B 52 Stratofortress R&D and History

You might think this movie was filmed from an F-111 for some other specialized low-level attack aircraft; in fact, the view actually comes from an aircraft that was conceived and built as a heavy bomber with over 30 years of flying time and still in frontline service. This is Boeing's remarkable B-52 Stratofortress aging Now these latest models in the Boeing B-52 range are still in operation with the Strategic Air Command and often fly missions carrying state-of-the-art cruise missiles, but this magnificent design is now is approaching the end of its more than 30 years of service as a low-level bomber and this is something of a paradox since the B-52 Stratofortress, as its name implies, was originally designed and built to fly at high altitude as a bomber long range. intercontinental strategic bomber When it entered service in 1955, the B-52 was the pinnacle of jet bomber design, and yet it actually owes much of its origin to a decision made by the Department of Defense 10 years earlier, when the nation was at war for much of During World War II, the United States was committed to developing proven technology because this would allow the rapid development of production lines to produce urgently needed tools of war.

Piston engines improved greatly and it was still that type of power plant that would power all American aircraft that entered service in World War II, including the massive Boeing B-29 with more speed range and payload than any other. bomber and to which so much importance should be given, were still dependent on piston engine technology at the beginning of the war. A major shock to the U.S. Upon learning that Germany and Britain had developed gas turbine jet engines that would soon be capable of propelling fighter jets at speeds that would far exceed even the legendary super fortress, in 1944, The US Air Force issued a requirement for a jet bomber with such speed that Huge fighter aircraft could be built and contracts were signed to build no less than five different designs, but another technology, nuclear fission, was to bring the war to a quick and dramatic ending, even though it involved a B-29. just one plane dropped a bomb and in seconds the city of Hiroshima ceased to exist.

If an aircraft could carry such a devastating payload, then large fleets of bombers would no longer be needed to win another war, but the terrible cost in lives the United States had paid for obtaining B-29 bases in the Pacific had changed the parameters for the next generation of bombers during the early postwar period. The strategy focused on the ability to deliver the atomic bomb over very long distances, and the Air Force placed its emphasis on long distances. intercontinental range aircraft, a role that the Convair B-36 peacekeeper adequately fulfilled for some time. The BA Homuth B-36 was actually a late-arriving World War II design that required no less than six massive piston engines to power it at what they were average. speeds, however, jet engines were later installed in underwing pods to supplement their power.

In 1947, the jet bomber project was beginning to bear fruit and it was not that year that each of the five presentations were tested, although they would have already been classified. As a medium bomber, the B45 was the first of the Jets required in 1944 and was the second most successful. This simple but effective engine design was adopted by the Air Force and entered service in limited numbers, although it established itself primarily in the reconnaissance role. He offered the Be 46 as another jet engine. Its clean lines made it one of the most elegant aircraft of the time and its performance as an early aircraft was quite acceptable;

However, the consolidaters were heavily committed to the production of the 36 and the medium bomber project was not given high priority, the p48 that was produced by Martin had a somewhat cumbersome design and employed six jet engines in medium wing groups; The most impressive technology it offered was the landing gear of its bicycle placed on the centerline of the plane and supported by two stabilizers. wheels on each wing, this project did not tempt the Air Force and, as with the 46, the prototype was scrapped. Northrup, in an attempt to compete in the jet bomber program, took its previously piston-engined flying wing and equipped it with eight turbojets. a brilliant design that offered excellent efficiency and was years ahead of its time, but never seemed to attract government approval.

Northrop's technological knowledge of flying wings would pay dividends forty years later in the form of the stealth bomber program; However, in 1947 it was considered too revolutionary, without a doubt the most impressive design offered to the air force came from Boeing. The design of their B-47 stratojet benefited from German data manufacturers' analysis of swept wing technology to obtain the maximum efficiency these wings could. provided they were made extremely thin and very flexible, therefore if six engines had to be suspended on pylons and spread over each wing, this approach made the engines easier to maintain and also had aerodynamic benefits for the aircraft at high speed because the wing It was very thin that Boeing used.

Same fuselage-mounted bicycle landing gear as Martin's 348. The B-47 was accepted by the air force and literally hundreds were produced in the early 1950s. It was, by any measure, a very successful design. A classic case of having the right design at the right time. but equally important it was an ideal test bed for Boeing to gain experience in producing efficient swept-wing jet bombers. One of the problems with early jet engines was the relatively long time they took to reach full power, especially on takeoff, to compensate for this adoption by Boeing. several versions of detachable rocket boosters for what became known as jet-assisted takeoff, or jato, following its earlier piston-engine bombers, the success of the strategic project was to keep Boeing in good standing with the Air Force over the years. coming. for while the role of the medium bomber was filled, it was obvious that the long-range heavy bombers provided by the B-36 program would not meet the demands of the late 1950s in an attempt to keep the peacekeeping project alive.

