Posted on 07/19/2009 5:55:23 PM PDT by BenLurkin
PALMDALE - As even the chief test pilot admitted Friday, the concept of a flying wing bomber, an airplane without a tail or fuselage that would be invisible to radar, seemed impossible.
But the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber proved them all wrong when the batwinged wonder took off for the first time from Northrop Grumman Corp.'s facility at Air Force Plant 42 on July 17, 1989.
The moment marked "the dawn of a true revolution in air power," said Dave Mazur, Northrop Grumman's B-2 program manager. "It's an aircraft like no other."
The bombers - and those who designed, built and continue to maintain and modify the B-2 fleet - were saluted Friday during ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of its first flight.
Hundreds of Northrop employees, all wearing T-shirts with a B-2 anniversary logo on the back, gathered with Air Force and community officials on the ramp outside the massive building that once housed the bomber assembly line.
With a stealth bomber lurking in the background, and a second capping the event with a low-level fly-by, members of the B-2 family celebrated the continuing partnership between the contractor and the Air Force in making the unique aircraft a success.
All 21 of the bombers were built at the Palmdale plant. The remaining 20 - one was lost in a crash upon takeoff in Guam in 2008 - return there periodically for major maintenance and upgrades.
Originally, plans called for production of 132 of the bombers, but the high cost of the program - $44 billion for the first 21, including development costs - resulted in the significantly smaller order.
(Excerpt) Read more at avpress.com ...
"MOMENTOUS OCCASION - Former B-2 Chief Test Pilot Bruce Hinds speaks during Friday's 20th anniversary of the B-2 stealth bomber's first flight. The event was held at Northrop Grumman Corp.'s facility at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. The Spirit of Louisana B-2 sits behind Hinds and the B-2 stealth bike, dubbed "The Spirit of Innovation," created by the TV reality series "American Chopper" for the anniversary, sits in front." RON SIDDLE/Valley Press
Only 21 were made. One crashed. One is in a non-flyable condition sitting in the Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum.
Only 19 are flying. The article is wrong.
How much longer will they be in service? Is there a new gen planned?
I’ve read they are working on an unmanned version.
An unmanned version is no fun, who’s going to fix the bomb bay doors and ride that H-bomb down to the target?
I got my degree from Slim Pickens Aeronautical School of Emergency Electrical Engineering, where am I to go if the successor to the B-2 is unmanned?!?
Oh the humanity. (errr, or lack thereof)
I have no idea if there is a new generation planned. At the current Congressional spending rate they could have afforded the original 132 planes and not batted an eye.
Actually, the article is correct. 21 "flyable" Air Vehicles were built. Either 2 or 3 additional fuselages were built (I don't recall the actual number,) and the one in the Museum at Wright-Patterson is one of those. Another was used in the "bend" test, to see how much loading the fuselage would sustain.
I was stationed at Whiteman AFB from 1993 to 1995, working in aircraft maintenance, and was given the chance to go to Plant 42 to explore the insides of AV-18 (Spirit of Louisiana) while it was still being assembled. During my visits to Plant 42, I remember seeing 2 mothballed B-2 bodies, one of which was the original B-2, 82-1066 (AV-1, Spirit of America.)
Also, 20 are flying. 19 are at Whiteman, and the 20th (Spirit of New York) is at Edwards AFB, for testing.
Got to go to Palmdale Saturday and see this. It is awesome!I didn’t get to see it in the air but I did previously at the Mirimar Air Show in San Diego. A spectacular piece of engineering!
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