official US Air Force Photograph
For the Rest of Karl Richter’s Incredible Story Bang NEXT PAGE Below
Fat Albert, the Blue Angels Lockheed Martin C-130T Hercules support airlifter and performer, has been grounded along with all 12 operational Marine Corps KC-130T tankers. The decision by the Marine Corps was reportedly made out of “an abundance of caution” during the investigation of the Marine Corps VMGR-452 KC-130T (BuNo 165000) that crashed earlier this month in Mississippi killing 16. The Blues decided to ground Fat Albert because the investigation is being conducted into the crash of the tanker model (KC-130T) of the same basic airframe as Fat Albert (C-130T). There have been no other C-130 Hercules groundings announced by Lockheed Martin or the military as of this time. Here’s short video of Fat Albert in action posted by DoD News & Videos
The KC-130T is the oldest model of the Hercules still operational with the Marines, averaging nearly 25 years of service. Only the Marine Reserve squadron VMGR-452 still flies the KC-130T- the same squadron that was flying the KC-130T that crashed in Mississippi. Many of the Marine Corps and Navy Hercules tanker variants are the much newer KC-130J models. The groundings are, at least at this point, the result of caution resulting from no clear cause of the Mississippi KC-130T crash having been determined. The grounding of Fat Albert was initially announced by the Experimental Aircraft Association via Airshowstuff. The KC-130T groundings were reported by Defense News.
The “Fighting Cocks” Have a Half Dozen Raytheon Awards in Their Trophy Case
The United States Air Force USAF) 18th Operations Group is based at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa in Japan. One of the commands in the Group is the 67th Fighter Squadron (FS) Fighting Cocks. The Fighting Cocks fly the McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) F-15C and F-15D Eagle air superiority fighter. The 67th FS won the Raytheon Trophy for air-to-air excellence for the sixth time in their storied history in 2013, making them the only squadron in the Air Force to be so awarded six times. Thanks go to YouTuber Snizzler for uploading this awesomely entertaining HD video of the Fighting Cocks in action while winning their sixth Raytheon Trophy.
The 67th has been an active squadron since January of 1941. They first flew Seversky P-35A fighters. When in 1941 war broke out in the Pacific the 67th flew Curtiss P-36 Hawks and then Bell P-400 and P-39 Airacobras before becoming a Lockheed P-38 Lightning outfit. When the war ended they flew North American P-51D Mustangs and Republic P-47N Thunderbolts until equipping with Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star jets. The 67th traded their P-80s for P-51Ds when the Korean War began and flew them until they received their North American F-86 Sabre Jets in early 1953.
Official US Air Force Photograph
Went to WestPac and Liked It So Much They Stayed
The Fighting Cocks began flying the North American F-100 Super Sabre in 1957, followed by the Republic F-105 Thunderchief in 1962 and the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in 1968. After flying Phabulous Phantoms for 11 years, they were one of the first squadrons to fly the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle in 1979. The 67th has been based out of Kadena for 35 years. One of their most influential commanders was Brigadier General Robinson “Robbie” Risner, who was an ace during the Korean War and commanded them when flying F-105s during Operation Rolling Thunder in Vietnam. Risner retired in 1976 and passed away in October of 2013. There is a tribute to Risner in the video.
A dual Heritage Flight arrival took place at AirVenture 2017 on July 25th 2017. The fist Heritage Flight was a section of Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs from the 61st Fighter Squadron (FS) of the 56th Fighter Wing (FW) based at Luke Air Force Base (AFB) in Arizona were escorted to the landing break by the P-51D-25NA Bald Eagle (44-73029 / N51JB) owned by Jim Beasley. The second Heritage Flight was composed of a section of Fairchild Republic A-10C Thunderbolt IIs from the 74th FS of the famed 23rd Fighter Group (FG) Flying Tigers based at Moody AFB in Georgia was escorted to the landing break by a second P-51D-25NA (44-73420 / N151AM) owned by Andrew McKenna. Thanks as always to our good friends at Airshowstuff for uploading the video.
