Operation Power Flite was a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

mission in which three

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...

es became the first

jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, je ...

to circle the world nonstop, when they made the journey in January 1957 in 45 hours and 19 minutes, using

in-flight refueling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft a ...

to stay aloft. The mission was intended to demonstrate that the United States had the ability to drop a

hydrogen bomb A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...

anywhere in the world.

Around the world

Led by Major General Archie J. Old, Jr. as flight commander, five B-52B aircraft of the

93rd Bombardment Wing The 93d Air Ground Operations Wing (93d AGOW) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command, Ninth Air Force. It is stationed as a tenant unit at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. The wing directs the 3d Air Support Operations ...

of the

15th Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Force ...

took off from

Castle Air Force Base Castle Air Force Base (Castle AFB, 1941–1995) is a former United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base in California, located northeast of Atwater, northwest of Merced, and about south of Sacramento. The Central Valley base in uni ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

on January 16, 1957, at 1:00 PM, with two of the planes flying as spares. Old was aboard ''Lucky Lady III'' (serial number 53-0394) which was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Morris, who had flown as the co-pilot aboard the ''

Lucky Lady II ''Lucky Lady II'' is a United States Air Force Boeing B-50 Superfortress that became the first airplane to circle the world nonstop. Its 1949 journey, assisted by in-flight refueling, lasted 94 hours and 1 minute. The plane later suffered an ac ...

'' when it made the world's first non-stop circumnavigation in 1949. Heading east, one of the planes was unable to refuel successfully from a

Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter The Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter is a four-engined, piston-powered United States strategic tanker aircraft based on the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter. It replaced the KB-29 and was succeeded by the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. Design and developm ...

and was forced to land at Goose Bay Air Base in

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

. The second spare refueled with the rest of the planes over

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

and then split off as planned to land at

RAF Brize Norton Royal Air Force Brize Norton or RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the village of Brize Norton, and the towns of Carterton and Witney. The station ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

.Staff
"B-52 Stratofortress -- Around the World Flight"

, January 14, 2008. Accessed September 8, 2010. After a mid-air refueling rendezvous over

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, the planes followed the coast of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and then made a simulated bombing drop south of the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

before heading towards the next air refueling rendezvous over

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

and

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. The three planes continued across the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and landed at

March Air Force Base March Air Reserve Base (March ARB), previously known as March Air Force Base (March AFB) is located in Riverside County, California between the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, and Perris. It is the home to the Air Force Reserve Command's Fo ...

near

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

on January 18 after flying for a total of 45 hours and 19 minutes, with the lead plane landing at 10:19 AM and the other two planes following each other separated by 80 seconds. The flight was completed at an average speed of and was completed in less than half the time required by ''Lucky Lady II'' when it made the first non-stop circumnavigation in 1949. General

Curtis LeMay Curtis Emerson LeMay (November 15, 1906 – October 1, 1990) was an American Air Force general who implemented a controversial strategic bombing campaign in the Pacific theater of World War II. He later served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air ...

was among the 1,000 on hand to greet the three planes, and he awarded all 27 crew members the Distinguished Flying Cross. Though Old called the flight "a routine training mission," the Air Force emphasized that the mission demonstrated its "capability to drop a hydrogen bomb anywhere in the world."via

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

"3 B-52's Circle Globe Non-Stop in 45 Hours; Earth-Circling Airmen Are Decorated for 'Routine Training Flight'"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', January 19, 1957. Accessed September 8, 2010. The

National Aeronautic Association The National Aeronautic Association of the United States (NAA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and a founding member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Founded in 1905, it is the oldest national aviation club in the Uni ...

recognized the 93rd Bombardment Wing as recipient of the

Mackay Trophy The Mackay Trophy is awarded yearly by the United States Air Force for the "most meritorious flight of the year" by an Air Force person, persons, or organization. The trophy is housed in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museu ...

for 1957. File:B52 Data plate.jpg, Data plate off of a B52 that has history

Crews

Crew No. 1

Maj. Gen. Archie Old - Mission Commander Lt. Col. James H. Morris - Aircraft Commander Capt. Ernest E. Campbell - Co-pilot Capt. Rene M. Woog - Navigator Maj. Albert F. Wooten - Navigator Maj. Anthony P Dzierski - Navigator Capt. Quintis L Hinkley - Electronic Countermeasures M/Sgt. Carl H Ballew - Tail Gunner T/Sgt. Donovan W. Higginbotham - Crew Chief

Crew No. 2

Capt. Charles W. Fink - Aircraft Commander Lt. Col. Marcus L. Hill Jr. - Co-pilot Capt. Jay G. Bachman - Co-pilot Capt. Cyril H. Dingwell - Navigator Capt. Michael Stevens - Navigator Capt. Edward M Hollacher - Navigator 1st Lt. Joseph B. Tyra - Electronic Countermeasures S/Sgt. James L. Bushboom - Tail Gunner T/Sgt. Joseph D. Armstrong - Crew Chief

Crew No. 3

Maj. George C. Kalebaugh - Aircraft Commander Maj. Salvador E. Felices - Co-pilot Capt. James H. Walsh Jr. - Co-pilot Capt. Gerald A. Rush - Radar Observer 1st Lt. Byrum W. Cooper - Navigator Capt. Alfonso C. Toler - Navigator Maj. Billie M. Beardsley - Electronic Countermeasures A/1c - Eugene N. Preiss - Tail Gunner T/Sgt. Albert Romero - Crew Chief

Other Lucky Ladies

''Lucky Lady III'' was one of three similarly named aircraft, each of which was part of an historic circumnavigation on behalf of the United States Air Force: ''Lucky Lady I'' was one of two

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

es that made a round-the-world trip in July/August 1948, flying from and back to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, completing the flight in 15 days after making eight stops along the way and flying for 103 hours and 50 minutes.Lucky Ladies
, Air Force Historical Studies Office. Accessed September 2, 2009. ''Lucky Lady II'' was a

Boeing B-50 Superfortress The Boeing B-50 Superfortress is an American strategic bomber. A post–World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, it was fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller tail fin, and ot ...

of the

43rd Bombardment Group The 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group is an active duty air mobility unit at Pope Field (formerly Pope AFB), Fort Bragg, North Carolina and is part of the Air Mobility Command (AMC) under the USAF Expeditionary Center. The unit is composed of f ...

with an additional fuel tank added in the bomb bay to provide additional range. It became the first airplane to circumnavigate the globe nonstop, when it made the journey in 94 hours and one minute in 1949, assisted by refueling the plane in flight.Waggoner, Walter H
"FIRST IN HISTORY; High Officials Greet the Plane as It Ends Hop at Fort Worth"
''

'', March 3, 1949. Accessed September 1, 2009.

Around the world

Crews

Crew No. 1

Crew No. 2

Crew No. 3

Other Lucky Ladies

See also

References

Further reading