B747SP flyby at Miramar Airshow 2008

[Ragwing]

didn't that happen to the prototype B52 Stratofortress as well?

Oddball, Fantastic Memory..... This ones for you

On January 10, 1964, Boeing test pilot Chuck Fisher with his three man crew lost the tail of their B-52H Stratofortress.
They were at 14,000 ft. over northern New Mexico's Sangre de Christo mountains.

[Rooster Cruiser]

Man, that is an incredible pic you found, Rag!   

When you get down to it, you really do not need a vertical stab or a rudder when you are in command of 8 engines!  You can use differential thrust to counteract any crosswind component and still bring her home.

One of the things I miss when flying a PC12 is not having differential thrust available to me!  It forces me to jam that dang rudder around from time to time.   

[Oddball]

Ragwing: I had a short film clip of the vertical stab disapearing on a Tv prog shown over here in the late '80s on BBC2 called Reach for the Skies.  but i must of recorded over the tape along time ago 

[Skygal]

Holy Smokes Rag!  Those are some serious credentials you carry around in your wallet!     I meant no disrespect, was just ribbing ya!  Hehe.

So what possesed an aeronautical engineer from Boeing to switch over to towing banners three decades later?   

RC

You must be thinking of "Ragdragger"

[Rooster Cruiser]

You are correct, Skygal.  I was thinking of Ragdragger.  My bad.   

[Fabo]

Good thing I kept my mouth shut, I had the same thoughts.