Tailhook envy maybe?

Many folks have called my attention to the above photo today, as a representation of the US Navy flying an intercept on a B-52. Personally I'm of the belief that said Pilot in Command of the BUFF really wanted to drive something big when he grew up and really wanted to see a carrier up close.

But seeing this photo reminded me of one that many in the Tailhook Community are quite familiar with where a couple of B-52's requested a Fly By of USS Ranger (CV-61)...

It happened in early 1990 in the Persian Gulf, while U.S. carriers and B-52s were holding joint exercises. Two B-52s called the carrier (USS Ranger) and asked if they could do a fly-by, and the carrier air controller said yes. When the B-52s reported they were 9 kilometers out, the carrier controller said he didn't see them. The B-52s told the carrier folks to look down. The paint job on the B-52 made it hard to see from above, but as it got closer, the sailors could make it out, and the water the B-52 jets were causing to spray out. It's very, very rare for a USAF aircraft to do a fly-by below the flight deck of a carrier. But B-52s had been practicing low level flights for years, to come in under Soviet radar. In this case, the B-52 pilots asked the carrier controller if they would like the bombers come around again. The carrier guys said yes, and a lot more sailors had their cameras out this time.

The resulting images are legendary: