Dale Brown wrote a series of fun "Techno-Thrillers" based on the "B-52 Frame" beginning with the "Flight of the Old Dog!"-----Totally GREAT fun to read!
The '52 seems to be an Airframe Design that NO ONE has been able to exceed!
Doc
She was ugly then she is ugly now, but I still would like to fly in her just once as a Tail gunner.
True! It WILL happen; I won't be surprised to see B-52s flying for at least a generation yet.
My squadron had an unofficial motto,
Pound it to fit, paint it to match!
Which had more than a grain of truth.
You name me any other active-duty aircraft which can take such rough handling and yet still remain airworthy.
USAF Barksdale AFB 1984-1988.
<>A mock-up of an F-111 cockpit section drops out of the bomb bay of NASA's B-52 mothership on a test flight of a new parachute system for the F-111 "Aardvark" bomber. The F-111's ejection system separated the entire cockpit from the rest of the aircraft, and a large parachute was then deployed to lower the cockpit section to the ground.
Big BUFF Bump!
Yep! The B-52 is truly a splendid airplane. They have one on display at the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio. (They have lots of other planes, spacecraft, and replicas of the a-bombs dropped on Japan there, too). You can walk around and look at the B-52 (can't go inside it, though! You can go inside and through the fusilage of an old B-29).
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B-52 Profiles |
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| NB-52A. USAF serial number 52-20003. The B-52A was the first production series. Three were built and delivered to the Air Force in the summer of 1954, but they were immediately returned to Boeing for flight test duties. In the late 1950's, the one shown above was modified to carry the experimental X-15. Another was assigned to Chanute AFB, Illinois and permanently grounded for use as a teaching aid at technical school training center. The third was scrapped. |
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| B-52C. USAF Serial No. 54-2672. This is the 19th of the 35 Model Cs produced. It was assigned to the 2nd Air Force (number on tail) and the 7th Bomb Wing at Carswell AFB (shield on nose). This is one of the original silver finish planes with white underbelly. Note the "O" that precedes the tail number. It stands for obsolete, indicating that the plane is more than ten years old. |
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| B-52E USAF serial number 57-0028A, as she appeared when assigned to the 17th Bomb Wing, based at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. She displays the original B-52 finish, natural metal with white undersides. The SAC milky way band is one her nose, with the SAC crest. Such planes with the backbone of the deterrent force. |
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| B-52F. USAF serial number 70144. On February 1965, Viet Cong guerillas attacked US forces in the central highlands of South Vietnam. Four days later the Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered B-52F squadrons of the 2nd and 320th Bomb Wings to Okinawa for strategic bombing. Shown above is the "Mekong Express," from the 454th Squadron, 320th Bomb Wing. It has an impressive mission tally on the side of its fuselage. |
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| B-52D, USAF serial number 56-680. 170 "Ds" were produced, more than another model. In 1966, it was anticipated that the Viet Nam could become protracted. Rather than risk newer planes to anti-aircraft fire, it was decided to use the older B-52D, which was then considered obsolete. Combat modifications included a much larger bomb bay to carry more conventional weapons and a camouflage paint scheme. The D flew most of the combat missions. Crews called her the BUFF, an acronym for Big Ugly Fat Fucker. The term stuck. This plane is from the 306th Bomb Wing. |
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| B-52H USAF serial number 10024 was assigned to the 29th Bomb Wing. BUFFS returning from duty in Vietnam, were repainted in three tone green over gray scheme that became known as the Strategic or SIOP scheme. This aircraft has the EVS system turrets on her nose.. |
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| B-52G. USAF serial number 58-0239 of the 69th Bomb Squadron, 42nd Bomb Wing. It is equipped with EVS. Shown as it appeared at the "Giant Voice" bomb competition held at Barksdale AFB, La. in 1974. |
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| B-52G. USAF serial number 76492. "Old Crow Express" saw combat in Operation Desert Story attacking Iraqi positions in Kuwait. She was with the 379th Bomb Wing that was based in Saudi Arabia. |
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| B-52H. USAF serial number 00014. This BUFF was assigned to the 7th Bomb Wing, based at Carswell AFB, Texas during the early 1990s. The last B-52H left Carswell on December 18, 1992. |
by Maj. Robert Thompson
8th Air Force Public Affairs
04/15/02 - BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. (AFPN) – Considered by many to be the tried and true workhorse of the U.S. Air Force heavy bomber fleet, the B-52 Stratofortress turns 50 years old April 15.
