Non "Airmen" fly Air Force's top bomber

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jason Burton
  • 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
Another page in B-2 history was written Oct. 23 when Royal Air Force pilot David
Arthurton, 13th Bomb Squadron, and Navy Lt. Kelly Richards, 509th Operations Support Squadron, flew a three-hour sortie in the Spirit of Texas.

This was the first time two non United States Air Force pilots flew in the same B-2 since the B-2s arrived at Whiteman in late 1993.

Squadron Leader Arthurton (equivalent of a U.S. major) was the mission commander during the training sortie and prior to the flight he said he suspected that this was the first non-USAF flight at Whiteman.

"To be quite honest, we both treated it like any other sortie," Squadron Leader Arthurton said. "We carried it out as if we were flying with any other pilot from the bomb squadrons." He said that from the execution of the flying there was no difference but after learning the significance of the flight, it was a good deal.

The Navy exchange aviator was the pilot during the flight and said he did not know it was going to be a historical sortie. During the training mission, the two also completed aerial refueling.

Lieutenant Richards, a former Navy EA-6B Prowler pilot, said he flew a lot of missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the radar jamming capabilities of the Prowler helped support strike missions -- thus supporting the B-2. He said it feels good to fly a jet that he helped to support in the past.

Squadron Leader Arthurton has been a RAF exchange pilot since arriving at Whiteman in October 2004. He made history June 9, 2005, when he became the first foreign pilot to ever fly a B-2.

The Norwich, England, native has about 220 hours in the B-2 and will finish the B-2 program in June.

"The B-2 is a fantastic platform," Squadron Leader Arthurton said. "It has global reach, which is something you can never say about a fighter size aircraft. And the shear weapons load that you can carry is awesome. All that tied in with its low observable capabilities makes it an especially unique aircraft."

Lieutenant Richards arrived at Whiteman in June of 2005. After completing the T-38 portion of training, he started training on the B-2 in August.

"This has been a remarkable experience," Lieutenant Richards said. "I have a much better understand of how the Air Force works and how the low observable community operates and what their specific needs are."