Coronet Bat
Encyclopedia
Coronet Bat was a 1995 U.S. Air Force exercise where two B-1B Lancers flew around-the-world non-stop with air-refueling
on a practice bombing mission to ranges on three different continents, Europe, Asia and North America.
At around 3am June 2, 1995, four B-1B's launched from Dyess AFB in Texas commanded by (then) Lt Col Doug Raaberg as pilot of the lead aircraft, nicknamed "Hellion" (tail number 85-057) accompanied by "Global Power" (tail number 85-082), with the other two bombers serving the role of "airborne spares" in case they were needed to take over for any problems with the two primary aircraft ("Bad to the B-one" and "Black Widow" recovered at Langley AFB, Virginia and Lajes Field in the Azores). The servicemen flying the aircraft were Capt. Gerald Goodfellow, Capt. Kevin Clotfelter, Capt. Rick Carver, Capt. Chris Stewart, Capt. Steve Adams, Capt. Kevin Houdek and Capt. Steve Reeves. Requiring six air refuelings, the two B-1B's performed practice bombing runs over the Pachino Range, Italy, the Torishima Range near Kadena Air Base in the western Pacific, and the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR), dropping BDU-50 inert, concrete-filled 500-pound munitions (practice version of the Mark 82 bomb
) on these three targets.
Total flight time was 36 hours and 13 minutes with an average speed of 631.16 mph across a route that went over the North Atlantic, through the Strait of Gibraltar, across the Mediterranean, south to the Indian Ocean, north over the Pacific Ocean to the Aleutian Islands then southeast to the west coast of the US back to a landing at the starting point of Dyess AFB. All eight crew members completing the around-the-world flight were awarded the Mackay Trophy.
Aerial refueling
Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling , air-to-air refueling or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight....
on a practice bombing mission to ranges on three different continents, Europe, Asia and North America.
At around 3am June 2, 1995, four B-1B's launched from Dyess AFB in Texas commanded by (then) Lt Col Doug Raaberg as pilot of the lead aircraft, nicknamed "Hellion" (tail number 85-057) accompanied by "Global Power" (tail number 85-082), with the other two bombers serving the role of "airborne spares" in case they were needed to take over for any problems with the two primary aircraft ("Bad to the B-one" and "Black Widow" recovered at Langley AFB, Virginia and Lajes Field in the Azores). The servicemen flying the aircraft were Capt. Gerald Goodfellow, Capt. Kevin Clotfelter, Capt. Rick Carver, Capt. Chris Stewart, Capt. Steve Adams, Capt. Kevin Houdek and Capt. Steve Reeves. Requiring six air refuelings, the two B-1B's performed practice bombing runs over the Pachino Range, Italy, the Torishima Range near Kadena Air Base in the western Pacific, and the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR), dropping BDU-50 inert, concrete-filled 500-pound munitions (practice version of the Mark 82 bomb
Mark 82 bomb
The Mark 82 is an unguided, low-drag general-purpose bomb, part of the U.S. Mark 80 series. The explosive filling is tritonal.-Development and deployment:...
) on these three targets.
Total flight time was 36 hours and 13 minutes with an average speed of 631.16 mph across a route that went over the North Atlantic, through the Strait of Gibraltar, across the Mediterranean, south to the Indian Ocean, north over the Pacific Ocean to the Aleutian Islands then southeast to the west coast of the US back to a landing at the starting point of Dyess AFB. All eight crew members completing the around-the-world flight were awarded the Mackay Trophy.
See also
- Lucky Lady IILucky Lady IILucky Lady II is a United States Air Force Boeing B-50 Superfortress that became the first airplane to circle the world nonstop, when it made the journey in 1949, assisted by refueling the plane in flight. Total time airborne was 94 hours and 1 minute...
- the first-ever non-stop around-the-world airplane flight, 1949 - Operation Power FliteOperation Power FliteOperation Power Flite was a United States Air Force mission in which three Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses became the first jet aircraft to circle the world nonstop, when they made the journey in January 1957 in 45 hours and 19 minutes, using in-flight refueling to stay aloft...
- B-52 around-the-world simulated bombing mission, 1957