The following pictures were taken by Larry Titchenal, on Friday Apr. 27, 2012 during the practice day of the Fort Lauderdale Airshow, in Florida.
Two four-engine variable-sweep wing strategic bombers belonging to the 28th Bomb Wing, based at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, made passes around 30 seconds apart.
The first made a high-speed pass whereas the second made a slow pass.
Due to the high speed, the fast pass generated some condensation clouds around the Lancer’s surfaces, engines, and Sniper Advanced Targeting pod. Such clouds are not visual effects of the so called “sonic boom”: when an aircraft flies at transonic speeds (around Mach 1.0), any of its convex parts (canopy, intakes, pod etc.) causes a rapid decrease of temperature and pressure with subsequent creation of the cloud.
The variation in temperature caused by the perturbation of the airflows is called Prandtl-Glauert Singularity.
On Mar. 27, 2011, two B-1Bs of the 28th BW took off from Ellsworth AFB on a Global Strike mission to strike Libyan military sites and air defense systems. That mission marked the first time the B-1 fleet has launched combat sorties from the continental United States to strike targets overseas.
More recently, the 28th BW’s “Bones” (from B-One) have been involved in long-range exercise “Chimichanga” alongside F-22 Raptors.
Image credit: Larry Titchenal
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In 1988, I was in a Cessna 210 at about 5000 feet above central South Dakota with my uncle flying the plane. We were in a slight bank as he took pictures of our farmland and I was holding the plane in the bank. He had told me, if I saw the radar transponder light start blinking really fast, warn him. After a few minutes it did start flashing very fast, he put the camera down, took control back and said “Look there, 9 o’clock and low!”
It was an Ellsworth B-1B, wings swept and nap of the earth flying southwest to northeast across South Dakota farm country. So big, so alien looking.
B-1B is still my favorite heavy bomber.
It must have been an impressive sight.
Did you manage to take a decent image?
I was standing on the Reef Charlie taxiway, down by the highspeed turnoff when six B-1s took off 30 seconds apart. Where we were standing on the taxiway was right where the nose gear broke ground on the runway. My chest was vibrating five minutes later. They made it a point to leave the afterburners lit as they passed downtown Honolulu.