FYI the F-35As and A-10Cs were all adorned with tributes to the recently departed Vlado Lenoch on their nosegear doors (F-35As) or boarding ladder doors (A-10Cs). The pilots were wearing tribute patches as well. Vlado often flew the Heritage Flight displays with these Air Force pilots. Classy move!
Well this is the big one warbird fans! We’ve been waiting to see this for decades, and here it is! The world’s only two operational Boeing B-29 Superfortresses flew together over AirVenture 2017 in Oshkosh on July 25th 2017. These two aircraft, the Commemorative Air Force’s B-29A-60-BN Fifi (CN 11547, AF serial number 44-62070) and the recently restored B-29A-70-BW Doc (CN 10804, AF serial number 44-69972) took to the Wisconsin skies simultaneously for the first time. Both of these aircraft were recovered from Naval Air Weapons Stations China Lake in California and restored, but they returned to flight almost 40 years apart. Thanks to our good friends at Airshowstuff for uploading this awesome video of the two B-29s flying together.
On Monday July 24th 2017 a 1970s-vintage BAC-167 Mark 80A Strikemaster jet, serial number G-27-225 and US registration number N605GV, crashed after attempting to take off from runway 17R at Henderson Executive Airport (KHND) in Henderson, Nevada. The aircraft came to rest about half a mile south of Volunteer Boulevard near Via Inspirada south of the airport. The single pilot, whose name has not yet been released, evidently rode the aircraft all the way to a stop because the ejection seats in his aircraft were “cold.” He then exited the wreck with minor injuries which were treated at the site. The forward half of the aircraft was consumed by fire after the crash. There were no passengers in the jet or injuries on the ground and no other damage. Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash. Here is some raw footage of the crash scene posted by the Associated Press.
The Strikemaster was operated by Blue Air Training and was departing Blue Air’s facility at KHND bound for a United States Air Force (USAF) training exercise for Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) taking place at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma in Washington state. These highly-trained JTACs require certification before being able to deploy with their units overseas. Blue Air Training’s role in this training is to simulate close air support aircraft dropping BDU-33 practice bombs and shooting 2.75” live-fire rockets tasked by the JTACs from the ground. Blue Air operates BAC 167 Strikemaster jets, IAR-823 Brasov trainers, AH-6 Little Bird assault helicopters, and a variety of single engine light aircraft used to simulate various US and foreign combat aircraft for training of these JTACs as well as other American military personnel.
The Strikemaster that crashed on Monday was built by British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) for the Saudi Arabian Air Force in 1972. After serving with the Saudis until 2001 under serial number 1114, the aircraft made its way onto the civilian market initially as G-BZYH and was later registered as N605GV. The jet was one of four Strikemasters operated out of Nevada by Blue Air Training. This was the first accident involving any of the company’s Strikemaster jets. The Strikemaster is a development of BAC’s Jet Provost intermediate trainer. In addition to Saudi Arabia, the total of 146 Strikemasters built by BAC were operated by Botswana, Ecuador, Kenya, Kuwait, New Zealand, Oman, Singapore, South Yemen, and Sudan. Blue Air is the only military contractor currently utilizing Strikemasters as simulation aircraft.
Photo credit: Chrisk48
Bonus Video: Here’s a video of a Strikemaster flying around the air patch uploaded by blizzardthewatcher
Air India A320 Crew Forgets To Raise The Gear. How does this even happen?
Two Air India Airlines pilots have been grounded for forgetting to retract the landing gear on their spanking-new Airbus A320neo and flying 693 miles (1,115 kilometers) from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (CCU) in Kolkata in eastern India to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport / Sonegaon Air Force Base (NAG) at Nagpur with the gear extended on Saturday July 22nd 2017.
The pilots didn’t put it together that the gear was in the wind when they were unable to climb higher than 24,000 feet (7,315 meters), which is about 12,000 feet (3,657 meters) lower than their usual assigned altitude of 36,000 feet (10,972 meters). They didn’t figure it out when their jet wouldn’t fly faster than 230 knots (264 miles per hour or 426 kilometers per hour) either.
