The Rogers Dry Lake runways were accessible from the 70-minute, 250-mile flight path while the B-1A basic flight evaluation was being carried out
The amazing image in this post depicts the Rockwell International B-1A taking off for its inaugural flight from Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California on December 23, 1974. The aircraft landed at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB).
Col. Charles Bock Jr., a veteran USAF pilot and test pilot for Rockwell, flew the B-1A. Col. Emil “Ted” Sturmthal, a B-1 Joint Test Force director and an Air Force pilot, and flight test engineer Richard Abrams were with him. The Rogers Dry Lake runways were accessible from the 70-minute, 250-mile flight path, which was used for the basic flight evaluation.
As a replacement for the B-52, the B-1A was first created in the 1970s. The development and testing of four prototypes of this long-range, high-speed (Mach 2.2), strategic bomber took place in the middle of the 1970s, but the program was discontinued in 1977 before it could be put into production. Through 1981, flight testing was still ongoing.
The Reagan government began the development of the B-1B in 1981 as an enhanced version. The main modifications included an additional structure to enhance payload by 74,000 pounds, a better radar, and an order-of-magnitude reduction in the radar cross-section (RCS). As a result of the considerable modifications made to the inlet as part of this RCS reduction, the maximum speed had to be lowered to Mach 1.2.
In October 1984, the first production B-1 took to the air, and in June 1985, the first B-1B arrived at Dyess AFB in Texas. On October 1, 1986, initial operational capability (IOC) was attained. May 2, 1988, saw the delivery of the last B-1B.
Nearly 50 world records for speed, payload, range, and time of climb in its class are held by the B-1B. The B-1B was honored by the National Aeronautic Association for successfully completing one of the top ten most memorable record flights in 1994. In 2004, the most recent records became legally binding.
Photo by Edwards History Office photo / U.S. Air Force
Source: U.S. Air Force