[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Question about long range bombers (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 10/25/2008 5:36:37 PM EDT
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Some missions in long range bomber will last several hours on end. I've always wondered, do these planes have a bathroom? What does a pilot do if he has the sudden urge to go number 2? I've always wondered this. Kris |
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Pilots have a "piss tube" but no means for a "poop tube". Hard to get up off one's seat when one is strapped in, eh? I would guess they don't eat solids for x-amount of hours before a long mission. On large planes such as the B-52, they can get up & walk to the head. |
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Quoted: Pilots have a "piss tube" but no means for a "poop tube". Hard to get up off one's seat when one is strapped in, eh? I would guess they don't eat solids for x-amount of hours before a long mission. On large planes such as the B-52, they can get up & walk to the head. But there's nowhere to go on planes like the B1 and B2? |
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Quoted: Quoted: Pilots have a "piss tube" but no means for a "poop tube". Hard to get up off one's seat when one is strapped in, eh? I would guess they don't eat solids for x-amount of hours before a long mission. On large planes such as the B-52, they can get up & walk to the head. But there's nowhere to go on planes like the B1 and B2? I will ask my neighbor, he is an officer on a B1 crew here at Ellsworth Air Force base. |
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Quoted: Cool. Thanks!Quoted: Quoted: Pilots have a "piss tube" but no means for a "poop tube". Hard to get up off one's seat when one is strapped in, eh? I would guess they don't eat solids for x-amount of hours before a long mission. On large planes such as the B-52, they can get up & walk to the head. But there's nowhere to go on planes like the B1 and B2? I will ask my neighbor, he is an officer on a B1 crew here at Ellsworth Air Force base. |
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Quoted: Pilots have a "piss tube" but no means for a "poop tube". Hard to get up off one's seat when one is strapped in, eh? I would guess they don't eat solids for x-amount of hours before a long mission. On large planes such as the B-52, they can get up & walk to the head. Just eat a few MREs. Won't need to poop for months. |
Precision trucker bombs? There I was, trompin around the woods actin all mean, when I get hit in the face with a plastic baggie full of poo. While I was busy looking around for it's source, the gallon jug of piss smacked me in the back of the head. Then I heard it. It was the cackling of some bomber pilot laughing as he hit the throttles and yelled "silly grunts" out the window. |
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My father spent several thousand hours as pilot in command of USAF RC-135s and KC-135s. Though not bombers, they don't have civilian style aircraft toilet facilities in them, either. What they have is called, in a fit of Air Force humor, a "honey bucket", which is a fairly tall stainless steel can that is used in conjunction with a disposable plastic bag at every use. (If you forego the use of the bag, your crew chief will ensure that YOU get to clean out the bucket YOURSELF!  ) It allows for relief as needed butisn't an experience that is looked forward to. Crews that are going on longer flights will often attempt to alter their diet so as to minimize the risks of having to use the dreaded honey bucket. I would have to guess that all aircraft that have room enough in them for you to stand, and will be operated for more than a couple of hours per mission, will have at least that sort of facilities. Even fighters have relief tubes for urine. You're not supposed to use them, according to the crew chief. CJ |
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Quoted: "High Protein/Low Residue" foods and Poopy Pants!My father spent several thousand hours as pilot in command of USAF RC-135s and KC-135s. Though not bombers, they don't have civilian style aircraft toilet facilities in them, either. What they have is called, in a fit of Air Force humor, a "honey bucket", which is a fairly tall stainless steel can that is used in conjunction with a disposable plastic bag at every use. (If you forego the use of the bag, your crew chief will ensure that YOU get to clean out the bucket YOURSELF! ) It allows for relief as needed butisn't an experience that is looked forward to. Crews that are going on longer flights will often attempt to alter their diet so as to minimize the risks of having to use the dreaded honey bucket. I would have to guess that all aircraft that have room enough in them for you to stand, and will be operated for more than a couple of hours per mission, will have at least that sort of facilities. Even fighters have relief tubes for urine. You're not supposed to use them, according to the crew chief. CJ |
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Quoted: That reminds me of a joke.....Pilots have a "piss tube" but no means for a "poop tube". Hard to get up off one's seat when one is strapped in, eh? I would guess they don't eat solids for x-amount of hours before a long mission. On large planes such as the B-52, they can get up & walk to the head. An F-15 is flying along-side a B-52, and the pilot is giving the BUFF driver a hard time because he's in a bomber, not a fighter. So he says to him "bet ya' can't do this!" and does a roll next to the B-52. So the B-52 pilot says "oh yeah? watch this!" as his plane continued flying straight and level. After a few minutes, the F-15 pilot is confused and asks him what he did, the B-52 pilot responds "I got up and went to the bathroom" |
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IIRC, they were flying B-2 missions out of Whiteman that were 30+ hours. I don't know what the B-1 and B-2 have for ... facilities. The C-17 has a flush toilet in the front and a couple of urinals in the rear of the cargo compartment. They can also load a "comfort pallet" which has refrigerators, ovens, coffee makers, and a couple of toilets. |
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Saw a documentary a few years back about long range bombers. B52 has a crude toilet, and a microwave oven i think too, as well as a cot or two. B2 has a toilet and a cot. don't know about the nuker though...Well actually it might have a nuker...but that's different.  |
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The Chair Force is too cheap to hire people to service the toilets on planes and I get stuck doing it....yeah voluntarily. It's either me...or nobody here. Considered an 8th extra duty.
