"civilized" ku # 170 ~ the best B-47 in the world
Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 08:57AM 
Pride of the Adirondacks • click to embiggenJust outside of the NE corner of the Adirondack Park on the shore of Lake Champlain (20 miles south of the Canadian border) is the city of Plattsburgh. This small rather unassuming city was, until its closing in 1995, the home of Plattsburgh Air Force Base - the oldest military base in the US and one of its most deadliest in terms of destructive power.
During its last 40 years, Plattsburgh AFB was a major Strategic Air Command base - which meant that it was bristling with nukes all of kinds which were "aimed" in one form or another at the old USSR. The first atomic "aiming device" employed by the USAF/SAC at PAFB was the B-47 long-range bomber - made long-range capable only with the advent of air-to-air refueling. It's also worth noting the B-47 shared its aiming duties along with a number of Atlas ICBM missile silos - the only ICBMs ever deployed East of the Mississippi River - that were placed within a 50 radius of the base - one of which was in my little Adirondack village of Au Sable Forks.
The size of the installation at the base is evidenced by the still existing and in-use runway - it is literally so large that it disappears over the horizon and is one of only 3 runways on the planet that is rated for space shuttle landings.
In any event, the B-47 pictured here, The Pride of the Adirondacks, was named The World's Best B-47 in 1965 as a result of its performance at SAC's 14th Bombing and Navigation competition. The crew of the plane won top honors as Best B-47 Crew, Bombing and Best B-47 Crew, Combined and Best B-47 Unit. Shortly thereafter - 3 weeks - the PAFB B-47s began their final flights into mothball status. The B-47s were being replaced by B-52s.
The B-52, of course, had a starring role in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - an absolute must-see film.
gravitas et nugalis
Featured Comment: bulldog wrote: "It sure would be nice if the USA could figure out a way to spend money to stimulate the economy without investing in ways to destroy 2/3 of mankind. I think the Europeans have it down. Maybe we could send some spies over there to Europe-land and steal the secret formula that enables them to provide healthcare; public transportation; better, affordable elementary, secondary and higher education; lower murder rates; lower poverty rates; longer life-spans, better quality of life in general .... The hell with it. Really, they are sooooo smug in their enjoyment of all those things……let’s just nuke’em.
my response: Good idea - that way we can stimulate our economy (not that of those smug SOBs) just like we did post-WWII after we bombed/reduced a big chunk of Europe into a big pile of rumble. Yeh, that's the ticket.
Reader Comments (3)
You telling me they closed the city in 1995? Wow! That's unbelievable...
Mike - despite my grammar, the city is still open. On the other hand, when the AFB closed it had a massive and devastating effect on the local economy, which, for many, felt like the city had actually closed.
Today, the city has clawed back to a state somewhat resembling "normal" but still not quite like the good old days.
Believe it or not, when I first looked at the photo, I did not even see the fighter jet in the background. All I saw was the confusing mish-mash of road signs. I guess that, much like the fighter jet, the signs are consigned to obsolescence owing to the base closing. Not much need to regulate traffic flow when there’s no traffic.
It sure would be nice if the USA could figure out a way to spend money to stimulate the economy without investing in ways to destroy 2/3 of mankind. I think the Europeans have it down. Maybe we could send some spies over there to Europe-land and steal the secret formula that enables them to provide healthcare; public transportation; better, affordable elementary, secondary and higher education; lower murder rates; lower poverty rates; longer life-spans, better quality of life in general.
The hell with it. Really, they are sooooo smug in their enjoyment of all those things……let’s just nuke’em.