Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire And ... the B-52 will soldier on (and on and on...)

The USAF plans to retire the B-1 and B-2 once the new B-21 is in service. But, the B-52, the octogenarian, dump-truck of an aircraft, will continue in service. Those slide-rule Boeing engineers of the late 1940's certainly got the recipe right!

see: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/a...idate-bomber-fleet-to-b-21-and-b-445845/

The strategic bomber fleet exists for urban renewal purposes these days, right? Anybody going through Janesville WI has to know that. Paul Ryan's from that part of the US. Let's all write him and petition to roll in the B's.

I still cant figure out why they dont re-engine with 4 turbo fans.

I would say that there are, primarily, 3 reasons..........

1) Safety, in general, 8 is better than 4, although failures with HB Turbo-Fans are rare these days.
2) Ground clearance
3) Assuming ONE would replace TWO, in the event of a single engine failure, ie. two on the same pylon in the present configuartion, adverse yaw/rudder control might be compromised beyond acceptable limits............ If you will notice the size of the rudder on a buff.... my guess is it isn't there for show, or just to write numbers on.



beyond that I don't know.............. any Buff Drivers out there????


A military pilot called for a priority landing because his single-engine jet fighter was running “a bit peaked.” Air Traffic Control told the fighter pilot that he was number two, behind a B-52 that had one engine shut down. “Ah,” the fighter pilot remarked, “The dreaded seven-engine approach.”

When you think about it, the basic high-subsonic jet platform hasn't changed significantly since the 1950s. One can see the lines of the B-47 in every commercial airliner built and still flying. Even a C-17 still looks "that way." As long as the wings stay attached to the fuselage, and as long as a long-range bomber requirement exists, something like the B-52 will be in the inventory.
Wouldn't be surprised to see an eventual evolution of something like a hopped up C-17 with a skinnier fuselage and lots of racks, both internal and external, be proposed.

If someone would have told them to design a plane with a 90 year lifespan. The engineers would put that person in a straight jacket.

Amazing airplane

I read an article that said the Air Force plans to keep the B-52's in service into the 2040's.

NYH1.

The Buff illustrates the thought that sometimes simple is the best answer. And they do one helluva job on site prep for new construction.

And they're fun to watch. Used to work at the now gone Griffiss AFB that had a wing of Bufs. Pretty much everything stopped to watch when the wing came back from an exercise. Huge particularly for a war machine. First you get amazed that they can make something that big fly and again when you consider the potential weapons load.

Must be a hellofa airframe to tolerate that many hours and rebuilds.

The Aero Club shared hangar space with a U-2. A pretty impressive "glider" too.

Just think, if your gal had won, those B-52s would be flying for the commies. Now, the Russians still have to consider them.

She had already taken huge donations as Sec of State for her foundation to clear Boeing to rebuild the Russian air force. How much was it that Boeing paid her?

I'm about 45 minutes from Griffiss AFB. My best friends dad used to take us to the air shows there every year. As you said, the base closed in 1995. Now it's Griffiss Business and Technology Park. The Air Force still has a small presences there with NORAD and Rome Research Site of the Air Force Research Lab still up and running. But it's nowhere like it used to be.

NYH1.

Got a hunting buddy who was a navigator on the Buff. His father in-law flew them and his son flew them, making the son the third generation on the same airplane. News did a story on them awhile back.

Obviously one badass machine. Years ago got into reading all the military and techno-thrillers ala Tom Clancy...a fellow named Dale Brown wrote some good fictional stuff about B-52s.

I was always struck by the appearance of a slight nose-down attitude the B-52 takes on. Anyone else notice that?

last B-52 crew hasn't been born yet

Also worth noting that the C-130 has been IN PRODUCTION for 64 years with no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

The Flight of the Old Dog. Loved it.

And we dropped bigger bombs in RVN ....






The concussion would catch up to us, and shake the plane at 12,000 ft.