B-1's and B-2's have means to crap. Those Navy boys on the other hand crap in trash bags and yank it out of the floor of the planes and hand it over to the Air Force when they land. KC-135's of the newest retrofit have regular toilets like a Winnabego. And the older ones do have means to crap in a box. Christ atleast the ChairForce is in the 21st century and crapping in boxes while the Navy still uses trash bags on planes they've been flying for multiple decades. |
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LOL, I asked my Dad this very question a couple months ago. We went to see the Collings Foundation's collection, as he was a waist gunner on a PBY (Navy: similiar to B24) At almost 83,he still climbed on up and in, and took his position. I couldn't believe how cramped/small the plane was. In the Pacific, they flew LONG missions, 11-12 hours, sometimes more. The PBs carried less bombs as they needed more fuel space. I asked what they did when they had to go. "We went" was his simply reply. "Bombs away!" |
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Quoted: I think they still get Box Lunches, at least the BUFF Crews did when I was in SAC in the early to mid 80's. Quoted: Pilots have a "piss tube" but no means for a "poop tube". Hard to get up off one's seat when one is strapped in, eh? I would guess they don't eat solids for x-amount of hours before a long mission. On large planes such as the B-52, they can get up & walk to the head. Just eat a few MREs. Won't need to poop for months. |
| My dad flew F-4s in the Air Force for about 9 years and I've asked him this question before (as it pertained to fighters). I know that he flew some really long missions because he'd have to ferry planes around the globe. When I was young, I found this sponge thing in a plastic bag in an old helmet bag. He said that's what he went #1 in. In regards to a "pre-game" meal, his words were "A smoke, coke and a puke". |
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Quoted: An F-15 is flying along-side a B-52, and the pilot is giving the BUFF driver a hard time because he's in a bomber, not a fighter. So he says to him "bet ya' can't do this!" and does a roll next to the B-52. So the B-52 pilot says "oh yeah? watch this!" as his plane continued flying straight and level. After a few minutes, the F-15 pilot is confused and asks him what he did, the B-52 pilot responds "I got up and went to the bathroom"  
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Quoted: I heard another similar one. An F-15 pilot was flying along with a B-52 and giving the B-52 pilot all kinds of hell about how much cooler the F-15 is than that big slowQuoted: An F-15 is flying along-side a B-52, and the pilot is giving the BUFF driver a hard time because he's in a bomber, not a fighter. So he says to him "bet ya' can't do this!" and does a roll next to the B-52. So the B-52 pilot says "oh yeah? watch this!" as his plane continued flying straight and level. After a few minutes, the F-15 pilot is confused and asks him what he did, the B-52 pilot responds "I got up and went to the bathroom" ugly bomber. He flips over upside down and says "Can you do this in that crate?" and then does a few loops, rolls, and other aerobatics all around the B-52. After he settles down and goes back to straight and level flight, the B-52 pilot calls back to the F-15 pilot, "That's all some very cool flying you did there, and I respect that, but can you do THIS?"....and the F-15 pilot doesn't see anything unusual. The B-52 keeps flying along in a straight line, no change visible. He asks "I don't see anything. What did you do?" To which the B-52 pilot replies, "I just shut down two engines."  CJ |
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I heard another similar one. An F-15 pilot was flying along with a B-52 and giving the B-52 pilot all kinds of hell about how much cooler the F-15 is than that big slow
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An F-15 is flying along-side a B-52, and the pilot is giving the BUFF driver a hard time because he's in a bomber, not a fighter. So he says to him "bet ya' can't do this!" and does a roll next to the B-52. So the B-52 pilot says "oh yeah? watch this!" as his plane continued flying straight and level. After a few minutes, the F-15 pilot is confused and asks him what he did, the B-52 pilot responds "I got up and went to the bathroom"
ugly bomber. He flips over upside down and says "Can you do this in that crate?" and then does a few loops, rolls, and other aerobatics all around the B-52. After he settles down and goes back to straight and level flight, the B-52 pilot calls back to the F-15 pilot, "That's all some very cool flying you did there, and I respect that, but can you do THIS?"....and the F-15 pilot doesn't see anything unusual. The B-52 keeps flying along in a straight line, no change visible. He asks "I don't see anything. What did you do?" To which the B-52 pilot replies, "I just shut down two engines."
