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| Afghanistan |
| From Blackfive.net: B-1 Flybys are Nice |
| 2006-01-10 |
| 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 |
| Posted by:Tibor |
| #15 Old Patriot...a little added perspective. :) #13 I was in Vietnam in 1970-71. (So was I.) One of the things I'll NEVER forget is watching an ARCLIGHT strike from 25 miles (5 miles at 8000 feet) away. First there's nothing unusual. Suddenly you see a few black matchsticks floating toward the earth. Then the ground opens up in brown and red (and yellow and blue) splotches that continue... and continue... and continue (three BUFFs laid a trail about 4 clicks long ...) Trees (200 feet tall) tumble into the air (like batons), and a wall of smoke, dust, and debris rises up several thousand feet. The shock wave (multiple) and sound wave at 25 miles are enough to cause you to wet your britches if you're not expecting it. (At 5 miles they cause considerable jostling of a Cobra.) A full supersonic fly-by by a B-1 would indeed scare the pants off anyone not expecting it. Would love to have a full video of the faces of the jihadis when that bird passed by. |
| Posted by: Inspector Clueso 2006-01-10 21:32 |
| #14 Hell, I remember it being pretty loud even subsonic. Someone nearby had hoped for a sonic boom... would have blown the windows out of whole Chicago skyline. :) |
| Posted by: eLarson 2006-01-10 17:35 |
| #13 I was in Vietnam in 1970-71. One of the things I'll NEVER forget is watching an ARCLIGHT strike from 25 miles away. First there's nothing unusual. Suddenly you see a few black matchsticks floating toward the earth. Then the ground opens up in brown and red splotches that continue... and continue... and continue... Trees tumble into the air, and a wall of smoke, dust, and debris rises up several thousand feet. The shock wave and sound wave at 25 miles are enough to cause you to wet your britches if you're not expecting it. A full supersonic fly-by by a B-1 would indeed scare the pants off anyone not expecting it. Would love to have a full video of the faces of the jihadis when that bird passed by. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-01-10 15:04 |
| #12 Cost of gas for that: Probably $50,000 Holy crapola! That adds up to a whopping 3¢ of additional federal taxes for me next year. How about another dozen of those fly-bys? Peace through superior firepower, what's not to like? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-01-10 14:18 |
| #11 And then there's the A-10 "Warthog": not loud or fast, but causes its share of brown underwear... |
| Posted by: Ptah 2006-01-10 12:27 |
| #10 CyberSarge - God I love the Air Force! As well you should. :) As an aside, as awesome as the B-1s are, the old FB-111s in full burner and 'hard' TFR mode made for flybys that could literally knock your hats off, and of course a B-52 at low level will still put the fear of God into you. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2006-01-10 11:32 |
| #9 http://tinyurl.com/b2g3j not the B1 but.. 256k sonic boom file..turn up volume |
| Posted by: Red Dog 2006-01-10 11:31 |
| #8 Sweet! I've seen one of those babies at an air show flying low and subsonic with afterburners - it was impressively loud. I can only imagine one at night and supersonic. |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2006-01-10 11:27 |
| #7 My brother was the navigator on a B-1 that did something similar in Afghanistan. Supersonic pass at 1000 ft. over a farmhouse, then a subsonic pass dropping flares, then another supersonic pass. The 4 terrorists in the farmhouse surrendered. He's proud they didn't have to drop any bombs that time. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2006-01-10 09:04 |
| #6 God I love the Air Force! |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2006-01-10 07:47 |
| #5 One of the finer points about being a soldier. A Billion dollar piece of equipment and it's college educated crew is being directed and controlled by a bunch of NCO's. This lack of ego on the battlefield and respect is what makes being a soldier the best job in the world. What a cool story. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-01-10 07:27 |
| #4 be sweet to strike Iran Nuke facilites with B1 low level raids oblitterating the nuke reactors. with electronic jamming support against the Iranian low level air defences to open up a window as such for B1's to deliver a stick of 80 five hundred pounders or cluster munitions, my fave plane the B1 though the TU-160 is almost as cool. |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2006-01-10 07:12 |
| #3 yeah very good stuff indeed. |
| Posted by: Jan 2006-01-10 02:06 |
| #2 LMAO This is good stuff. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2006-01-10 00:10 |
| #1 ROFLMAO!!! Boyz n' their Toyz, ROFL... What? Did you say something? Yer's mouth's moving, but... Very stupid question. ROFL... |
| Posted by: .com 2006-01-10 00:05 |