B-52 Flying Without A Tail Fin – 1964 USAF Film

This film just got uploaded to YouTube by regular historic footage source Jeff Quitney, and what a film it is! A very to-the-point 10 minute or so film about a B-52 Stratofortress which lost it’s fail fin during a test flight over Colorado! Now, under most circumstances, an aircraft without a tail fin would lose control to a point of running a high chance of crashing. This B-52, not so much.

This film, produced by the U.S. Air Force for viewing by B-52 pilots covers just what happened on this flight, and how the crew was able to successfully fly the B-52 for about 5 more hours in this damaged state to a safe landing in Arkansas!

A fun fact, the B-52 is still in service in the United States Air Force – durability like this, combined with a design that seems to just work in most any situation, certainly give you an understanding as to why, when all of it’s sibling aircraft from the 50’s and 60’s are long retired.

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