Warbird Information Exchange

A Special Forces guy wrote this about the Air Force:


So we are up in the mountains at about 0100 hrs looking for a bad guy that we thought was in the area. Here are ten of us, pitch black, crystal clear night, about 25 degrees. We know there are bad guys in the area; a few shots have been fired but no big deal. We decide that we need air cover and the only thing in the area is a solo B-1 bomber. He flies around at about 20,000 feet and tells us there is nothing in the area. He then asks if we would like a low level show of force.


Stupid question. Of course we tell him yes.

The controller who is attached to the team then is heard talking to the pilot. Pilot asks if we want it subsonic or supersonic.

Very stupid question.

Pilot advises he is twenty miles out and stand by. The controller gets us all sitting down in a line and points out the proper location.

You have to picture this. Pitch black, ten killers sitting down,dead quiet and overlooking this about 30 mile long valley. All of a sudden, way out (below our level) you see a set of four 200' white flames coming at us.

The controller says, "Ah-- guys-- you might want to plug your ears".

Faster than you can think a B-1, supersonic, 1000' over our heads, blasts the sound barrier and it feels like God just hit you in the head with ahammer". He then stands it straight up with 4 white trails of flame coming out and disappears."

Cost of gas for that: Probably $50,000

Hearing damage: For certain

Bunch of Taliban thinking twice about shooting at us: Priceless


Pretty cool

Mark H

Uhmmmm correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that the B-1B could not fly supersonic. The B-1A could, but not the B.

Cool story Mike ...I can just picture the sh*t-eating grins on those SF guys. Talk about a morale booster!

John

I had heard that the B-1 (don't know which version) was the fastest
a/c at low level (on the deck) today. Can anyone confirm this?

Steve G

That would have been a sight to see!



This from the USAF Fact Sheet...sounds fast to me.

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What do you mean, "not a warbird - yet"? I think it's a warbird, bigtime...

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I was thinking about that when I posted it. To me a WARBIRD is an airplane that is retired from military service and in the hands of civilisns, who may want to make it fly again.

So I look at it as a future warbird. Of course when the US GOVT retires them, they'll never fly again (kind of liek the B-47/B-36 I'd love to see fly)

At OSH a few years back, a pair of B-1s made 2 formation passes everyday at about 12:45. The first pass was slow, maybe 300KTS. The second pass was faster at about MACH .9999. The ground shook, everyone looked at them, it was a fearsome sight demanding (not just asking for) your respect.

Glad they are on our side................

Mark H

Deleted

When I was stationed at Nellis, B-1's went supersonic all the time out there.

For years the USAF denied (with a vengeance) that the B-1B was subsonic at anything but extremely high altitudes (like 40,000+) much like they denied that the B-1B was also fully aerobatic. Now, however, as the airplane is not the "#1" aircraft on the line anymore, they're admitting a bit more of it's true performance and capabilities. I think anyone with a passion for the B-1B has known for years that it can do a lot more.

When LGen Steve Croker, a former fighter guy who got 2 victories sitting behind Robin Olds in SEA, retired at Barksdale as the 8AF/CC (mid-90s or so), he spent a while doing Immelmans ... uh, *cough*, I mean Chandelles, in a Bone they flew in from Dyess - GEEZUSKEERIST it was loud!

As the BUF guys said, the display was pretty good ... you couldn't see the strings holding up the Bone or anything ... heh heh

Wade

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Have the engines been upgraded over the years to more powerful units that enable it to go supersonic now? Back when I was in the Air Force all the information available at the time said that after Reagan had restarted the program, the need for the supersonic penetration was no longer needed do to the current ALCM's at the time. Because of that the redesigned B-1B was smaller, had a smaller radar signature, and was subsonic.

But I wouldn't be suprised if that was just a cover story to mask the true capability of the B-1B

No upgrades have been done. The aircraft is the same size as the B-1A as well. The only real change between the B-1A and B-1B was the addition of ejection seats instead of the capsule and deletion of the variable angle inlet guide vanes within the inlet. The second modification was because the B-1A was intended to be capable of high transonic (Mach 1.8+) speeds at low level. The B-1B is only capable of about Mach 1.2-1.3 at low level, so these guide vanes weren't required anymore, so they were eliminated and thus there was a weight and complexity savings gained.

It'd be a fun to see a 'face-off' with an RAF Tornado GR4, as on quoted sea-level Mach numbers the two seem pretty evenly matched......

B-1B will always win. Tornado doesn't have enough fuel. The B-1B can sustain afterburner flight for over an hour. The Tornado would be empty in minutes.

One of the comparisons I heard from a Bone crewman was that under most circumstances, the B-1B's tailpipes will melt before you run out of fuel.