Minot mayor flies in B-52 as part of team building with “Team Minot”

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. – Minot Mayor Shaun Sipma got to fly in a B-52 Stratofortress this week.

Sipma joined airmen with the 23rd Bomb Squadron in training exercises which included a flight over St. Louis and South Dakota.

Before the six-hour flight Sipma went through extensive preparation including how to bail out of the plane.

He also got the chance to help fly the B-52.

The experience was a part strengthening the Team Minot relationship and learning a little more about the hard work airmen at the base commit themselves to every day.

“It was a significant learning aspect and understanding of what it is that they do day in or do out whether it is 110 degrees or 25 below,” said Sipma.

The B-52 used for the exercise has been in service for more than 40 years.