Quote from: PHall on June 19, 2014, 12:51:04 AM

Quote from: flyboy1 on June 18, 2014, 10:52:35 AM

Never heard of anyone attempting or surviving a bail out of a flying bomb.

I had heard that a bailout had been performed back in the 70's by a crew from one of the Michigan bases, but I've never confirmed that.

And I had no desire to be the one who removed all of the antennas from the belly of the airplane either.

Besides, the 135 flew just fine on three engines.

It was a KC-135A from the 46th Air Refueling Squadron out of K.I. Sawyer: (61-0313) ran out of fuel on a short final approach prior to landing at its home base after flying practice approaches at nearby Kincheloe AFB to complete requalification training. The flight crew, with the exception of the instructor pilot, bailed out when the engines went quiet. The instructor pilot, who remained on board, landed the aircraft just short of the runway overrun, bounced and rolled to a stop on the runway. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service quickly and even the crew entry door (which separated from the aircraft during bailout procedures) was returned to the Air Force by a local farmer.

Here' what one of the crew said (according to the 46th ARS veteran's associations:  When I became an aircraft commander in the early 1980s, I really enjoyed going TDY with 61-0313.  She was a very well-maintained aircraft with an excellent crew chief, but the best part was the kind of extra T-L-C you could get from ramp personnel when you told them to "take good care of her, this is the famous glider."  Some years before a senior instructor pilot had managed to run her out of gas on short final at K I Sawyer after driving over to Kincheloe for a requalification ILS approach so the "other" pilot on board could go on alert the next morning.  All could have been well, had the IP gone over and back at a "flight level" with more than a single digit!  Anyway, on very short final the last engine flamed out and the very senior boomer took the total silence as a command of execution for "BAILOUT."  In very short order, everybody on board except the IP was gone.  The IP "saved the day" by managing to land the bird just short of the overrun, giving her a good high bounce and then coming to a stop in the first thousand feet of the runway with relatively minor damage.  The copilot (the last man out) had bailed out over a small valley and got one swing on the parachute before he landed -- hard.  Some local farmer found the crew entry door and dutifully returned it to the main gate.  Love the U.P.  No wonder we could all leave our doors unlocked.

James H. Evans, USAF (Retired)


Here's a link to the B-52 bailout history: http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/aircraft_by_type/b52_stratofortress.htm

Still am impressed with both aircraft and what SAC did with them.