A Different Day at Dyess

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 02/24/2016 at 17:54 • Filed to: planelopnik

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Last Friday, I spent some time out at Dyess AFB in Abilene, hoping to do a little photography. It’s been pretty slow out there lately, but I got some shots that day, but not just ordinary B-1 photos like the one above.

The first surprise was directly overhead. It looked to me like the B-1 was dumping fuel. I’ve never seen this before. Another spotter said he could smell the fuel, but I couldn’t (my cigar was probably masking it).

But then he came around into the south wind and landed, still dumping fuel (if that’s what he was doing) all they way through his touch-and-go.

When the next Bone came by, I noticed it was a much smokier pass than usual. This time, he didn’t land, but kept going, and you can see that the left engines are on full afterburner, while the right engines are not. Note that the turkey feathers are open on the left side, but closed on the right. Then a second pass, but this time he waved off the landing and climbed out. Again, you can see the same engine configuration if you look closely.

Then a nice banking pass for the camera, and a landing.

On Saturday, there was absolutely nothing happening. But then, just as I was getting ready to pack up, the Navy showed up and did a flyover with four F/A-18s. I was hoping they’d come around for a landing, as I’ve seen the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! before, but alas, they didn’t. They just flew off to the east, probably heading to NAS JRB Ft. Worth.

HammerheadFistpunch > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 18:09

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I miss B1b flybys in San Angelo.

whatisthatsound > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 18:12

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The B1 wasn’t dumping, those are just vortices comming offor the edge. Which you can see in the swirling cone off the wing tips. We dump above 8k unless I am emergency but if it was a touch and go it wasn’t. As for the A/b on the left engine I do not know unless that is part of their training currency requirements.

ttyymmnn > whatisthatsound 02/24/2016 at 18:15

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There were no other vortices at any other times on the other aircraft. And it was very warm and dry that day. I’ve been out to Dyess many, many times, and that’s the first time I’ve ever seen anything like it. I’ve never seen contrails there. Ever.

-this space for rent- > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 18:15

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That’s pretty cool, I’ve never really thought about all the potential situations they need to train for. We had a VC-25 doing touch and gos at Wright Patterson this week. That’s always a nice break from the C-17s.

ttyymmnn > -this space for rent- 02/24/2016 at 18:22

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Obama is coming to Austin next week (I think). I’ll head down to the airport, but AF1 always lands on the longer runway at AUS, which is too far away from the observation spot to get any decent photos.

-this space for rent- > whatisthatsound 02/24/2016 at 19:03

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Sure looks like a B1 fuel dump

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/plane…

whoarder is tellurium > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 19:04

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Yeah, I’d say that was probably fuel too. Possibly residual fuel venting? Maybe they had a fuel imbalance problem?

Regardless, that’s a great catch.

ttyymmnn > whoarder is tellurium 02/24/2016 at 19:16

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Since the other a/c was practicing flying on one (two) engines, my guess is that they were practicing emergency procedures that day. But it’s just a guess.

Gone > HammerheadFistpunch 02/24/2016 at 19:20

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Yup. They would do some low level flying outside of town as well.

There is a great viewing spot out at Twin Buttes for watching the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds too...

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 19:36

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Nice shots; nice crops.

Which lens?

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 02/24/2016 at 20:24

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Thanks. 70-200 on the 50D. ISO 100-200, f/7.1 (I think). Nice light there that time of day.

whatisthatsound > whatisthatsound 02/24/2016 at 20:38

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I would be very surprised. I know it looks like similar, but you would smell the fuel if they were that close. Also dumping fuel on the runway is not kosher.

coqui70 > ttyymmnn 02/24/2016 at 23:04

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Try catching it from 130.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > ttyymmnn 02/25/2016 at 11:37

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That looks almost like the smoke that they will use at airshows, but I’m not sure if the B-1 is equipped to do that. It does seem like they wouldn’t be dumping fuel on a runway like whatisthatsound mentions unless it was an absolute emergency. If that was the case, it seems like the plane would have landed and been met with fire and emergency vehicles. Fuel on the runway is a recipe for disaster. Besides the flammability it would have a significant negative effect on traction for other planes that are landing.

ttyymmnn > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 02/25/2016 at 11:43

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I know. I would have been convinced it was fuel if it hadn’t continued through the touch and go. There was a white pickup with flashing red lights that followed down the runway after it. I’m still thinking it was some sort of drill. Maybe it wasn’t really fuel? No idea. But it is clearly where the fuel dump takes place.