B-52 bomber training flight: Learning from mistakes and lessons

A B-52H Stratofortress’ hulking gray frame rumbles through the cloudless blue sky, closing in on targets 19,000 feet below. The bomb bay doors open with a whir and a thump. The bomber jerks sharply upward as its student pilot, 1st Lt. Clay Hultgren, disengages the autopilot at the wrong time. In a mission completed in 1960, the aircraft’s eight throttle levers allow the pilots to individually adjust the power to any engine that shows signs of trouble. The hard part of the training flight was clearly the aerial refueling, as the bomber entered the tanker’s downwash and began drafting off of it. While most training missions are designed to pit the B-52 against a generic, unnamed adversary, instructors can throw students some curveballs.