Watch These Pilots Wrangle Their B-52 Onto The Runway In This Awesome 360 Video

Updated May 13, 2018 1:43 AM EDT

For two years, B-52s took the fight to ISIS in Iraq and Syria and pounding targets in Afghanistan with the help of their new smart bomb racks . In total, the forward-deployed bomber force based at Al Udeid in Qatar flew some 1,850 sorties and dropped around 12,000 weapons on enemy targets. During their stay, they beat the B-1B’s record of 761 consecutive missions without a maintenance cancellation by 73 missions, for a total of 834.

The B-52, more lovingly known as the BUFF (Big Ugly Fat Fucker/Fellow), officially flew its last mission in the Middle East on April 7th, 2018, with the B-1B taking up station once again in the theater. But we are still getting some awesome imagery from the B-52’s historic deployment, like this 360 video of a BUFF crew recovering at sandy Al Udeid Air Base.

Here is a direct link to the facebook video if it does not pop up below.

The B-52 has some very unique flying characteristics. It can climb with its nose depressed below the horizon, and its big slab-sided fuselage and vertical tail make it a giant sail during cross-wind landings. But Boeing engineers built-in an ingenious solution to alleviate the B-52’s cross-wind woes—it’s gear can be locked inline with the runway’s heading, allowing for crews to ‘crab’ the jet into the wind all the way to touchdown.

You can read more about the B-52’s unique landing abilities in this past article of mine . Regardless, the video is a great showcase of the how ‘hands-on’ a B-52 landing is even in relatively benign conditions. Watch the pilot’s control inputs as the big bomber floats down towards the runway. Also of note all the info written in grease pen on the cockpit windows, and during rollout, it appears that the crew quickly installs safeties on their ejection seats.

The venerable B-52 is going to be around for a long, long time. Current USAF plans have pushed the bomber’s service out to at least mid-century. Now that it is finally going to get new engines , Boeing’s masterpiece of mayhem will be more capable than ever before and could very well end up serving well past its centennial of operations.

Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com

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更新于美国东部时间2018年5月13日凌晨1:43

两年来，B-52轰炸机凭借其新型智能炸弹挂架，在伊拉克和叙利亚与“伊斯兰国”作战，并在阿富汗对目标进行猛烈轰炸。这支前沿部署在卡塔尔乌代德空军基地的轰炸机部队共执行了约1850架次任务，向敌方目标投掷了约12000枚炸弹。在驻扎期间，它们打破了B-1B轰炸机连续执行761次任务而无需维护的纪录，比之前的纪录多执行了73次任务，总计达到834次。

B-52轰炸机，更广为人知的绰号是“BUFF”（Big Ugly Fat Fucker/Fellow，意为“又大又丑又胖的家伙”），于2018年4月7日正式结束了其在中东的最后一次飞行任务，B-1B轰炸机随即重返该战区。但我们仍然能够看到一些B-52历史性部署期间的精彩影像，例如这段360度全景视频，记录了BUFF机组人员在沙质的乌代德空军基地进行休整的场景。

如果下方没有弹出视频，这里是 Facebook 视频的直接链接。

B-52轰炸机拥有一些非常独特的飞行特性。它可以在爬升时机头低于地平线，其宽大的平板式机身和垂直尾翼使其在侧风着陆时如同巨大的风帆。但波音公司的工程师们设计了一个巧妙的解决方案来缓解B-52在侧风着陆时的困境——它的起落架可以锁定在与跑道方向一致的位置，从而使机组人员能够将飞机“横向”转向迎风着陆。

您可以在我之前的这篇文章中了解更多关于B-52独特着陆能力的信息。无论如何，这段视频很好地展示了即使在相对平静的条件下，B-52的着陆也需要飞行员亲力亲为。观看视频，观察这架大型轰炸机缓缓降落在跑道上时，飞行员如何操控飞机。此外，值得注意的是驾驶舱窗户上用油性笔写的各种信息，以及在滑行过程中，机组人员似乎迅速地为弹射座椅安装了安全装置。

久经沙场的B-52轰炸机将会服役很长很长一段时间。美国空军目前的计划已将该轰炸机的服役期至少延长至本世纪中叶。如今，随着它终于要换装新发动机，波音公司这款堪称“破坏神器”的杰作将比以往任何时候都更加强大，并且很有可能服役时间远远超过其百年历史。

联系作者：Tyler@thedrive.com

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