Convair produced an old swept plane. The wing version received the model number xB 60, but the modernization of an aircraft that had originally been designed in World War II did not impress the Air Force, as already in 1946 Boeing had been commissioned to develop a replacement for the peacekeeper and the company. Hundreds of different concepts have been explored, from aircraft with ultra-large piston engines to those using supercharged composite power plants and others with jet engines driving propellers, but nothing seems to provide the kind of performance increase over the B-36 that the Air Force was looking. When the efficiency of the B-47's full swept wing became evident, Boeing proposed another all-jet concept based on a design similar to that of its medium bomber, but much larger.

This idea was refined into the model four six four sixty seven and was eventually accepted by the Air Force as the B-52. An order was placed for two prototypes, the X&Y models, in October 1948, but due to minor problems with the model previous, it was the Y b-52 that was ready first. This is the YB in testing at Edwards Air. Force Base, its general shape and fighter-like cover were similar to those of the B-47, but its size and performance were much larger. The 52 also had many updated features, such as fully steerable landing gear that adjusted to face forward when landing, even when the aircraft was moving forward.

For one thing, this feature was top secret for several years; aside from the cockpit design, which was changed to a conventional airliner layout, there was very little external difference between the prototypes and the B-52s that were to go into production. in the form of an air force model now called the Stratofortress of the first A models, only three were actually produced, that the B, which was identical except for minor improvements, went into full production, the increased range and in-flight refueling that had been perfected. By the late 1940s, Boeing's spy boom method had solved many problems;

However, all tankers of the initial B-52 project were powered by piston engines with a maximum speed little higher than the stall speed of jet bombers. Here the Wai model negotiates the The delicate task of refueling tanker aircraft at higher speeds was obviously preferable and safer. Only with the arrival of the Stratotanker KC-135 did aerial refueling of aircraft become truly viable. Another way to increase range was the adoption of extra-large external wing tanks like this example, which can hold no less than three thousand gallons but which could be jettisoned in a combat situation when the fuel was consumed in March 1954.

The B-52s would roll off Boeing's production line in Seattle and would then enter an induction program in which the crew and aircraft would merge into a single combat machine within this elegant form. The six-man crews would learn the ways of the 52nd after the B-36. They would no doubt find Boeing's bomber much more compact, with every available centimeter dedicated to fuel payload or electronics, while the peacekeeper. had no less than six gun positions, the 52nd only had one, trusting more in its performance and the new science of jamming the enemy's radar, the Strategic Air Command had to have the best bag of bombers in the world was to make the same demands heavier to their crew than what they did with their new plane, these men would be trained for an elite corps of professionals forming a team equal to the sophistication of the new bomber they flew because for more than 10 years the strata fortress would have a responsibility main: launch the thermonuclear hydrogen bomb. but if the bomb was to be carried as a deterrent then it had to be tested to demonstrate its potential and throughout the 1950s hydrogen bombs were detonated in remote regions of the Pacific.

The latest tests. Operation Dominick, like many before it, would use a B-52 to make the all-important Launch: These men love them, the most destructive device ever conceived by the human mind. It's a matter of precision and routine. A specialized transport job for the Stratofortress, although this payload has one hundred megatons, 100 times more than the bombs dropped on Japan. Unlike the weapons of World War II, the device carried in this bomb will be slowed in its fall from the B-52 by a parachute that will allow the bomber more time to leave the area and with very good reason given the threat of a Russian atomic attack.

Against the United States, the United States had produced an elaborate series of early detection facilities based primarily in the frozen north, from where the most logical attack was perceived to come. Observers constantly peered through scanners in search of a feared signal that could signal the start of the war. The control rooms at the end of Saxony would have at their disposal fleets of B-52s on operational standby in a constant state of alert, ready to act as the last deterrent if necessary when the red telephone rang, the procedure was automatic, it was They could send up to 100 strata fortresses in a few minutes The routine was honed through regular exercise The concept of an instantaneous retaliatory attack with sack was seen as the nation's best defense during the Cold War years The business of deterrence nuclear weapons was too impressive to be taken lightly and all those who had nuclear weapons.

