I have an admiration for pilots. I really do. As a guy that spends a lot of time on airplanes, my life is in their hands a couple times a week on average. Military and test pilots seem to fall into a different league of human being than schlubs like me and this video called Flight Without A Fin that documents a 1964 B-52 test that went from being a total disaster to an amazing study in the resilience of the aircraft and the skills of the men that were charged with flying it. The lead photo you see was taken from a fighter aircraft that was escorting it’s wounded big brother back home. The wound the B-52 suffered? 80% of the tail fin was ripped off during some incredibly violent turbulence that was throwing the plane around in the air like a toy.
Pilot Chuck Fisher was with a three man crew from Boeing on a routine testing loop at low altitude with a B-52H and when he ran into the turbulence that ultimately ripped the rear fin off, the whole crew sprung into action. Engineers at Boeing were helping the guys with calculations and ideas on how to better stabilize their aircraft and Fisher flew his ass off the whole way home. Oh, and to give you an idea of how gnarly the initial situation was, Fisher gave the initial order to abandon the airplane and they were going to do just that until he decided to give it the old college try. Remember, test pilots are a straight up different strain of awesome than guys like me could ever comprehend.
If you love airplanes and people who rise to the occasion when life tries to throw them a curve, you’ll love this video. The whole thing is as dry as you’d expect any military video to be but the in-flight footage is pretty freaking awesome.
And that is why we were the GREATEST NATION on the planet!