Hey Homey, B1 question

[1stTimeCaller]

when did you guys switch over from nuke only to conventional and/or nuke capability?

Were you ****ed that you couldn't drop any bombs during Desert Storm? Or did you?

[crawfish]

Where are the nuclear wessels? Can you tell me the way to Al-a-me-da?

[Okla-homey]

It was called the Conventional Munitions Upgrade Program (CMUP). I actually worked on it at Wright-Patt. The thing was, Bones (which, BTW is what us cool guys who flew them call them cuz B-1 is a bingo number and B-one = Bone) were not originally bought back 1986 with any real conventional weapons capability as a cost-savings measure.

Our mission was solely nuclear penetration until the eraly 90's and thus we didn't play in Gulf War I. Thereafter, USSR went defunct so we needed a new mission to keep the weapon system relevant and viable. Ergo "CMUP" begun around 1992 and largely completed by about 1995.

Now, Bones can drop just about every gravity and most of the air-to-surface munitions in the inventory. It was actually a pretty good return on the investment as a single Bone loaded with a bunch of joint direct attack munitions (JDAM) can stand-off a bit and pepper multiple targets with very near precision guided munition (PGM, aka laser guided weapon) accuracy.

Anymore questions?

[1stTimeCaller]

did you fly much NOE?

If so what's the altitude-speed combo that made you the most nervous?

[Okla-homey]

did you fly much NOE?

If so what's the altitude-speed combo that made you the most nervous?

FWIW, helo homos fly NOE, manly fixed wing jet jockies fly TA or TFR -- and yes, every mission.

[C&CDean]

"Helo homos??"

Hell man, any 9-year old can fly a fixed-wing aircraft. A bunch of camel ****ers flew a bunch of them right into their targets on 9-11. Talk about "precision bombing." There's tons of stories of people who've never flown in their life successfully landing fixed-wing aircraft - which you know is by far, the most difficult aspect of flying.

Ask one of them to commandeer a Blackhawk or a Cobra or a Huey. How many targets do you think he's gonna successfully fly into? That's right, zero, cause his *** will be a grease spot somewhere within about a half-mile of where he took it over.

Don't be dissin' my Army boys. Besides, jumping out of a Huey or Chinook is mega-groovy. I'd have to say jumping out of a B-1 would be pretty much fatal 90% of the time......

[1stTimeCaller]

Otay. I was reading some POGO website and those guys don't seem to care much for the Bone. According to them it's not supposed to fly in weather colder than 47 degrees F, or humidity under 50% and that the avionics suck and that the offensive and defensive radar thingys end up jamming each other and can't be used at the same time.

Any validity to those claims?

http://www.pogo.org/p/defense/do-020514-failures-b1bomber.html


Anyhoo, a friend of mine flew B-47s and he said their plan was to fly at 600 feet over the ocean and Europe then pop up in front of Moscow right before they would begin their run. He also said that they would use boxcars with electronics in them in Milwaukee to practice bombing with lasers, not real bombs.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Cool point of interest...

While working ergonomics at Tinker years ago, there was an upgrade on the B1s. I actually got to ride in a B1 as it was towed to the de-gaussing field to test temperature issues in the cockpit. It sure gets hot in there...

Anyway, they were recruiting the smallest people they could to dig out and replace sealant as the original version of B1 could not carry fuel in the wing tanks as the sealant was bad and the aircraft leaked fuel from the wing. Hence, no real mission for the B1 before GWI. So I was told while observing the depainting and sealant work. They were recruiting midgets as they were about the only ones that could get into the wing hatch and dig out the sealants...

[Okla-homey]

"Helo homos??"

Hell man, any 9-year old can fly a fixed-wing aircraft. A bunch of camel ****ers flew a bunch of them right into their targets on 9-11. Talk about "precision bombing." There's tons of stories of people who've never flown in their life successfully landing fixed-wing aircraft - which you know is by far, the most difficult aspect of flying.



But they let high school graduates fly helos and declare them warrant officers. You gotta have a bachelors degree and be a real ossifer to fly jets.
hence, clearly the req't for a degree means jets are harder to fly.:D

[JohnnyMack]

I'd have to say jumping out of a B-1 would be pretty much fatal 90% of the time......

