Fwd: Things You May Not Know About The B-52
Rocky Stone
I wonder what their glide ratio is?
Very interesting...I was surprised to see that it will still be in service in 2040! It may out live me!
Everything you need to know about the B-52........ very interesting – cost ONLY $70,000 per flight hour!!!Back in the early 60’s I was working for GM’s AC Electronics Div. and spent about a year and a half working on the Titan II ICBM program at the McConnell AF base in Wichita ,KS.
At the time they were modifying the B52’s for low altitude flight. They were originally designed for high altitude flight but with the development of sophisticated ground to air missiles, they opted to fly under the radar to reach their targets which required beefing up the wing structures, etc. , to handle the turbulence encountered at low altitude. I would guess the B52 in the 10th photo was part of that program.
Aside from their awesome size, what always struck me was that when they were on the ground, the wings were so long and heavy they required wheels at the wing tips.
The last picture reminds me of a unglamorous name for these planes- They were nicknamed BUFFS---Big ,Ugly, Fat, Fellows. The last word was sometimes Fuckers! When they dropped a load of bombs over Vietnam it was considered to be a wall of death anywhere on the ground in the flight path. I guess that is where the term carpet bombing came into being.
1) The B-52's first flight was April 15, 1952 - over 63 years ago.
2) The B-52 was designed to carry nuclear weapons during the Cold War, but it has only carried conventional ordnance in combat.
3) There were huge leaps in aviation happening when the B-52 was being designed, and it went through 6 major redesigns during the 5 year design period.
The YB-52 pictured below was the second-to-last major redesign.
4) A B-52A was used to carry the North American X-15. The X-15 achieved the record for fastest manned powered aircraft, with a speed of Mach 6.72.
5) There have been 744 B-52s built, but currently there are only 85 in active service, with 9 in reserve.
6) The B-52 can carry up to 70,000 pounds of ordnance, or the equivalent of 30 fully-loaded Cessna 172s.
7) Production ended in 1962, which means the youngest B-52 is 53 years old.
8) The jet has a unique ejection system; the lower deck crew eject downward.
9) The B-52 is expected to serve until the 2040s. That's over 90 years of service.
10) In 1964, a B-52 configured as a testbed to investigate structural failures flew through severe turbulence, shearing off its vertical stabilizer. The test was called CAT - Clear Air Turbulence test. The aircraft was able to continue flying, and landed safely.
11) The navigator and radar navigator sit in the lower deck of the aircraft. These are the two seats that eject downward.
12) To comply with the SALT II Treaty requirements, cruise missile-capable aircraft had to be identifiable by spy satellites. To comply, the B-52 "G" models were modified with a curved wing root fairing.
13) Early models had cabin temperature problems; the upper-deck would get hot, because it was heated by the sun, while the navigation crew would sit on the cold fuselage floor.
14) In 1961, a B-52G broke up in midair over Goldsboro , NC . Two nuclear bombs on board were dropped in the process, but didn't detonate. After the bombs were recovered, the Air Force found that five of the six stages of the arming sequence had been completed.
15) In 1972, B-52 tail-gunner Albert Moore shot down a MiG-21 over Vietnam. It was the last recorded bomber-gunner to shoot down an enemy aircraft.
16) After the Soviet Union fell in 1991, 365 B-52s were destroyed under the START treaty. The aircraft were stripped of usable parts, chopped into 5 pieces with a 13,000 pound steel blade, and sold for scrap at 12 cents per pound.
17) During Operation Desert Storm, B-52s delivered 40% of the weapons dropped from the air.
18) Currently, B-52s cost $70,000 per flight hour to operate. And while they might be ugly, they're still a pretty amazing and adaptable aircraft.
Richard Moore
Thanks Rocky
I was a crew member on B-52's in the late 50's. Flew on A,B,C.D models during ,Calif training at Castle AFB Calif. and Walker AFB here in NM. In Roswell was a navigator and ECM officer for the 39th bomb sqd. 6th bomb wing.
Would like to point out that on panel#8,that on aircraft I flew on the gunner was in the tail and I was on the upper deck facing forward. Things have changed now and there is no gunner.
On preflight the wing tip would touch the top of my head. After a mission I couldn't jump to touch the tip.
BTY: This plane had no aileron, wings would twist to much.
I was coming back from a mission and we had to delay our landing due to the" millions of dollars coffee break" that totally destroyed a hange and a KC-135.
And now 50 some years later,my hearing is bad,need glasses, can't feel my feet and no sex life!! They do mods for B-52's. How about me??!!!
Dick
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Terry Tombaugh
Greg McGill
One of my mentors and friends was famous in SAC for (1) crashing a B-52; (2) living through the crash; and (3) not being fired for it. It is an epic tale.
I got some time in a BUFF simulator. When they set me up for low level, I lasted just 47 seconds before crashing.
Yours, Greg