If you forget to raise the gear, you probably won’t have enough fuel to reach your destination
The Air India A320neo, as flight 676, was supposed to fly from CCU all the way to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM) in Mumbai on the western coast of India- essentially a cross-India trip. But the higher than normal fuel consumption due to the added drag of the extended landing gear used up fuel a lot faster than normal.
They made it roughly 2/3 of the way before they were forced to divert and land at NAG. It was only when preparing to land at NAG about an hour and a half into their flight that the flight crew realized their faux pas. There were 99 passengers aboard the flight.
Photo courtesy of Airbus
Air India A320 Crew Forgets To Raise The Gear, But Why?
The pilots, both of whom were women, according to the original report, expressed incredulity when they became aware of their error.
One pilot was surprised that the cabin crew and passengers didn’t express concern about the added noise and vibration cause by flight with the landing gear extended.
Speculation is that the pilots may have chalked the noise and vibration up to monsoon-caused turbulence aloft over India that day. But there is a post-takeoff checklist which was obviously poorly executed. This story was first reported by The Times of India.
Qatar Airways has been even more controversial than usual recently. Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker is evidently quite proud of the fact that his airline employs flight attendants who average (only) 26 years of age. What Al Baker doesn’t mention is that a cabin crew averaging 26 years of age cannot possibly possess the skills or experience a cabin crew really should have to ensure passenger safety and service. Qatar Airways crews are also grossly underpaid when compared to cabin crews working for other airlines. Qatar Airways achieves this young average cabin crew age at least in part by hiring young and inexperienced “talent” and then releasing said talent after only a few years on the job. They can do this because the cabin crews are not hired as employees but as contractors. And for other reasons we’ll get into later. But they are hired and released early to keep the cabin crews young.
I spoke with a flight attendant (and friend) who has been serving drinks and dealing with passengers with American Airlines for 30 years. Of course she does much more than that, but for all you perspective fans out there that means essentially that my friend has more experience than some, perhaps even many, of the entire cabin crews working for Qatar Airways. All by her experienced, capable, and talented self. And don’t fool yourselves- experience, capability, and talent count. Perhaps not at Qatar Airways, but ask yourself what’s more important- how smoothly your flight crew handles their essential tasks on your flight, or how they look while they perform them? With experience comes perspective, and my experienced friend shared some of that perspective with unsuspecting me.
Delta Airlines Response to Al Baker’s comments (uploaded by Canal Plus Finance)
Some of the deltas (pun intended) between American and many other international carriers and Qatar Airways stem from cultural differences. I am told that the contract rates of those contractors who work flights for Qatar Airways and the other ME3 carriers (Etihad and Emirates) are ridiculously low. That’s the culture of the region working against the flight attendants at least to some degree. Couple that with the likelihood of said flight attendants being kicked to the curb just when they reach true competency would seem to be extremely bad business, but who’s protesting or posting rants on social media about that? If it weren’t for Al Baker’s comments in Dublin the rest of the world might not even know about it.
He’s been making sensationalist comments about the world’s airlines for quite some time now. The man has talked about rubbing salt in airline “wounds” when he inaugurates a new Qatar Airways destination for some time now. Delta got the salt when he started flying into Atlanta; Lufthansa when Qatar Airways began flying into Frankfurt. Al Baker has also said that missing out on their play for Miami as another destination wasn’t a blow. He sounds like a blowhard when he perceives a win and a sore loser when he doesn’t get his way, doesn’t he? Now Al Baker’s rhetoric and manipulation are not unique to Al Baker, or Qatar Airways, or the region, or the ME3, or any industry. There are people like him running businesses in many industries. But would you trust him? Can you trust him?
