Total time spent in the aircraft on a mission could easily run to 16 hours when you include startup (especially if there were problems with the plane, not an uncommon occurrence. We routinely flew 12-14 hour missions but had no kitchen facilities, only box lunches or what we brought with us for snacks. We could see heat trails from aircraft that were obscured by clouds, or our low level route when it was too dark to see anything by looking out the windows. The system worked remarkably well considering how long ago it was built. With this system we could fly low level at night, in the mountains, and still see what was ahead of us with low light TV, FLIR and radar. The EVS system necessitated the 2 large CRT displays that you see in the panel, which required many of the other instruments to be moved or replaced. In addition to some equipment relating to bomb arming and release the entire EVS (electro optical viewing system) and terrain avoidance system was added (in the 70s I think). The pilots instrument panel in the G and H models was greatly updated since the planes were built in 1959-1962. I once spent most of a 14 hour flight in the “bunk” and I simply cannot imagine how anyone could actually sleep there (I was there to do some landing practice at the end of the flight, and to act as safety observer during low level). The bunk on a G model was nothing but the floor space leading from the cockpit to the electronic warfare station and ladder (which took you down to the nav station and exit hatch). There were no survival kits for anyone not in an ejection seat, only parachutes. I believe that someone on the crew (the gunner?) took his picture while on the toilet just to complete the humiliation (I do not recall any curtain). In all the time I flew I only know of one instance in which the “toilet” was used, and the offending person (the EW) had to bag it and take it with him at the end of the flight. The toilet (for solid waste) was under the electronic warfare instructors seat (he actually had two places to sit, one for takeoff and one for instructing), and it was simply a standard 5 gallon bucket. In the end I reminded him of the etiquette, by “accidentally” directing a stream of urine onto his shoulder. In general it was B-52 etiquette that the instructor nav would get up out of his seat if someone wanted to use the can, but on one occasion I remember the guy wouldn’t get up, and since the noise level in a B-52 is way beyond the ability of human voice, I couldn’t tell him to leave. In addition, the Navigator instructor, if one was aboard, was literally sitting directly next to the can, so that his head was level with your pen**. As a 6 foot guy I had to twist my body quite uncomfortably just to be able to get in a position where I could urinate into the thing. The only lavatory facilities in the G model were a sort of coffee can shaped device mounted on the rear bulkhead of the down stairs (navigator compartment). In answer to a few of the questions raised above: 1. Great Cockpit Video – Rob Holland Daytona Airshow.Video – Moments Before C-17 Crash in Alaska.Video – Amazing Ride in a U-2 Spy Plane.Spotted: China’s Chengdu J-20 Stealth Fighter?.Iran Air Boeing 727 Crashed in Northern Iran (Video).Boeing 787 Dreamliner – New First Delivery Date.Airbus Develops Autonomous Aircraft Taxiing.Photos – 747-8 Intercontinental Unveiled.
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