Can we transfer 1tc to the Airborne and let him jump out of B-1s??/

[1stTimeCaller]

Can we transfer 1tc to the Airborne and let him jump out of B-1s??/

d00d, I told you I was sorry for picking you up late for our date and then leaving my cash at home.
Why the hate? You know you'd miss me.
:D

[C&CDean]

But they let high school graduates fly helos and declare them warrant officers. You gotta have a bachelors degree and be a real ossifer to fly jets.
hence, clearly the req't for a degree means jets are harder to fly.:D

But dude, you've gotta be able to see 20/20 to fly a helo. Them fancy military jets pretty much fly themselves. You can have coke bottle lenses and be a geek and still fly AF planes. You've gotta have a scratchy 5-o'clock shadow, sharp hawk-like eyesight, broad shoulders, and large gonadials to fly a chopper.:texan:

[Okla-homey]

Otay. I was reading some POGO website and those guys don't seem to care much for the Bone. According to them it's not supposed to fly in weather colder than 47 degrees F, or humidity under 50% and that the avionics suck and that the offensive and defensive radar thingys end up jamming each other and can't be used at the same time.

Any validity to those claims?

http://www.pogo.org/p/defense/do-020514-failures-b1bomber.html




The only thing not completely BS in that is this,

here's the dealio, in cases where there is standing water on the ramp or humidity above 50%, and the temp is between 32F and 47F, you can't run engines on the ground because the venturi effect on the humid air and spray as it is sucked into the engines gets super-cooled and causes icing of the engine inlet vanes -- which is bad.

Now, that's a peacetime restriction designed to keep expensive turbine blades from being dinged up and ruined by the icing as it busts off the engine inlet vanes and gets sucked into the turbine assembly. That said, 32F-47F with high humidity or puddles is not a common situation at the places Bones are based (Abilene TX and Rapid City SD) or fly so its not a biggy. It only kept us from starting a couple times over my whole Bone career.

Also essential to emphasize, this restriction only applies for start, taxi, and take-offs. Once airborne, its not a problem. You can fly through humid air (aka clouds) at the full range of temps encounterable on Earth. If you start to get "engine ice" lights, you just climb or descend a bit til they go out.

[Okla-homey]

You've gotta have a scratchy 5-o'clock shadow, sharp hawk-like eyesight, broad shoulders, and large gonadials to fly a chopper.:texan:

...or be a 48 y/o overweight WO-5 triple divorcee with a drinking problem.;)

[C&CDean]

...or be a 48 y/o overweight WO-5 triple divorcee with a drinking problem.;)

Dude, I was a Corporal. Otherwise, you got it down.....

[KABOOKIE]

If you start to get "engine ice" lights, you just climb or descend a bit til they go out.

:dean: Them helo homos can't climb through ice neither. Next!!! :dean:

[Okla-homey]

:dean: Them helo homos can't climb through ice neither. Next!!! :dean:

I dint think helos were allowed in clouds evar.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Okay, this fixed vs. rotary wing thing is a bit weird...;)

[KABOOKIE]

Heh. A friend of mine was interested in adding a helicopter rating to his certificate. He called the local helo-training place in town and got this.......

Friend: Hey, I'm interested in getting a helo rating. How much would it cost?
Helo Dude: 10,000 dollars.
Friend: 10,000!??!? Why is it so much?
Helo Dude: Well, it takes a long time to learn how to fly.
Friend: There's no way. I'm only interested in adding the rating. I'm already an ATP multi-engine pilot with several type ratings.
Helo Dude: Oh, well in that case it's going to cost you $12,000. :D

[Fish]

Rotary...fixed wing...bah in the Navy they let E-1's fly the most expensive bird out there...

http://georgetoft.com/tautog/639blow.jpg

...an $18 billion Trident Submarine!!!:D



***this is a 637 class fast-attack***

[1stTimeCaller]

Fish, is it pretty cool to be riding on one of those when they come out of the water like that?

why do they do that anyways?

[Jimminy Crimson]

why do they do that anyways?

to take cool pictures of it doing that, duh! :eddie:

[1stTimeCaller]

and to sink Japanese fishing boats!!

[Fish]

Propulsion problems, flooding, evasion(that one is a stretch)

It's a blast if you can get to the forward most part of the boat! Kind of like riding a roller coaster