Stalled B-1 Heads Home--Only After Getting Jump Start

A trouble-plagued B-1B bomber left the Paris Air Show a day late Tuesday because its batteries ran down and the Air Force had to fly in equipment to give it a jump start.

“Yes, to be quite honest, our people were checking everything out so precisely we probably ran our batteries down,” said Sam Iacobellis, president of Rockwell International aircraft operations and B-1B program manager.

The Air Force had to fly in a 230-volt auxiliary ground power unit from a U.S. base in West Germany because French units did not provide the proper voltage, Iacobellis said.

Guarded by Air Force security police and French national police carrying shotguns, the bomber drew large crowds at the air show.

Designed to fly low and fast to penetrate Soviet air defenses, the bomber drew close scrutiny from Soviet officials as it was towed Tuesday to the flight line at Le Bourget Airport, site of the air show. A Soviet cameraman filmed the bomber from the pilot’s seat of a huge Aeroflot cargo plane.

Once it took off Tuesday, the B-1B flew a slow pass in front of the crowds with its landing gear down and its movable wings swept forward. Then the crew made a wide turn, swept the wings back and made a high-speed pass over the field before flying off toward the United States.