Memories of B-52s and parking lots

Historic
London, ON
September 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Days with B-52s are better than days without. Discuss.

I grew up in Montreal, not far from Plattsburgh, New York. That small, upstate town wasn't just a border shopping mecca for beleaguered Canadians deprived of Count Chocula, Moon Pies, and Peanut Butter & Jelly Oreos. It was also home to Plattsburgh Air Force Base, which served as a Strategic Air Command Base.

SAC no longer exists, but back when I was a munchkin, it was responsible for protecting U.S. airspace from the bad guys (aka, communists), and for launching nuclear bombers and missiles toward the Soviet Union if the Cold War ever got hot.

I remember standing in the parking lot of the old Pyramid Mall (ah, Montgomery Ward) watching B-52 strategic bombers and KC-135 tankers trace inky black smoke trails through the sky as they screamed overhead, so close I could almost touch their wingtips. If you were inside the mall at the time, you could feel the rumbling through the floor. If you were outside, you either held your ears tightly or you went temporarily deaf. It was glorious.

So when the B-52 was added to the list of participants in this year's drive-by air show in London, it sealed the deal. We saw one on static display a couple of years ago, but nothing quite comes close to one of these eight-engined monsters in flight.

By the time they finally retire these planes, they'll be pushing close to a century of service. Think about that for a second. Mad respect to the engineers whose timeless design has survived through the ages, outlasting at least two of the aircraft - the B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit - that were supposed to render the BUFF obsolete.

What is "obsolete", anyway? Most certainly not this master of the timeless skies.

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