In 1990, during a joint exercise in the Persian Gulf, a B-52 called up USS Ranger and asked for a flyby. The carrier said yes, then reported no visual when the bomber called five miles out. The B-52 crew answered, “Look down.”The BUFF came in below the flight deck, so low the jet wash kicked spray off the water. Cold War low-level training made that pass possible. Sailors on Ranger got one of the rarest views in naval aviation: an eight-engine bomber sliding past a carrier like it belonged there.
