What do you think is the greatest heavy bomber ever?

Question

Disregard the era in which it flew. Which was the best for its time?

Answer 1

That depends on what you call "greatest". For me it's the Avro Vulcan, an aircraft designed for high-altitude nuclear bombing which converted effortlessly to low-altitude operations.
For a huge aircraft it also had surprisingly agile fighter-like handling. I remember seeing one perform a horrendously noisy high-performance take-off, followed by a low-level wingover that certainly would not be permitted now. Apparently they could also be rolled, though I doubt if that was done with weapons on board!

Answer 2

there were a lot of excellent heavy bombers;

B17
B24
B29
B36
the Lancaster
the Halifax
the TU95 bear
B1
B2

however the best heavy bomber of all time has to be the B52. it has the heaviest bomb load capacity, the longest service life, the greatest number of weapons systems that can be launched from the aircraft. and it has probably the toughest airframe. there was a B52 making a run through a mountain range, when it was hit by a side and down draft at the same time. there was a huge cracking sound from the airframe, and the pilots fought to regain control of the aircraft. they managed to do just that, and land the aircraft where they found that the vertical stabilizer was completely sheared from the aircraft. is it old? yep. in fact many of the aircrews are second and third generation air crews. the B52 started flying in squadron service in 1953, and wont leave service until 2040 at the earliest.

and by the way, a close second to the B52 is the TU95 bear, for many of the same reasons as the B52.

Answer 3

OK, it came out very late in the war, but the B-29 bested all of the bombers during WW2. 350 mph with a 20,000 pound bomb load and a combat radius of nearly 3,500 miles. At one website they even stated it could be modified to carry two 20,000+ bombs, one on each wing! I know that everyone says the Lancaster, but it does no good to carry a 20,000 pound bomb if you can't make it to the target with it. If you exclude the B-29, I would say the B-24.
As far as modern bombers are concerned, I would have to say the B-52 is got to be on top. It has been in service longer than most of it's pilots have been alive. I will also give a little hats off to the B-58 Hustler...just because it's fast and looks mean as heck!

Answer 4

Though I have to agree that the Lancaster was the best WW2 bomber overall, there is one I think of as the greatest of all time, which was only a gleam in the eye when the Lancs were in service.

It's the BUF, of course: the B-52. No other military aircraft has been as versatile and has survived through as many different campaigns and under so many different stresses and strains.

What other bomber is still in service after 50 years? And still going strong and filling mission profiles no other ship can fill? The first ones had all vacuum-tube avionics, and now they all have radiation-hard microcircuits and layers of computer technology that would flat-out boggle the minds of the original designers.

And how many loops and rolls have been done in the great classic WW2 piston engine bombers? The B-52 can do anything!

And they still LOOK like the meanest kid on the block, too. Wish I could have one in my back yard...

Answer 5

Even though it was only experimental, I think the XB-70 was the greatest heavy bomber that ever flew. It was almost 100,000lbs heavier than the B-52, and flew at nearly 80,000 feet at Mach 3. It was much cheaper to produce (per plane) than the SR-71 being made out of stainless steel instead of titanium. It also has the highest lift to drag ratio of any manned aircraft ever built.

The B-52 could never loop or roll. It had spoilers only (no ailerons) and I'm sure everyone has seen the video of one crashing into the ground after much tamer antics. The Avro Vulcan could and did roll, but I don't think anyone ever looped it.

Answer 6

The B-52.

Answer 7

B-17

Answer 8

The Gotha as the first 'Heavy' was pivatol in the development of range and delivery systems
The Lancaster for its Performance and payload
The Superfortress for its unique pressure system and defence
The B52 for the technology and keeping the Heavy Lift alive.
But the one that gets my vote would be 'The Bear' 50 years almost, still flying now in almost combat mode by mad Russians who would have no hope against NATO defences.

Answer 9

The Lancaster bomber must win hands down, the only other contender is the B17 G, The Lancaster wins due to it's greater range, speed and bomb load, These were less in the B17G due to heavier armour protection for the crew(not that I blame them!). lastly, all due respect must be paid to the brave men(in some cases boys) who took these aircraft out on such hazardous missions.Also all respect to the men of the Luftwaffe who bravely opposed them !

Answer 10

Definitely the Lancaster bomber