FighterControl

One of the most memorable Air Fete moments (after the famous Blackbird reheat incident) is that B-52 take -off which provided what was probably the most dramatic show finale in 1990. Now I normally would nt have been around to witness it as we always hit the road early to avoid the end of show traffic jam but that year we elected to go by coach. Hence this sequence of pics was taken from the internal coach park gate with a standard 50 mm lens. Every photo I've ever seen published was taken from the south side, normally only accessible to those with a Press Pass, and just shows the nose being held in ground effect after rotation with the caption describing what happened next. Well here you can see what happened next and the crowd's reaction.

Air Fete - B52 take - off by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Air Fete - B52 take - off (2) by Michael Britton, on Flickr

Air Fete - B52 tale-off (3) by Michael Britton, on Flickr

The pilot was killed doing a display a year or two later at Fairchild AFB I believe! He was renowned as a seat of the pants pilot and it got the better of him one fateful day!

Bucky P wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 07, 2020 4:14 pm

The pilot was killed doing a display a year or two later at Fairchild AFB I believe! He was renowned as a seat of the pants pilot and it got the better of him one fateful day!

Nope, Randy Rushworth and the crew of Swashbuckler are (as far as I'm aware) still alive and kicking, its a popular urban myth that the Fairchild crew were flying this display.

https://youtu.be/GR8Quq86bJA?t=208

I remember it well, took off and looked like it was going to pile in to the runway. Later found out B-52 is wings level, nose down. Think the Vulcan made an impression on the crewwith its take-off and climb out.

In the Fairchild incident the B-52 was flying at more than 90 deg of bank and lost all elements of lift. The crash report is something else to read.

Here's the Wiki link, it's not nice reading............. :- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Fair ... B-52_crash

The show report I have does nt identify the pilot but I can confirm that the a/c was B-52G 59-2585 ' Swashbuckler'. It was certainly the most memorable t/o I witnessed during the 19 yrs I attended Air Fete - and that includes the B-1 and B-2 Spirit in 2000.

Hi Mick

Who could forget that display (he did NOT repeat it on Sunday)

Our jaws were on the ground with that nose-down angle and climbout

I had run out of Kodachrome just before

Thanks for posting

Paddyboy

I witnessed the event as well, everyone was shaking their heads in disbelief as the B52 got lower & lower waiting for the inevitable!!

The angle of the fuselage is dependent on the incidence of the wing. In other words, if the wing is parallel with the ground, then on the B.52 the nose will be down. If you come across pictures of a A.W. Whitley WW11 bomber, you will see the same thing. Agree with all the comments. It was THE most awesome display of a large bomber . My 15 year old daughter thought Messrs. Rushworth and Co. were trying to break it. The difference between Randy's display and the tragic Bud Holland crash was that Rushworth had the right dynamics [speed etc] and Holland hadn't. Simples. Incidentally, in a steep turn, the difference between the height of the wing tips of a '52 on the ground, or in a steep turn can be as much as 32 feet!!!!. That's some wing bend!!!. You youngsters out there, you really missed out on what airshows used to be like for Paddy, me and all us more mature guys.

'Bud' Holland was the wreckless and irresponsible Lt Colonel who crashed the B-52 killing all onboard at Fairchild in 94.

I have never managed to get the video out of my mind. I would not suggest watching it, when I clicked on it years ago, I thought I was watching a proper air display, didn't realise the crash was going to happen. Still shocked to this day.

Superb images

Hope this adds a different perspective to this thread.

Rockwell B-1B Lancer 86-0114 46 BS 319 BW USAF
M1 by S D, on Flickr

Rockwell B-1B Lancer 86-0114 46 BS 319 BW USAF
M2 by S D, on Flickr

Rockwell B-1B Lancer 86-0114 46 BS 319 BW USAF
M3 by S D, on Flickr

Boeing B-52G Stratofortress 59-2585 42 BW USAF
M4 by S D, on Flickr

Boeing B-52G Stratofortress 59-2585 42 BW USAF
M5 by S D, on Flickr

Boeing B-52G Stratofortress 59-2585 42 BW USAF
M6 by S D, on Flickr

Cheers Steve

Fantastic esp #4! Look at those flaps working. Either amazing airmanship or.........