Airshow Spectator Steals an AirplaneAlthough the idea of a novice unexpectedly jumping in and taking off in an airplane at an airshow is now most well known to be performed by Kyle Franklin in his
Ben Whabnoski Comedy Act, it is actually far, far older:
Ted G. Misenhimer wrote:
At many air shows he was noted for an act of which variations are still seen at air shows today. Quite often during one of these early air shows there would be an elderly woman thrilled with the spectacle of flight, walking around among the airplanes. She would always receive more than her share of attention because it would be necessary for the local police to escort her off the field, for her own safety. Often the announcer would politely ask the little old lady to leave the field. Some time during the event, the announcer would direct everyone's attention to a particularly important aerial display. When every eye was riveted on the airplanes in the sky, the little old lady would find her way into the cockpit of an airplane whose engine was quietly ticking over. Inadvertently she would ram home the throttle and make a daring and risky takeoff. The aerial display would immediately be forgotten and all eyes would be directed toward the little old lady in the airplane. There would be dives, slips, skids and steep turns, and the airplane would disappear behind a row of trees. Women would swoon and men would grow faint. Finally, after the announcer had lost his composure a dozen times, knowing that the poor little old lady would surely be killed, the airplane would come slipping in to a beautiful perfect landing, taxi up to the line, and out would jump the little old lady! She would peel off her wig revealing the incomparable Lincoln Beachy, the "greatest of them all."
(Source: Ted G. Misenhimer,
Aeroscience: Basic Textbook for Aeroscience Courses (Culver City, California: Aero Products Research, 1970), 653-654.)
Note that this act would have had even greater impact in the era of barnstorming, when many of the people in the small towns that they visited could have legitimately claimed to have never seen an airplane before.
B-52 with Warp NacellesRemarks about the age of the B-52 are, appropriately, nothing new. However, extrapolating the aircraft's future service from that a bit is. For example, the
use of names like "Centuryfortress" alludes to the growing awareness of the aircraft's potential for future service. (Contrast with the
use of the "Stratosaurus" name.) This likely originated with statements such as those made in a
2007 Air Force Magazine article that the "USAF plans to keep a large number of these eight-engine airplanes until 2040". One way this has been popularly portrayed is by depicting the aircraft with it's engine pylons replaced with warp nacelles from Star Trek. It seems that this concept was derived from a 2008 comic attributed to "ALX & CF". However, it laid dormant for many years until the early 2020s, when it began appearing in photoshopped images on
reddit and
Facebook. The reemergence of the meme is likely tied to both
speculation about the announcement of a new "B-52J" designation for the reengining program as well as the creation of the Space Force in 2019. Interestingly, the concept of an old strategic bomber flying alongside Starfleet starships - albeit with the original engines still installed - extends to foreign aircraft as well. A
comic posted as early as 2018 shows a Tu-95 in the same circumstances.
This joke may be found paired with a
copypasta about a soldier using a M2 machine gun on Mars, only for him to look down and see that it has markings indicating it was used in World War II and then adding his own.
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