Given my love of airplanes and all things airplane related, you'd think this would be an easy theme for me. But the truth is that I have very few photos of airplanes in my archives, and I'm wondering if it's not time to do something about that. But I do have a few, and this Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber is one such example.
Despite multiple attempts to replace it, the B-52 is still flying and is one of only six aircraft in the world to make it through 50 or more years of continuous service with its original primary operator. (In case you were wondering, the other five were the RAF's English Electric Canberra light bomber, the Russian Tupolev Tu-95, and the USAF's C-130 Hercules, KC-135 Stratotanker, and Lockheed U-2.)
My college advisor -- a former Air Force F-4 pilot -- quoted a old colleague of his as saying that "With eight Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-3/103 turbofans strapped to your wings, you don't so much take off as scare the ground out from under you." This specimen had a much more benign mission the day I snapped this photo. It was the aircraft that did the flyover at Lowe's Motor Speedway before the 2002 UAW GM 500.
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13 comments:
I love airplanes as long as I'm not on one!
Cool shot!
Nice silhouette of the plane. I'd like to take more shots of planes but I'd like to get them from an airport view and it's so difficult to get close enough to get those kind of shots. :-(
That is THE most amazing aircraft! Very nice shot!
Looks like a swift and merciless machine. I like it.
Great shot!
BUFF! I so LOVE this plane for every last reason you shared here. Its history, its strength, its sheer malevolence...it's a classic design in a world that I fear has lost the ability to appreciate what that really means.
Benign my hiney: you managed to capture the sheer size and sound of the thing. I've been at air shows (Plattsburgh AFB, may its memory always be a blessing) and felt my very soul shift as it rotated skyward. What I wouldn't give to experience it again.
'scare the ground' that's good.
amazing!
Amazing, and such a great shot. I can never get close enough, but you nailed this.
Oh my.. You stun me!
I have something else for aviation ;)
I will go away for the night and come back tomorrow (friday night).
I hope it will be a good time.
I'm thinking of you.
Hugs, Anna
And what a LOVELY silhouette it makes! :) I love that - it scares the ground out from under it! What a great piece of equipment!
Fantastic shot!!
Wow, what a beautiful shot. The composition is so clean with the background so subtle, and the silhouette is beautiful.
I participated in TP this week too. It's a little "lighter" though.
Please stop by!
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