This is a rare picture kids.

This is a picture of B-1A Ship 4 at Offutt AFB in Nebraska. This was taken in August of 1982 on the return of Ship 4 from display at the Farnborough Air Show in England.

This shows the core personel invovled in the re-start of the B-1 flight test and development program. The people in this picture got the program re-started from a deep hibernation, and planned the next few years, and were the core of the flight and maintenance crews who developed the operating and maintenance procedures for the B-1.

There were others who did not make the trip who were critcal, of course, and many good folks came on board later. But if you want B-1 trivia or information about the development of the airplane track some of these folks down if you can (and if they're still alive).

Roll call of the ones I know. Some of the aircrew members I don't remember.

Front row, kneeling, left to right

• Denny Haun (no relation) Boss crew chief, SAC
• Back seat aircrew member who never made much of an impression on me
• Ron lastnameIcantremember: Avionics tech, our master scrounge hound, AFSC
• Cal Bishop, electrician, AFSC
• Ron Rabadoux (sp), Maintenance boss, AFSC
• Another back seater I can't remember

Second row, standing (starting with gentleman in dress blues)

• Guy in dress blues. Never saw him before or after.
• Lt. Col somebody. I liked this guy, just forget who he was
• Bird colnel from Wright Patterson, name I forget, project manager
• Me! In green flight jacket, hat a little crooked. AFSC. How did I get center position right by Gen. Thurmon? need you ask?
• Maj General William Thurmon. Boss of the B-1 Program Office, and good guy. His is the signature on the picture
• Fred Kondrotas (sp). Boss engine tech and boss of SAC maint guys. Famed quote "We're burn'n daylight here".
• Gosh I should know this guy, I don't. Which means he was a SAC avionics guy
• Raymond Lau (in blue short sleeve epalet shirt). SAC Chief MSGT, and manager of the SAC maint contingent
• Tom Lewis. Computer whizz and avionics tech. SAC
• Mike Ginn. ECS maint, transitioned himself into maint leader. Drinks a beer faster than anyone I ever saw. AFSC

Back row and peeking over shoulders

• Major Frank Birk. Test pilot, he could break anything, code name:"Major Malfuction" Great guy, AFSC
• Lt. Col. Leroy Schroder. Chief test pilot, boss of the Edwards flight test program. Superior guy, both as a pilot and leader, AFSC
• Some captain with a blue hat.
• Lt iforgethisname (wearing sunglasses). Waste of space. Our AFSC maint officer. Useless, did I mention that?
• Another random officer in a flight cap
• Sullivan, or Sully. Never knew his first name. SAC crew chief, second to Denny, good guy
• Two more random officers, I think they all showed up from the Offutt O club.
• Jerry Slavin (between Thurmond and Kondrodas shoulders) Avionics tech. Remind me to tell you the story of he & I being threatened by a turkish exchange student in two women's apartment in Washington at 2:30 AM. Then again, don't ask. AFSC
• Government quality inspector. No name
• Darwin Warfield. ESC guy, but overall the hardest working man in my time on the test team. AFSC.

That's it! This core group of guys made B-1 happen, and I'm proud to have served with them. Though I would be remiss if I did not also mention the ones who were key that didn't make the trip (there are a few more than these, this is quick memory).

• Tony Colman, sheet metal (needed him a bunch on ship 2's terrible skin cracks) AFSC
• Terry, fuel guy, SAC
• Tony Heggins, ejection seats, AFSC FMS boss

3 airplane notes:

• In this picture look at the top of the vertical tail. See that black spot at the top front? That is a film camera installed to document wing sweep on flight tests.
• Look at the backbone of the airplane. Much more built-up than production aircraft, doesn't have the swoop. This is a sheet-metal tunnel added to ships 3 and 4 to support additional flight test instrumentation and additional stuff.
• Look directly up from Gen. Thurmons head, slightly to the left of the yellow "pull here for egress" lettering on the side fo the airplane, to the top of the fuselage where the tan and darker brown paint have an edge. Look funny? It should, this is one of the few photos of the big sheet metal patch that got slapped onto the airplane when the defensive systems operator's hatch departed the airplane takeing off from Andrews. You can see the lip of the patch and the shiny, non-matching, paint around it.