A U.S. Air Force pilot has celebrated 9,000 flying hours on the B-52.
Lt. Col. Steve Smith, with 93rd Bomb Squadron from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, has the most flying hours in the B-52 Stratofortress: on Oct. 8, 2014, he has reached 9,000 flying hours in the iconic strategic bombers.
Smith, achieved the milestone during a flight from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. As the image shows he celebrated the 9,000th flying hour in a “Buff” with a special shoulder patch.
By the way, the next aviator is 2,000 hours behind him.
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
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2 Comments
While Col Smith’s accomplishment is amazing, it is not a record as stated. Col Gerald L. McKay of the 99th Bomb Wing at Westover AFB logged more than 10,000 hours in a B-52 as aircraft commander with the 99th. He received a plaque for that accomplishment and then went on to log another 2,000-3,000 additional hours at Westover, Walker AFB and Thailand during the 1960’s and 70’s. I know this to be true as I’m his son and we have the plaque.
While Col Smith’s accomplishment is amazing, it is not a record as stated. Col Gerald L. McKay of the 99th Bomb Wing at Westover AFB logged more than 10,000 hours in a B-52 as aircraft commander with the 99th. He received a plaque for that accomplishment and then went on to log another 2,000-3,000 additional hours at Westover, Walker AFB and Thailand during the 1960’s and 70’s. I know this to be true as I’m his son and we have the plaque.
Poor guy.