CJ 
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Quoted: Too funny!! Quoted: I heard another similar one. An F-15 pilot was flying along with a B-52 and giving the B-52 pilot all kinds of hell about how much cooler the F-15 is than that big slowQuoted: An F-15 is flying along-side a B-52, and the pilot is giving the BUFF driver a hard time because he's in a bomber, not a fighter. So he says to him "bet ya' can't do this!" and does a roll next to the B-52. So the B-52 pilot says "oh yeah? watch this!" as his plane continued flying straight and level. After a few minutes, the F-15 pilot is confused and asks him what he did, the B-52 pilot responds "I got up and went to the bathroom" ugly bomber. He flips over upside down and says "Can you do this in that crate?" and then does a few loops, rolls, and other aerobatics all around the B-52. After he settles down and goes back to straight and level flight, the B-52 pilot calls back to the F-15 pilot, "That's all some very cool flying you did there, and I respect that, but can you do THIS?"....and the F-15 pilot doesn't see anything unusual. The B-52 keeps flying along in a straight line, no change visible. He asks "I don't see anything. What did you do?" To which the B-52 pilot replies, "I just shut down two engines." CJ |
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Quoted: You don't know crap about Navy planes. The Chair Force is too cheap to hire people to service the toilets on planes and I get stuck doing it....yeah voluntarily. It's either me...or nobody here. Considered an 8th extra duty. B-1's and B-2's have means to crap. Those Navy boys on the other hand crap in trash bags and yank it out of the floor of the planes and hand it over to the Air Force when they land. KC-135's of the newest retrofit have regular toilets like a Winnabego. And the older ones do have means to crap in a box. Christ atleast the ChairForce is in the 21st century and crapping in boxes while the Navy still uses trash bags on planes they've been flying for multiple decades. The only aircraft that the Navy has that's 'long-range' and does not have a chemical toilet is the C-130 and the P-3, the E-6B, C-9 and C-40 all have chemical flush toilets. You crap in a honey-bucket with a liner, it's the same set-up in the older Air Force C-130's. |
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Quoted: Quoted: This suject will soon be moot since umanned bombers are on the way..... The BUFF is slated to fly until the end of this century, almost a 100 years of service. THAT long? I think you should recheck your numbers. The B-52H made its first flight in 1961. 47 years and counting just for the H model. If it flew until the end of THIS century, it'd be 139 years old at 2100! From globalsecurity.org: Updated with modern technology, the B-52 will continue into the 21st century as an important element of US forces. There is a proposal under consideration to re-engine the remaining B-52H aircraft to extend the service life. B-52 re-engine plans, if implemented, call for the B-52 to be utilized through 2025. Current engineering analysis show the B-52's life span to extend beyond the year 2040. The limiting factor of the B-52’s service life is the economic limit of the aircraft's upper wing surface, calculated to be approximately 32,500 to 37,500 flight hours. Based on the projected economic service life and forecast mishap rates, the Air Force will be unable to maintain the requirement of 62 aircraft by 2044, after 84 years in service  CJ |
The coolest thing I ever saw at an airshow was the B-52. The announcer directed everyone's attention to the left, where a B-52 was coming in toward the base only anout 100 ft above the ground. Right before getting to the base, it pulled up and went vertical to about 30,000 ft, and pushed over to level flight.  I never knew they had such performance.I think there were some F-15s at the show too, but I cannot remember.
