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Strategic Air
Command bomber and tanker crews frequently practiced these drills, as they knew they had to send up the maximum number of planes, in the fastest time possible. This was done to prevent possible obliteration should the base be attacked by nuclear warheads. In theory, the whole procedure
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Upon taking off, the navigator called milestones, indicating the minimum speed at important positions on the runway. If the aircraft wasn't at speed during S1 time (120 knots (138 mph; 222 km/h)), the plane aborted takeoff. If S1 was successfully achieved, the wings start generating lift,
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when they encountered trouble. The aircraft, carrying 290,000 pounds (130,000 kg) of fuel, crashed about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Mather and blew up in a ball of fire around 250 feet (75 m) in diameter. The resulting crash left a 1,200-foot (370 m) path of burning debris, killed
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fuel, causing an immediate fire under the aircraft. The pilot and defensive systems operator survived the fire and abandoned the aircraft; the navigator ejected, but was killed. The resulting fire consumed the aircraft and some nuclear weapons, causing contamination in the immediate vicinity.
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engines produced extra power for takeoff but caused large amounts of unburned fuel to leave the engine in the exhaust, producing large amounts of black smoke which the subsequent aircraft would also have to go through in order to take off successfully. The J57 was fitted to all B-52s with the
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three horses, and left four people needing treatment for smoke inhalation. The cause was determined to have been the result of the jet trying to avoid the jet blast of the lead plane, showing the inherent risk behind launching aircraft so close together.
275:, second of a three-ship cell, lost control, crashed into trees, and burned. The aircraft commander, Capt. Thomas C. Weller, co-pilot 1st Lt. Ronald Chapo, navigator 1st Lt. J. A. Wether, and crew chief S/Sgt. Stephen J. Merva were killed.
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had to be done as soon as possible, as there would be minutes to spare in the event of an attack warning. This meant that the aircraft were launched as quickly as twelve seconds between bombers, and fifteen seconds between the tankers.
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exposed to the violent turbulence that it immediately encountered. The nose is still held kept down at this point. At 152 knots (175 mph; 282 km/h), another milestone, pilot pulls the yoke back, and the plane lifts off.
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of another aircraft at such close intervals could cause unpredictable aerodynamic behavior and loss of aircraft control. More than once, aircraft have crashed on takeoff after encountering such wake turbulence.
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created by the aircraft ahead of it has dissipated. Because of the small launch window, this made the air very rough for the next minute for the aircraft, during the takeoff roll and initial climbout.
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to the runway. It is designed to maximize the number of aircraft launched in the least amount of time possible before the base suffers a nuclear strike, which would obliterate all remaining aircraft.
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strategic bombers and the MITO interval was reduced to just six seconds between aircraft, if they used alternating opposite sides of the same runway.
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The minimum interval takeoff was designed by the U.S. Air Force to get its bomber fleet in the air within fifteen minutes of an alert of an incoming
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Although the practice is aimed to efficiently send aircraft off as quickly as possible, it does not come without risks. Sending aircraft into the
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aircraft launched at opposing sides of the single runway at 7.5-second intervals, half that of a normal MITO. Later, Pease and
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get airborne as the remaining 16 aircraft wait on the runway during a MITO at the start of a mass airdrop exercise at
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305:) standing a few thousand feet down the runway, watching B-52 Stratofortresses take off at fifteen-second intervals.
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One B-52 was involved in a crash during a MITO when the aircraft stalled. On the morning of
December 16, 1982, A
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incident originated from a minimum interval takeoff incident on
December 8, 1964. During a normal MITO at
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aircraft at twelve- and fifteen-second intervals, respectively. Before takeoff, the aircraft perform an
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attack, that being the time in which the bases would be obliterated. Although it had roots during
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Lloyd, Alwyn T., "Boeing's B-47 Stratojet", Specialty Press, North Branch, Minnesota, 2005,
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B-52 Stratofortress The Story of the Buff from
Drawing Board to the Skies over Afghanistan
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On 4 January 1961, during a minimum interval takeoff from Pease AFB, a B-47E,
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aircraft of Pease and
Plattsburgh used a twelve-second MITO interval using the
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412:(1st Smithsonian Books ed.). New York: Smithsonian Books/Collins.
