Its Job Well Done During Cold War, Quiet B-52 Gracefully Accepts Peace
The B-52 was parked at the end of the line.
So people who wanted to see the gray bomber had a long walk. But for some visitors to Fairchild Air Force Base on Sunday, Aerospace Day ‘97 wouldn’t have been complete without viewing the plane that used to be a fixture in the skies over Spokane.
“It’s huuuuge,” said a sunglasses-wearing little boy in a Spokane Chiefs T-shirt.
“Yeah,” said his Mariners cap-wearing dad, no less impressed.
A member of the B-52’s crew explained that this particular plane, stationed in Louisiana, had been at Fairchild before the base’s bombers were deployed elsewhere a few years ago. So there’s a good chance at least a few of those checking it out Sunday had, at one time or another, looked up and seen its silhouette or heard the thunder from its eight engines.
Some peered up into the empty bomb bay. Others enjoyed the shade provided by the long wings.
One little boy, who looked to be about 10, had an existential question about the Stratofortress.
“What is it for?” he asked his mother as the two of them stared at the big plane.
“Well, it’s for in case there’s a war,” she answered.
“There aren’t any real wars anymore,” the boy shot back dismissively.
“There are wars going on all the time,” she said.
“Well,” sniffed the boy, not wanting his mom to have the last say, “not here.”
If ever there was an opening for a machine to speak up and brag about having done its job well over the decades, that might have been it. But the B-52 didn’t say a word.
A lot of people reached up and touched its metal skin. Some were tentative, as if wanting to make sure they wouldn’t set off sirens or something. Others patted the bomber as if it were a big, happy dog.
Parents pushing babies in strollers circled the parked leviathan. Kids holding balloons tried to make sense of instructions stenciled on the aircraft. “ATTACH BRACE F52256-503 HERE FOR SPECIAL BOMB LOADING.”
Some guys who didn’t know what they were talking about pretended to be weapons systems experts. But because Spokane is home to so many Air Force retirees, there was another, quieter contingent visiting the B-52.
A woman with gray hair stood with her husband beneath one of the wings as he scrutinized an engine pod. “Bring back memories?” she asked.
He looked at her and nodded.
, DataTimes MEMO: Being There is a weekly feature that visits Inland Northwest gatherings.