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Posted: 10/26/2012 2:59:30 AM EDT
Youngest B-52 celebrates 50 years with the US Air Force
Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the last B-52 delivered to the U.S. Air Force. Tail No. 61-040 was assigned to Minot Air Force Base, N.D., in 1962. Over the past 50 years, the airplane has had many assignments, but today it is back at Minot with the 5th Bomb Wing. There are 76 B-52 H models in service today, and all were built in Wichita, Kan. Last month, the Wichita site celebrated this golden milestone for Tail No. 1040. The current Air Force crew from the 5th Bomb Wing flew the aircraft back to Kansas for Boeing employees and retirees to view and reminisce. It is predicted that the remaining B-52s will be in service past 2040. By Jennifer Hogan B-52 Tail No. 61-040 performs a flight test in August 1962 before being delivered to the U.S. Air Force on Oct. 26, 1962. (Boeing file photo) 
The last B-52 built in Wichita, Kan., is shown outside the assembly line in 1962. Tail No. 61-040, an H model, was delivered to the U.S. Air Force on Oct. 26, 1962. (Boeing file photo) 
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Posted: 10/26/2012 3:02:55 AM EDT
[#1]
Half a century of service.
Think it is still under warranty?  |
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Posted: 10/26/2012 3:08:32 AM EDT
[#2]
Very cool
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Posted: 10/26/2012 3:11:45 AM EDT
[#3]
Wonder how much of the original remains?
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Posted: 10/26/2012 3:17:13 AM EDT
[#4]
I love reading this stuff.
This is the sort of stuff. Today's "lean manufacturing" geniuses could probably never do the same. It used to be, how do we engineer to make shit last, now its all about how to make it cheaper and planned obsolescence. |
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Posted: 10/26/2012 3:22:02 AM EDT
[#5]
Quoted:
Wonder how much of the original remains? Probably just the name 
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Posted: 10/26/2012 3:25:10 AM EDT
[#6]
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Posted: 10/26/2012 3:41:42 AM EDT
[#7]
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Posted: 10/26/2012 3:42:39 AM EDT
[#8]
Well, some of you probably already know this but I only found out just now.
The B52H that went out to become NASA's 3rd B-52 mother ship? It became permanently grounded in Wichita Falls in 2008 as a ground based trainer. NASA didn't have anymore mothership missions of that need, so they returned it to the Air Force. Here Sigh........ _____________________________________________________________ ("What's the story, Mother?"––Dallas, (w,stte), "Alien") |
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Posted: 10/26/2012 3:44:54 AM EDT
[#9]
Getting our money's worth out of them for sure.
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Posted: 10/26/2012 3:46:11 AM EDT
[#10]
God bless the Big Ugly Fat Fucker and the fiery death it has rained on America's foes for more than half a century.
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Posted: 10/26/2012 3:50:27 AM EDT
[#11]
Just like the KC-135's the last pilot of a B-52 hasn't been born yet.
Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Posted: 10/26/2012 4:21:38 AM EDT
[#12]
You can see that it's getting really old. Just like a lot of people, it gets covered in assorted warts and bumps as it gets older.
Look at its front section now and when it was made. It sure got a crop of warts! In terms of capability, though, the type sure has grown up. I don't know exactly how many different weapons systems and abilities the type has had through the decades, or how many different missions it's been given, but it's a hell of a lot. And to think, the basic design of the B-52 was cooked up by two Boeing engineers over a single weekend in a hotel room. In relative terms, the prototype was flying in no time. Today, a new plane design takes a large committee several years and several million hours of computer time to design and model. I don't necessarily see that as progress. CJ |
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Posted: 10/26/2012 4:26:28 AM EDT
[#13]
What an amazing aircraft! To put its age into perspective, the last B-52 produced was delivered to the Air Force during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis!
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Posted: 10/26/2012 4:27:05 AM EDT
[#14]
... that airframe could be in service 50 years from now
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Posted: 10/26/2012 4:27:38 AM EDT
[#15]
Union made...
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Posted: 10/26/2012 4:36:59 AM EDT
[#16]
Quoted:
Wonder how much of the original remains? A lot. |
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Posted: 10/26/2012 4:38:05 AM EDT
[#17]
 |
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Posted: 10/26/2012 9:13:20 AM EDT
[#18]
Quoted:
... that airframe could be in service 50 years from now And this prediction isn't new either: Back in the mid-80's when I worked in Seattle, one of my co-workers was working a B-52 briefing to upper management and eventually, the USAF. The briefing showed a plan on how to keep the B-52 in service way past the 2040's. I wish I had kept a copy of that briefing. 
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Posted: 10/26/2012 10:09:26 AM EDT
[#19]
Quoted:
http://www.minotdailynews.com/photos/news/lg/566188_1.jpg http://www.minotdailynews.com/photos/news/lg/566188_2.jpg http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/566188.html ARFCOMer Beamy is the SSGT (left rear) in the first pic. I believe that 1040 is the ACFT He flew all the way to Guam on. Paging Beamy ! The Ol' Crew Chief |
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Posted: 10/27/2012 5:40:35 AM EDT
[#20]
Quoted: Union made... But not by TODAY's union. Back then, they took great pride in their work and didn't threaten to strike if the management decided to try single ply toilet paper in the bathrooms as a cost saving measure. |
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Posted: 10/27/2012 6:14:15 AM EDT
[#21]
I thought the wrinkles meant it was old. They were there the day it was born!
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Posted: 10/27/2012 6:19:02 AM EDT
[#22]
Cool thread, thanks for sharing!
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Posted: 10/28/2012 12:32:42 AM EDT
[#23]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Union made... But not by TODAY's union. Back then, they took great pride in their work and didn't threaten to strike if the management decided to try single ply toilet paper in the bathrooms as a cost saving measure.
Bullshit. Unions went on strike all through WWII and held up war production. |
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Posted: 10/28/2012 2:28:12 AM EDT
[#24]
[/quote] Bullshit. Unions went on strike all through WWII and held up war production.[/quote] Source? Not being a dick, just genuinely curious... |
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Posted: 10/28/2012 3:26:30 AM EDT
[#25]
Is the B52 being used in Afghanistan?
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Posted: 10/28/2012 3:37:12 AM EDT
[#26]
Quoted: Bullshit. Unions went on strike all through WWII and held up war production.[/quote] Source? Not being a dick, just genuinely curious... [/quote] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_transit_strike_of_1944 This just about brought the navy to its knees.
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Posted: 10/28/2012 3:39:44 AM EDT
[#27]
Quoted:
Quoted:
http://www.minotdailynews.com/photos/news/lg/566188_1.jpg http://www.minotdailynews.com/photos/news/lg/566188_2.jpg http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/566188.html ARFCOMer Beamy is the SSGT (left rear) in the first pic. I believe that 1040 is the ACFT He flew all the way to Guam on. Paging Beamy ! The Ol' Crew Chief You know, I thought this was familiar. Here's Beamy's thread: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1319818_B_52H_1040_then_and_now.html |
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