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The Leader's
Imperative : Ethics, Integrity, and Responsibility
297:, California. The scene involves Colonels James Caldwell (played by
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during which a MITO is observed to occur from beside the runway at
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An excerpt from "A Full
Retaliatory Response." by Thomas D. Jones.
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632:. (New Hampshire). Associated Press. January 5, 1961. p. 1.
552:. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 17, 1982. p. 3A.
516:. (Oregon). Associated Press. December 16, 1982. p. 1A.
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Normally, aircraft are delayed from taking off until the
484:"Mather Air Force Base, CA B-52G Bomber Crash, Dec 1982"
546:"Congressman asks for probe of B-52 bomber maintenance"
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When the Wolf Rises
Linebacker II, the Eleven Day War
583:"Broken Arrow Incident involving B-58A-CF 60-1116"
570:. (California). UPI. December 18, 1982. p. 1.
534:. (California). UPI. December 17, 1982. p. 1.
405:
436:. Authorhouse. 30 December 2011. p. 280.
8:
657:Video of a B-52 MITO at Minot Air Force Base
461:. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue Univ. Press.
208:A B-52H starts its engines during a MITO at
662:Video of a MITO with B-52's and KC-135's
408:Sky Walking : An Astronaut's Memoir
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149:. During alerts, the crews performed an
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667:Video of a MITO at Minot Air Force Base
383:"MITO Takeoffs, Loring AFB, Maine 1984"
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652:MITO takeoffs at Loring Air Force Base
16:Military maneuver of the US Air Force
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528:"Nine killed in crash of B-52 plane"
142:exception of the H-model, which has
86:, the tactic came of age during the
320:List of established military terms
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490:from the original on 27 July 2014
457:Ficarrotta, J. Carl, ed. (2001).
626:"Pease AFB jet crash kills four"
510:"Bomber crashes near Sacramento"
357:Yenne, Bill (15 December 2012).
34:during a MITO exercise in 1986
325:Operational Readiness Platform
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564:"Air Force team probes crash"
50:for scrambling all available
172:, it has been reported that
112:463rd Tactical Airlift Wing
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585:. B-58.com. Archived from
315:Index of aviation articles
283:There is a scene from the
250:Bunker Hill Air Force Base
222:328th Bombardment Squadron
178:Plattsburgh Air Force Base
361:. Zenith Pr. p. 57.
46:) is a technique of the
40:minimum interval takeoff
687:United States Air Force
48:United States Air Force
581:Brewer, Randy (2012).
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550:Eugene Register-Guard
514:Eugene Register-Guard
335:Scrambling (military)
290:A Gathering of Eagles
234:Mather Air Force Base
230:Castle Air Force Base
226:93rd Bombardment Wing
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184:, were equipped with
174:Boeing B-47 Stratojet
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92:Strategic Air Command
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295:Beale Air Force Base
218:B-52G Stratofortress
166:Pease Air Force Base
589:on 28 November 2012
404:Jones, Tom (2006).
301:) and Hollis Farr (
568:Lodi News-Sentinel
532:Lodi News-Sentinel
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32:Barksdale AFB
613:978-1-58007-071-3
482:Beitler, Stuart.
385:. All-hazards.com
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98:Tactical use
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615:, page 160.
299:Rock Hudson
279:Pop culture
74:Description
676:Categories
341:References
303:Rod Taylor
238:Sacramento
128:turbulence
90:under the
271:, of the
200:Incidents
153:from the
147:turbofans
116:Dyess AFB
682:Cold War
593:9 August
494:9 August
488:Archived
389:9 August
309:See also
182:New York
139:turbojet
88:Cold War
269:53-4244
220:of the
212:in 2014
134:in the
118:, Texas
94:(SAC).
80:missile
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186:FB-111
56:tanker
52:bomber
23:Three
287:film
236:near
228:, at
28:B-52G
609:ISBN
595:2012
496:2012
463:ISBN
438:ISBN
414:ISBN
391:2012
363:ISBN
285:1963
261:JP-4
144:TF33
106:Two
54:and
44:MITO
164:At
136:J57
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244:A
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