Although originally designed to penetrate the Soviet Union and drop nuclear bombs, the B-52 has served in a variety of conventional bombing roles in Vietnam, Iraq, Kosovo and most recently Afghanistan.
The first prototype of the bomber flew April 15, 1952. The last B-52 was delivered in October 1962.
“For 50 years, the B-52 has been the massive firepower in American aerospace power,” said Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Keck, 8th Air Force commander. “Enemies of the United States continue to fear the formidable B-52 because it carries the widest variety of munitions of any aircraft and has a devastating long-range standoff capability that allows it to attack anywhere at anytime.”
To celebrate the anniversary, the Air Force and Boeing Company hosted a special ceremony April 12 in Wichita, Kan., where Boeing manufactured the majority of B-52s. The event featured many officials instrumental in the development of the B-52, including retired Brig. Gen. Guy Townsend, the first B-52 test pilot; retired Maj. Gen. Bill Eubank, who delivered the first operational aircraft; retired Col. Pete Warden, who was chief of bomber projects in the 1940s and a key player in bringing the B-52 into the Air Force inventory; and Bob Withington, a former Boeing staff engineer and aerodynamicist who led the design and development of the Stratofortress.
Though some of the aircraft are crewed today by the sons, grandsons, daughters, and granddaughters of the first B-52 aircrews, the Air Force plans to continue using the bomber until 2037. The Air Force and Boeing have continually updated the B-52 with new avionics, communication links, defense systems and precision-guided weapons. The Air Force is considering new fuel-efficient turbofan engines for the eight-engine jets.
“The role of the heavy bomber has evolved from gravity ‘dumb’ bomb dropper to long-range strike platform that delivers precision-guided weapons,” Keck said. “Bombers have historically been tasked for deep penetration and to drop large loads (up to 108 500-pound bombs) on one target area. However, today, a bomber is just as likely to strike several targets with one bomb per target on a single mission.”
The B-52 is the only U.S. aircraft capable of delivering long-range AGM-86C conventional air-launched cruise missiles and AGM-142 Have Nap missiles, and is the only Air Force platform capable of delivering the AGM-84D Harpoon anti-ship missile. Called “standoff weapons,” cruise missiles improve the bomber’s ability to survive by allowing it to fly outside the range of enemy defenses and launch missiles into the target area.
The B-52 also drops laser-guided weapons, inertially guided weapons and weapons guided by the Global Positioning System of satellites, including the new Joint Direct Attack Munition used extensively in the Afghanistan air campaign.
“The B-52s will continue to be part of the Air Force’s ‘kick-down-the-door’ force carrying future weapons,” said Keck. “We plan to use the bomber as part of the new Global Strike Task Force that will assist in rapidly establishing air dominance by targeting an enemy’s air defenses, combat forces and command-and-control capability.”
A total of 744 B-52 bombers were built by Boeing in Wichita and Seattle. Today, 94 B-52H models remain in 8th Air Force, based at Barksdale Air Force Base and Minot AFB, N.D. One B-52 is used as a test aircraft at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif.
In 2001, the B-52 had the highest mission-capable rate of any aircraft in Air Combat Command.
The H model can carry up to 20 nuclear or conventional air-launched cruise missiles. B-52s launched conventional cruise missiles in several worldwide operations during the 1990s, including Operation Desert Storm and Operation Allied Force in Kosovo.
Bombers, ballistic-missile submarines and ICBMs still make up the nuclear triad of the United States. The B-52 and the B-2 Spirit provide the only nuclear option that deters nuclear attacks from hostile nations but can be recalled after launch. (Paul Guse of Boeing Company contributed to this story.) (Courtesy of ACC News Service)
