I was at Wings Over Wairarapa in 2019 when the flyover by a USAF B 52 was cancelled, and everyone was so disappointed. The 2019 airshow also flirted with bad weather and the Sunday flying programme was cancelled. This was after the whole 2017 airshow was washed out....
So Wings Over Wairarapa 2021 was eagerly anticipated by many and it was great that the efforts of the organisers and the US Embassy resulted in the appearance of a B 52 in our skies on Saturday 27 February. Jordan Elvy was there are took the following photos of the huge bomber as it made several low passes. Thanks for the photos Jordan.
And then came the news of the latest Covid lockdown in the Wairarapa to Level 2 which forced the organisers to cancel the Sunday flying programme - I reckon that makes 2 practice days and 2 airshow days over the last 3 airshows (out of a possible total of 6 airshow days). Bummer!
Great shots Jordan, far better than my attempts!
ReplyDeleteI was looking into this airframe's history and thanks to the Shreveport Times found it has stories to tell: "Yet another bird that could mesmerize readers if only it could talk is tail number 60-0059. That airplane was flown by retired Brig. Gen. Peyton Cole on his career-capping around-the-world mission in 1994, a flight that included a near-miss with an Egyptian airliner over the Mediterranean. It also was flown by now-retired Lt. Gen. Floyd Carpenter on an award-winning September 1996 mission, Desert Strike. It targeted Iraqi surface-to-air missile sites and air defense radars in response to Iraqi attacks on Kurds. The lengthy mission, flown from Guam to Iraq over a circuitous flight path designed to respect numerous nations’ airspaces, won the that year’s Mackay Trophy for the first combat deployment of the B-52H model. B-52 0059 also was involved in the accidental release of inert bombs over a Kansas lake in July 2006."