Get the latest in military news, entertainment, and gear in your inbox daily. “Being the first female enlisted crew chief to fly in the B-2 was incredible.” “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I love that I get to be a part of history,” Lambert said. Barnes Award and 509th Bomb Wing Crew Chief of the Year, according to the press release. Elizabeth Lambert, Spirit Number 760, who took part in an incentive flight in 2021 after receiving the Thomas N. “It’s an honor to be one of the few, still less than 800 people, to receive a Spirit Number,” said Tech. Honored guests such as senior military leaders, cabinet-level secretaries, members of Congress and exceptional enlisted service members have been invited to ride in the cockpit on special occasions and received Spirit Numbers as a result. Not all “Spirit Number” holders are pilots. ![]() Air Force B-2 Spirit pilot holds a Spirit number patch for a photo at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, June 30, 2022. “These are one-of-a-kind numbers, like a numerical fingerprint that are unique and will only be assigned once and never reused.” A U.S. “Each program realized there would be a very limited number of assigned pilots and sensed a need to catalog that history and legacy,” said former B-2 pilot and Spirit Number 78 Frank Cavuoti in an Air Force press release on Wednesday. The numbering system started with America’s first stealth aircraft, the F-117 Nighthawk, which used the “Bandit Number.” Still, the number of people who have flown the bomber is so low that each lucky pilot gets assigned a “Spirit Number,” which officially enters them into that rarified club. Richard Couch, the first two people to fly the B-2, did so in 1989. Of course, human space exploration had a head start: Yuri Gagarin, the first man to fly into space, did so in 1961, while Bruce Hinds and Air Force Col. But according to the Air Force, there have been only 550 numbered pilots of the B-2 Spirit, the $2 billion long-range stealth bomber whose iconic, flying wing design makes the jet look more like a spaceship than an airplane. ![]() As of November 2021, more than 600 human beings have been to space, according to the New York Times. That’s right, more people have left Earth’s atmosphere than have flown one of the most powerful weapon platforms on the planet. The B-2 Spirit of South Carolina flies during a training mission over Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., Feb.
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