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As for the original topic, Gemini astronauts had a plastic bag with tape. The astronauts had to shave there butt, stick the bag around their anus and very carefully seal it up upon removal. This was back when astronauts were not the wimpy-scientist types. P.S. at least one of the Gemini astronuats went on a liquid diet two weeks before his mission because he refused to crap in space! |
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Quoted: Quoted: Too funny!! Quoted: I heard another similar one. An F-15 pilot was flying along with a B-52 and giving the B-52 pilot all kinds of hell about how much cooler the F-15 is than that big slowQuoted: An F-15 is flying along-side a B-52, and the pilot is giving the BUFF driver a hard time because he's in a bomber, not a fighter. So he says to him "bet ya' can't do this!" and does a roll next to the B-52. So the B-52 pilot says "oh yeah? watch this!" as his plane continued flying straight and level. After a few minutes, the F-15 pilot is confused and asks him what he did, the B-52 pilot responds "I got up and went to the bathroom" ugly bomber. He flips over upside down and says "Can you do this in that crate?" and then does a few loops, rolls, and other aerobatics all around the B-52. After he settles down and goes back to straight and level flight, the B-52 pilot calls back to the F-15 pilot, "That's all some very cool flying you did there, and I respect that, but can you do THIS?"....and the F-15 pilot doesn't see anything unusual. The B-52 keeps flying along in a straight line, no change visible. He asks "I don't see anything. What did you do?" To which the B-52 pilot replies, "I just shut down two engines." CJ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wEURyjB3Lc |
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Quoted: Quoted: You don't know crap about Navy planes. The Chair Force is too cheap to hire people to service the toilets on planes and I get stuck doing it....yeah voluntarily. It's either me...or nobody here. Considered an 8th extra duty. B-1's and B-2's have means to crap. Those Navy boys on the other hand crap in trash bags and yank it out of the floor of the planes and hand it over to the Air Force when they land. KC-135's of the newest retrofit have regular toilets like a Winnabego. And the older ones do have means to crap in a box. Christ atleast the ChairForce is in the 21st century and crapping in boxes while the Navy still uses trash bags on planes they've been flying for multiple decades. The only aircraft that the Navy has that's 'long-range' and does not have a chemical toilet is the C-130 and the P-3, the E-6B, C-9 and C-40 all have chemical flush toilets. You crap in a honey-bucket with a liner, it's the same set-up in the older Air Force C-130's. I wouldnt expect anything less from the Navy. Of course they have toilets. They dont want to soil their pink panties. |
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Quoted: The coolest thing I ever saw at an airshow was the B-52. The announcer directed everyone's attention to the left, where a B-52 was coming in toward the base only anout 100 ft above the ground. Right before getting to the base, it pulled up and went vertical to about 30,000 ft, and pushed over to level flight. I never knew they had such performance.I think there were some F-15s at the show too, but I cannot remember. I doubt it actually went vertical but it might have seemed like it. You don't expect big planes to fly at relatively high angles so even a 45 degree angle ascent might have seemed to be a lot more than that. I also doubt it went up to 30,000 feet before pushing over to level flight. At 30,000 feet most people can't tell the type of airplane flying overhead, it's so small to the naked eye. The performance ratings of the H model: <big>Performance</big> It would take more than 5 minutes to climb to 30,000 feet as the rate of climb is an INITIAL rate, dropping off with air density at altitude. CJ |
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I caught my first ever hop in a KC-135 from RAF Bentwaters UK, to Pittsburgh back in 1987. I'll never forget the briefing we received from one of the crew, he said, " before we take off, make sure you use the bathroom, we don't really have one. It's for emergency use only. By the way, who want's to order a box nasty?" A few hours into the flight, and the small chemical toilet was full. They had a few piss cans, thank god. This months issue of Air International has a write up of the SU-34 Fullback. I was hoping they would show some pics of the "Facilities" the Russians have been bragging about. Cool looking jet.  |
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I thought only until about 2025 ??
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This suject will soon be moot since umanned bombers are on the way..... The BUFF is slated to fly until the end of this century, almost a 100 years of service. 5sub according to this link 2040. B-52 Service Life |