Boeing B-52H Stratofortress - "Flight Without A Fin" - 1964

The BUFF can do it!

[@timstime1970]

I was there from 89 to 92 then went to Altus till I got out in 94...I really enjoted the warm weather year round and always somplace to go and lots to do,,,but I dont miss the smog on a still day,,thank God for the Santa Anna Winds..I thought I was gonna freeze to death the 1st winter at Altus as a crew chief,,I woulda never lasted at Maguire NJ..

[@allgood6760]

A B-52.. a friend you can depend on 👍✈️

[@n6mz]

First flight 65 years ago in April and STILL in the USAF inventory, and will be for several more years. There are a lot of great aircraft around but none of them come close to this beauty.

[@ted3020]

I flew the aircraft at K.I. Sawyer. It had only 4,000+ hours and the controls were fairly stiff, something we had no problem with the older airplanes. The newness had not worm off. A good aircraft with the best maintenance people anywhere. No base was better at getting on time takeoffs.

[@firemanbeetle]

Boeing finally delivered this aircraft to the USAF somewhere between 1972-74. It was assigned to the 410 Bomb Wing at K.I. Sawyer AFB until the base closed.

[@robertjones8598]

A Japan Airlines 747 have a similar loss of the vertical stabilizer. The pilots struggled valiantly to keep it flying for a while but eventually lost it. I don’t recall them being instructed to extend landing gear or transfer fuel to gain stability. They fought like hell either way and flew it til the end. I need to rewatch the crash investigation because I’m not sure.

[@nuclear944]

I've flown around the Spanish Peak area- lots of clear air turbulence. Flying within 70 miles east of the front range in Colorado always poses dangers due to mountain wave activity.

[@LateNightCable]

Great video. Colorado to Arkansas with a torn rudder? I'm surprised they didn't have a suitable place to put her down before Arkansas.

[@daggerjrjr]

@buffdr it was 1023..i crewed it for a few years...

[@LateNightCable]

@fernfeyes Oh I know, the Buff has awesome range, but with a torn rudder, I'm just surprised they didn't just pick the nearest suitable piece of tarmac and land immediately. Unless Arkansas was indeed the nearest place.

[@RubenLensvelt]

I was waiting for Mr. Richard to snap off the stabilizer on the model.

[@TralfazConstruction]

@vexviper A curious placement for your comment though I well agree with you. When I do encounter an articulate young person I am startled as it is so rare.

[@GunnardDoboze]

American airlines 587 wondering if this film has been shown to commercial pilots...Although improper use of flight controls contributed to that crash plus wake turbulence, this may be help full regarding alternate flight procedure..

[@jimratliff2753]

Just goes to show you Boeing makes a good airborne battlefield tank!

[@timstime1970]

Whooaa he said Norton AFB,,god I miss that base,,they closed the best base ever..

[@jsmythib]

What Happened to your airplane?! -- " Tail fell OFF!"

[@vexviper]

It's amazing how professional and intelligent people were back then... now our youth have all morphed into consuming amebas.

[@n6mz]

I know several current Boeing commercial test pilots and they are STILL awesome, professional, and intelligent.

[@jamesjwalsh]

What changes did they make to the fin? Did this ever happen a second time?

[@postie2187]

+James Walsh All B-52 variants went through a standard structure evaluation, other than that, the conditions were considered so unique there really wasn't anything they could do. And, no, it never happened again, except, several D and G models came back from bombing missions during the Arc Light missions over Vietnam with some rather large pieces missing.

[@Turboy65]

The G and H models were built with shorter tails. (Eight feet shorter.)

[@timstime1970]

And Hey ,,,do you remember KFIA during gulf storm biggest tent city in country..