Photo Credit: Tomas Del Coro
Qatar Airways is a member of the oneworld Alliance. The oneworld Alliance members are AirBerlin (Germany), American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair (Finland), Iberia (Spain), Japan Airlines, LATAM (Latin America), Qatar Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas (Australia), Sri Lankan Airlines, Royal Jordanian Airlines, and S7 Airlines (Russia). These airlines have agreed to do more than paint the same logo on their equipment and share some codes but the details aren’t really pertinent here. What is extremely pertinent is what could be, and is believed by many to be, Al Baker’s master plan.
Photo courtesy OneWorld Alliance
American Airlines is a publicly traded company. Anyone can buy their stock. Including Al Baker. In what would seem to a simpleton like me to be an extremely audacious move, it is not inconceivable that Al Baker, the CEO of one airline, could acquire 4.75 percent of the stock in a different airline. That 4.75 percent of the other airline would land him on the Board of Directors of American Airlines…one of those airlines he himself says are “crap American carriers” and a member of the same “alliance!” What has flight attendants and airline industry people concerned is that were Al Baker to land on the Board at AA, he would then be in a position to make comments that people cannot just ignore or dismiss as misogynist rantings. He could potentially force concessions by the flight attendants working not only in the airliners flying in American Airlines colors but many other American and world carriers as well. The unions would of course fight tooth and nail to keep Al Baker from forcing concessions by the flight attendants, but it would be a truly ugly fight that should, it seems at least to me, be avoided at all costs. So far at least it appears there has been no move by Al Baker to acquire the necessary stock needed to buy a chair in the AA Boardroom.
Photo Credit: Kambui
Doesn’t this all sound like something nobody should do? Like something that should be illegal, and if not in point of law illegal, then at least preventable? Here’s the thing, and this is not unique to Al Baker, or Qatar Airways, or the region, or the ME3, or any industry either. Just because a person, in this particular case Al Baker, can do something that does not mean he should do that something. Qatar Airways, along with the other ME3 airlines, is considered by many paying passengers to be a step up from even the most prestigious airlines not only based in the United States but the rest of the planet. However, the subsidies and financial backing received by the ME3 from the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates violates existing Open Skies world aviation agreements. We do know that what’s going on behind the scenes at Al Baker’s airline is changing people’s opinions and perspectives. So is his inflammatory rhetoric.
Photo Credit: Tomas Del Coro
Delta Airlines, one of the “crap” American carriers mentioned by Al Baker during his comments in Dublin, posted a video response to his comments. So too did the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies. We have included links to all three videos in this piece, and all three are equally deserving of your attention, albeit for different reasons. And we would like to hear from you Avgeekery Nation! What’s going on in Akbar Al Baker’s noggin anyway? He’s got to know American laws won’t allow him to fly Qatar Airways flights within our borders…doesn’t he? If he’s really trying to influence American Airlines and other American carriers from afar wouldn’t that be transparent enough that everyone would see right through it?
Screenshot courtesy Travelextra Ireland
It was reported recently that Qatar Airways wants to buy $808 million worth of American Airlines stock. Why? Is Akbar Al Baker really just disrupting an industry that’s grown weary of the status quo and burdened by questionable service, overcrowded planes, and tired equipment? Or is his airline categorically stepping over laws and ethical standards to win at any and all costs? And can someone please tell me what difference it makes how old (read experienced) your flight attendant is if your drink isn’t what you asked for? Were you offended by his comments? Was his released apology for his remarks enough? Or should we all just get over our righteous indignation and keep grinding? What do you think?
We warned you we were going to bring you the sights and sounds of AirVenture 2017. For this one you need to turn those speakers up to 11! Right after the National Anthem played to open the first show of AirVenture 2017 at Oshkosh, this United States Air Force (USAF) Rockwell (Boeing) B-1B Lancer performed a high speed pass with afterburners blazing and the crowd absolutely loved it!
The Bone then came back for a photo pass followed by an overhead break for landing, all of which Airshowstuff included in this video clip. This particular Bone is flown by the 28th Bomb Squadron of the 7th Operations Group, USAF out of Dyess Air Force Base (AFB) near Abilene in Texas. The clip includes nice HD video and sound and radio calls are audible as well. Click it…you know you want to!
