Pilot Report: Aviation Week Flies The Northrop Grumman B-2 (1995)
I was the 61st person to fly in the Northrop Grumman B-2, and the first civilian pilot to take the controls of the stealth bomber. Northrop and US Air Force test pilots and then numerous other Air Force pilots qualifying in the new bomber preceded me. Defense Secretary William Perry, Under Secretary of Defense Paul Kaminski and Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall also beat be into the cockpit. I was told that once Widnall saw my name on the to-fly list she made it clear that she wanted to fly before me. Widnall flew on 9 March, while I flew on 22 March.
Northrop test pilot Wayne Staley had been instrumental in getting me into the cockpit and General Mike Loh had sent me a letter some four months prior telling me when I would fly. And unlike many military operations I have been involved in, the planned date held.
Bill Scott, a former Air Force flight test engineer and the magazine’s Rocky Mountain bureau chief, accompanied me on the visit to Whiteman AFB. My first indication that this trip was going to go well was when the Air Force PAO handed me my cloth wings for me flight suit with Navy wings on the squadron green background.
During our two-day stay at the Missouri air base, the personnel of the 509th Bomb Wing gave us excellent access. We were able to survey the aircraft close up, except for the engine exhaust area.
The flight with Maj. James Smithers went very well with me in the left seat and he flew from the right mission commander seat. The takeoff was straight forward, and once I learned that I could not bank beyond 60-deg. everything went well. My only pause was that I had difficulty keeping close to the Boeing KC-135 tanker. I told Smithers that my credit card could not absorb a $2.2 billion charge at this time, if I dinged his aircraft. The landing was smooth with the aid of a great ground effect.
The flight in the B-2 aided by the very professional pilots, ground crew and support people of the 509th Bomb Wing made this one of the top highlights of my flying career.
► Read North's B-2 pilot report from the April 17, 1995 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology
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