The B-52 is probably going to outlive it by at least twenty years. The B-2 Spirit was ten times as radical and who knows how much more expensive to produce and upkeep. But if you’ve never, ever seen a B-1B Lancer make a takeoff run with all four candles lit out the back, trust me, it’s a sight to behold, especially at night. Seeing any aircraft on afterburner is cool. Seeing an aircraft the size of the B-1 with flames trailing out of the back is awesome in the proper sense of the word. It moves faster than it should. It sounds like someone is tearing the sky away from the horizon. And if you aren’t thinking about how cool it must be to be anybody on board of that bomber as it gets airborne, then check your pulse, please. I wouldn’t care if the B-1 was simply a one-off halo for the Air Force’s advertising campaign, this supersonic rocket dart needs to exist.
If you’ve never had the opportunity to meet me in person, you should know that I’m slightly deaf. A drummer, a helicopter technician, someone who has been in very close proximity to some absolutely monstrous explosions that leave you with that punched-in-the-chest feeling, someone who loves loud cars…big shock, right? Well, true story, I can fully blame one of these beauties for being at least half responsible. After attending an airshow near Langely, I was walking with a few others to catch a cab back to base when one of these cleared our head at super-low altitude. We had been walking the runway perimeter and all of us heard church bells for a week afterwards.
I was driving home late one night in southwest Kansas when I noticed a red light flashing in the distance. Southwest Kansas is as flat and vacant as you can imagine so seeing something like that, even while driving at 70 mph, can catch your attention. As I continued down the deserted highway it got closer and closer….then…all of a sudden, my car was thrown all over the highway as a rush of wind and sound assaulted me. I turned to look out the passenger side window and saw 4 red dots rapidly leaving. Then it hit me…I had read in the newspaper that the B-1 Bombers then stationed in Wichita Kansas were using the area in southwest Kansas as a “low level training area”. I can imagine those pilots seeing my car, all alone on the highway that late at night, saying to themselves “Lets buzz that guy!” and laughing like hyenas as they flew off into the darkness!!!