B-52 Stratofortress
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, jet strategic bomber flown by the United States Air Force (USAF) since 1955
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Updated On: 9/16/2007Print

The B-52, introduced in the late 1950s and used in the Vietnam War, is the primary U.S. global nuclear bomber. Flying at almost the speed of sound (1,060 km/h; 660 mph), it has a range of nearly half the Earth's circumference (20,000 km; 12,500 mi) and a huge armament-carrying capability of 27,000 kg (60,000 lb). The B-52 is slightly less than 49 m (160 ft) long.

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, jet strategic bomber flown by the United States Air Force (USAF) since 1955.

The B-52 replaced the Convair B-36 and the Boeing B-47. Built to carry nuclear weapons for Cold War era deterrence missions, it has dropped only conventional munitions in actual combat. The aircraft has the longest unrefuelled range of any bomber and carries up to 60,000 pounds of weapons.

The USAF has had B-52s in active service since 1955 with the Strategic Air Command which was absorbed into the Air Combat Command in 1991.Its superior performance at high subsonic speeds and relatively low operating costs have kept the B-52 in service despite proposals to replace it with the Mach 3 XB-70 Valkyrie, supersonic B-1B Lancer, and stealth B-2 Spirit. In January 2005, it became the second aircraft, after the English Electric Canberra, to mark 50 years of continuous service with its original primary operator.

History
Although the B-52A was the first production variant, the aircraft were used only in testing. The first operational version was the B-52B which had been in development in parallel with the prototypes since 1951, first flying in December 1954. The B-52B number 52-8711 entered operational service with 93rd Heavy Bombardment Wing at Castle Air Force Base, California, on 29 June 1955. The wing became operational on 12 March 1956. The training for B-52 crews consisted of five weeks of ground school and four weeks of flying, accumulating 35-50 hours in the air. The new B-52Bs replaced operational B-36s on a one-to-one basis.

Early operations were complicated by lack of spares and ground facilities while ramps and taxiways deteriorated under the weight of the aircraft. The fuel system was prone to leaks and icing, and bombing and fire control computers were unreliable. The two-story cockpit presented a unique climate control problem – the pilots' cockpit was heated by sunlight while the observer and the navigator on the bottom deck sat on the ice cold floor. Thus, comfortable temperature setting for the pilots caused the other crew members to freeze, while comfortable temperature for the bottom crew caused the pilots to overheat. The J57 engines were still new and unreliable. Alternator failure caused the first fatal B-52 crash in February 1956, which resulted in a brief grounding of the fleet. B-52s were grounded again in July because of fuel and hydraulic system problems. To avoid maintenance problems, the Air Force set up Sky Speed teams of 50 maintenance contractors at each B-52 base. In addition to maintenance, the teams performed routine checkups which took one week per airplane

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