B-1 Bomber Crashes in South Dakota

[BusyLittleShop]

Yes, our team did some avionics upgrades to the B1-B so we had to do test flights for validation.

I took the required 4 hours of simulator time before being allowed into the cockpit. I was allowed to fly the plane for a few minutes at FL280 under the watchful eye of a truly remarkable Lt. Col. whom we addressed as, "Mam." or COL.

I'm in awe... that had to be a mind altering experience not to
mention a super impressive entry into one's log book...

I did this Eagle in Training cartoon for Col.Fowler's promotion to full
bird and received a B1B sim invitation at the award ceremony...
unfortunately I hit my retirement date before the bomber branch of
McConnell got their sim up and running...

 

[ArrestMeRedZ]

If I remember correctly everyone ejects together in a large module.

Nope, individual Aces II ejection seats. It was originally planned for a crew capsule but that plan changed to seats. I suspect a cost saving measure.
The history of ejections in capsules isn't very good. F-111 crews have a high rate of broken backs upon landing.

 

[MolaKule]

Right the final design was individual ejection seats. In the sim training, one of the recurring themes is, "Do Not Touch the Yellow Handles until being commanded to do so."

My understanding is the individual ejection seats also saved weight. I could never confirm that but it sounded plausible.