Saw This On Facebook

"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit) 02/06/2018 at 11:13 • Filed to: B52, B-52, B-52 STRATOFORTRESS, BUFF

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Had to share. Its a B-52 landing at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. Date unknown.

Ash78, voting early and often > Takuro Spirit 02/06/2018 at 11:19

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I think my payload would have exited the bomb bay doors just a little.

The lack of flare (FABUULLLOUUSSS!) makes me think it’s shopped but I can’t tell from the pixels, etc.

WilliamsSW > Takuro Spirit 02/06/2018 at 11:29

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Yeah, what Ash said - it’s cool but it looks shopped to me. I don’t know B-52's but no large jet that I’m aware of would have the nose down at that height.

user314 > Ash78, voting early and often 02/06/2018 at 11:32

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BUFFs don’t flare, they plant all four boogies at the same time (or as close as you can get). They also take a unique approach (no pun intended!) to crosswind landings:

Quadradeuce > Takuro Spirit 02/06/2018 at 11:32

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I’m guessing that’s Layton Ave. The runway basically starts at the road. It’s still a great place to sit and watch landings. There’s a parking lot adjacent to the end of the runway.

Ash78, voting early and often > user314 02/06/2018 at 11:34

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Very much like sailplane in the flat landing. I’m just looking at that pic above and wondering how they kept the speed low enough to land with the nose pitched down.

Those articulated main gear are pretty amazing.

Quadradeuce > Quadradeuce 02/06/2018 at 11:34

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Tried to add a picture, but Kinja...

Takuro Spirit > Quadradeuce 02/06/2018 at 11:34

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Yep. Facebook group it was posted on verified it. I’ve parked there before and watched a few planes land. Its like that scene in Wayne’s World.

Takuro Spirit > WilliamsSW 02/06/2018 at 11:37

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Some of the comments on FB said that’s how BUFFs land

ttyymmnn > Takuro Spirit 02/06/2018 at 11:38

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Even under normal landing conditions, I think the Buff comes in nose-low. It likes to take off and fly nose-low, too. Watch this video. I haven’t watched all of it, but at about 4:50 you see a good landing, and the nose is definitely down just prior to flare. There are also examples of bad landings, but I haven’t looked at them yet.

So, I would tend to think that the photo is legit, especially if it’s not a long-ass SAC runway.

MonkeePuzzle > Ash78, voting early and often 02/06/2018 at 11:40

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hmm, there is a notification re. an “s pen” stylus being detached...

and you are right to be suspicious, this is actually a doctored image, the true image shows it an unremarkable take off

Brian, The Life of > Takuro Spirit 02/06/2018 at 11:40

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Early-mid ‘60s, based on the cars I see.

Ash78, voting early and often > MonkeePuzzle 02/06/2018 at 11:42

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Good sleuthing! That seems legit.

ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW 02/06/2018 at 11:45

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I think it’s legit. Watch this video. The Buff lands nose-down all the way until flare, and even then, it only flares to flat and nearly puts all four wheels down at once. This is actually a fascinating video.

My guess is that this was a short runway with obstacles he had to avoid, leading to a steep approach. But even then, the nose doesn’t look all that much farther down than the ones in this training video.

ttyymmnn > Ash78, voting early and often 02/06/2018 at 11:46

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See the video I posted in this thread. The Buff lands nose-low, and only flares at the the end, and then only to level, never nose up.

ttyymmnn > user314 02/06/2018 at 11:56

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Correct. Check out the video I’ve posted a couple of times in this thread. Fascinating training video from back in the day. The Buff lands nose low anyway, and then only flares to level, never nose up. Hell, it even flies nose low. I think this is a legit photo of a Buff coming in steep over buildings on a shorter-than-ideal runway.

ttyymmnn > Brian, The Life of 02/06/2018 at 12:04

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That’s also an earlier model Buff. Starting in 1959, the B-52G and H received a shorter tail.

oldmxer > WilliamsSW 02/06/2018 at 12:31

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i watched em land at carswell afb my whole life and they told me during training they were lightly loaded and had so much lift built in to the wings they had to come in nose down to keep from stalling

oldmxer > WilliamsSW 02/06/2018 at 12:31

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i watched em land at carswell afb my whole life and they told me during training they were lightly loaded and had so much lift built in to the wings they had to come in nose down to keep from stalling

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 02/06/2018 at 13:35

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That’s wild - the one at 10:45 seems to be in a similar attitude, though it results in a terrible landing (nose first and porpoises a bit).

The pitch in the photo is more like what a Cessna 172 would look like at that point - a B737 would have the nose at or above the horizon at that height.

That’s got to be a pretty tough airplane to land, landing that flat, although the nose wheel looks pretty sturdy at least.

I *believe* that’s landing on what is now runway 19R, and the street is Layton Avenue. That runway is 10,000 feet long now, but almost definitely was shorter back then.