Operation Power Flite was a United States Air Force mission in which three Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses became the first jet aircraft to circle the world nonstop, when they made the journey in January 1957 in 45 hours and 19 minutes, using in-flight refueling to stay aloft. The mission was intended to demonstrate that the United States had the ability to drop a hydrogen bomb anywhere in the world. [1]
Led by Major General Archie J. Old, Jr. as flight commander, five B-52B aircraft of the 93rd Bombardment Wing of the 15th Air Force took off from Castle Air Force Base in California on January 16, 1957, at 1:00 PM, with two of the planes flying as spares. Old was aboard Lucky Lady III (serial number 53-0394) which was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Morris, who had flown as the co-pilot aboard the Lucky Lady II when it made the world's first non-stop circumnavigation in 1949. Heading east, one of the planes was unable to refuel from a Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter and was forced to land at Goose Bay Air Base in Labrador. The second spare refueled with the rest of the planes over Casablanca, Morocco and then split off as planned to land at RAF Brize Norton in England. [2] [3]
After a mid-air refueling rendezvous over Saudi Arabia, the planes followed the coast of India to Sri Lanka and then made a simulated bombing drop south of the Malay Peninsula before heading towards the next air refueling rendezvous over Manila and Guam. The three planes continued across the Pacific Ocean and landed at March Air Force Base near Riverside, California on January 18 after flying for a total of 45 hours and 19 minutes, with the lead plane landing at 10:19 AM and the other two planes following each other separated by 80 seconds. The 24,325 miles (39,147 km) flight was completed at an average speed of 525 miles per hour (845 km/h) and was completed in less than half the time required by Lucky Lady II when it made the first non-stop circumnavigation in 1949. General Curtis LeMay was among the 1,000 on hand to greet the three planes, and he awarded all 27 crew members the Distinguished Flying Cross. Though Old called the flight "a routine training mission," the Air Force emphasized that the mission demonstrated its "capability to drop a hydrogen bomb anywhere in the world." [1]
The National Aeronautic Association recognized the 93rd Bombardment Wing as recipient of the Mackay Trophy for 1957. [2]
Maj. Gen. Archie Old - Mission Commander
Lt. Col. James H. Morris - Aircraft Commander
Capt. Ernest E. Campbell - Co-pilot
Capt. Rene M. Woog - Navigator
Maj. Albert F. Wooten - Navigator
Maj. Anthony P Dzierski - Navigator
Capt. Quintis L Hinkley - Electronic Countermeasures
M/Sgt. Carl H Ballew - Tail Gunner
T/Sgt. Donovan W. Higginbotham - Crew Chief
Capt. Charles W. Fink - Aircraft Commander
Lt. Col. Marcus L. Hill Jr. - Co-pilot
Capt. Jay G. Bachman - Co-pilot
Capt. Cyril H. Dingwell - Navigator
Capt. Michael Stevens - Navigator
Capt. Edward M Hollacher - Navigator
1st Lt. Joseph B. Tyra - Electronic Countermeasures
S/Sgt. James L. Bushboom - Tail Gunner
T/Sgt. Joseph D. Armstrong - Crew Chief
Maj. George C. Kalebaugh - Aircraft Commander
Maj. Salvador E. Felices - Co-pilot
Capt. James H. Walsh Jr. - Co-pilot
Capt. Gerald A. Rush - Radar Observer
1st Lt. Byrum W. Cooper - Navigator
Capt. Alfonso C. Toler - Navigator
Maj. Billie M. Beardsley - Electronic Countermeasures
A/1c - Eugene N. Preiss - Tail Gunner
T/Sgt. Albert Romero - Crew Chief
Lucky Lady III was one of three similarly named aircraft, each of which was part of an historic circumnavigation on behalf of the United States Air Force:
Lucky Lady I was one of two Boeing B-29 Superfortresses that made a round-the-world trip in July/August 1948, flying from and back to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, completing the 20,000 miles (32,000 km) flight in 15 days after making eight stops along the way and flying for 103 hours and 50 minutes. [3]
Lucky Lady II was a Boeing B-50 Superfortress of the 43rd Bombardment Group with an additional fuel tank added in the bomb bay to provide additional range. It became the first airplane to circumnavigate the globe nonstop, when it made the journey in 94 hours and one minute in 1949, assisted by refueling the plane in flight. [4]
The Boeing B-50 Superfortress is an American strategic bomber. A post–World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, it was fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller tail fin, and other improvements. It was the last piston-engined bomber built by Boeing for the United States Air Force, and was further refined into Boeing's final such design, the prototype B-54. Although not as well known as its direct predecessor, the B-50 was in USAF service for nearly 20 years.
The 380th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional unit of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is attached to the United States Air Forces Central Command component of ACC and is stationed at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates.
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Big Stink – later renamed Dave's Dream – was a United States Army Air Forces Boeing B-29-40-MO Superfortress bomber that participated in the atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945. Assigned to the 393d Bomb Squadron, 509th Composite Group, it was used as a camera plane in support of the bomb-carrying B-29 Bockscar to photograph the explosion and effects of the bomb, and also to carry scientific observers. The mission was flown by crew C-14 but with Group Operations Officer Major James I. Hopkins, Jr., as the aircraft commander.
Question Mark ("?") was a modified Atlantic-Fokker C-2A transport airplane of the United States Army Air Corps. In 1929, commanded by Major Carl A. Spaatz, it was flown for a flight endurance record as part of an experiment with aerial refueling. Question Mark established new world records in aviation for sustained flight (heavier-than-air), refueled flight, sustained flight (lighter-than-air), and distance between January 1 and January 7, 1929, in a nonstop flight of 151 hours near Los Angeles, California.
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Lucky Lady II is a United States Air Force Boeing B-50 Superfortress that became the first airplane to circle the world nonstop. Its 1949 journey, assisted by in-flight refueling, lasted 94 hours and 1 minute.
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On January 7, 1971, a Boeing B-52C Stratofortress of Strategic Air Command crashed into northern Lake Michigan at the mouth of Little Traverse Bay near Charlevoix, Michigan, while on a low-level training flight. All nine crew members aboard were lost. No remains of the crewmen were recovered. Parts of the aircraft were retrieved from a water depth of 225 feet (69 m) in May and June 1971. The structural remains included parts of the wings, all eight engines, the tail, crew section, landing gear and wheels, plus numerous smaller parts of the plane. Oceans Systems, a Florida-based salvage company, carried out the recovery mission.