18
Things You
Never Knew
About The B-52
Stratofortress
It's
big. It's
ugly. And it's
one of the
most adaptable
aircraft flown
in the past 60
years.
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 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.
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