B-52 aircraft?

Question

hey i have to write a paper on the B-52, can anyone give me some good info or web sites please??

Answer 1

You can get a lot of good information on the B-52 on the Boeing website (just Google Boeing or B-52 and you'll get quite a few links.) The Air Force Museum also has some nice articles on the "Buff"

A little nutshell for you--the B-52 came about as a result of a post World War II requirement for a replacement for the B-29. Air Force wanted a big jet bomber for a primarily nuclear role.

Boeing developed the prototype which first flew in 1952 (I think). An eight-engined bomber with swept wings and a crew of six, including a tail gunner who had his own compartment in the rear of the airplane. The engine was the Pratt and Whitney J57, then the most powerful engine in the Free World.

The first operational B-52s were B-52As, deployed in 1955. The B-52B, B-52C, B-52D, B-52E and B-52F quickly followed. The B-52D was produced in fairly large numbers.

The B-52G was a significant improvement in design, using uprated J57 engines, a wing that included fuel tanks (a "wet wing") and greatly improved avionics. The gunner was moved from the tail to the crew compartment and given remote control of his turret. The first B-52Gs were built around 1958.

The B-52H was the last model built and was a greatly improved B-52G with more powerful TF33 turbofan engines and greatly improved electronics. The gun turret was replaced by a single Vulcan cannon, still remotely controlled.

All the operational B-52s in service today are B-52Hs. The gunner has been eliminated, reducing crew size to 5.

The B-52 design has now been operational for 51 years, and the last B-52H was built in 1962, 44 years ago!

You can find some good web sites for crews who flew the "buff" if you search B-52s and you might try "Arc Light" for sites on the operational use of the B-52 in Vietnam.

Answer 2

Hello,
I was an Air Force weather observer in Alaska in 1971. We had plenty of B-52's. They always had one armed guard per plane and the guard also had a dog. When the weather got below -25 deg F the dog could go inside but the guard had to stay out there. The coldest it got up there when I was there was -61 deg F.

One day as I was watching the B-52's take off, the two "tip tanks" fell off while he was just getting airborne. I always thought these "tip tanks" were bombs and as I watched them fall I was getting ready for one big explosion. When they hit the ground, just fuel shot out of them.

I met all the pilots. The transport pilots acted and looked like elderly commercial, friendly pilots you would see on an airline. The fighter pilots were pretty wild and irreverent. I would have just loved to be a fighter pilot. But the B-52 pilots were by far the scariest people you would ever want to meet. They were impeccably dressed, wore a bright purple dickey, never smiled, were all business and robot like.

Answer 3

go to air force website

Answer 4

Website with pics & info (it's an awesome plane):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-52_Stratofortress

And it's about time we start USING IT!