The B-52 pilots would have at least the rank of major, since responsibility for what was carried out at the bomb base of these planes could affect the final destiny of humanity. By the early 1960s, even the high-flying B-52s and their Russian counterparts had fallen prey to other technology; surface-to-air missiles had been perfected by both sides to the point where nuclear bombing in the traditional sense was never possible. would achieve. both sides had the bomb but neither could drop it by plane; The emphasis had shifted to another form of launch - the ICBM experiments had produced the Polaris and the Minuteman, among other forms of rockets - which meant that manned flights over enemy airspace were no longer necessary. with intercontinental ballistic missiles was thatafter launch they could not be withdrawn and the traditional tactic of saber rattling was denied to the military political masters the b-52 used in conjunction with the hound dog standoff bombs provided a flexible alternative the b-52 could advance towards the very edge of enemy airspace indicated the nation's intention to attack but still allowed time for last-minute negotiations.

Another innovation was the quail decoy that imitated the B-52's radio signal to confuse enemy radar. Further development after the hunting dog produced the SRAM. small missile and capable of being carried in greater numbers the SRAM could be guided from within the b-52 towards targets up to one hundred miles away with devastating precision the b-52 was also involved with another type of missile that launched the manned missiles Most famous of them were the perhaps less well-known X-15 rocket planes but equally successful were the experiments with lifting bodies when strange-looking aircraft were launched from great heights using a converted B-52.

The program was designed to find the most suitable way. for a vehicle to make a controlled re-entry from space in this test the plane rolled over on landing and the pilot who was injured was taken to a helicopter waiting for a less sophisticated but even more dramatic payload was born from the b-52 sacks when they were First used in 1965 over Vietnam, the wing struts would now carry 24 500-pound iron bombs and the internal capacity increased the total payload of each aircraft to 108. It is believed that during the course of the U.S. involvement Strongholds in Southeast Asia dropped more than 3 million tons of bombs, although the program was a source of controversy at the time, there was absolutely no doubt about the effectiveness of the B-52 when used as a conventional bomber, only because SAC had the strata fortress that was able to complete its linebacker operation, which eventually forced the North Vietnamese to return to the negotiating table, but during other operations, more sophisticated bombs were sometimes dropped and some could be detonated later by personnel from other aircraft. using infrared viewing equipment to match the explosion with enemy activity.

The standard 500 or 750 pound iron bomb like this was the staple diet of most B-52s. attack, facilitate rapid loading and turning the internal bomb load was contained in pre-arranged racks so that they could be installed in the shortest possible time. Crews initially based in Guam would arrive in preparation for the long eight-hour flight to their distant target. The crew in the main office and the lone rear gunner would assume their positions while each plane prepared a head would fly the KC-135 tankers that would refuel the bomb-laden B-52s in flight, thus allowing the bombers to take off with reduced fuel. cargo that would save wear and tear on the engines pointing and in the air over the Pacific the tankers would refuel the B-52s would also be available for the return flight of the bombers during the course of Vietnam the nose of individual planes was sometimes visible, but Although the craft was sometimes tamer than its World War II counterpart, the mission was no less dangerous, with not only the 52 crews having to face fast and agile enemy MiGs, but also deadly surface-to-air missiles after a ground crew will hastily repair them. the bullet burst their frames have returned 52 preparing them for the next mission the thoughts of the aircrew surveying the proximity of these impacts can only be imagined despite the low fuel takeoff policy the sheer weight of the bomb load exerts a tremendous strain on the engines that regularly needed maintenance and often replacement, were kept at bay and sometimes even shot down by the rear gunner, who at his lone outpost employed a radar directed by a series of four remotely controlled cannons with devastating impact power, the tail gunner position and the distinctive long rudder employed on the models. a through 2f were eliminated with the arrival of the later G and H models.

Seen here is the shorter tail of a late model 52 raised from its horizontal storage position. The H model also used turbofan engines that gave greater economy and rain. The H was to be the last and most advanced B-52 subtype to enter production here the first of the H models makes its maiden flight its rear armament has been modified with a 6 barrel Gatling gun but the gunner is now in the front area with the For the rest of the crew, the H was the definitive 52 and examples of the boom would no doubt still be flying in various roles well into the 1990s, demonstrating the phenomenal durability of the original design flown for the first time. time in 1952.

The durability of strata fortresses was also demonstrated on another B-52H. used for research work experimenting with the effect of gusts of turbulence on the large frame flying very low deliberately looking for turbulence the plane was suddenly lifted by a tremendous gust and the huge plane was thrown up and sideways at the same time as a A terrifying shadow passed through the entire structure of the plane, culminating in a loud crack and the entire crew knew that something had gone terribly wrong. What had happened was that virtually all of the fins and rudder had broken off in conditions that would have caused almost any other aircraft to fall out of the sky in astonishing fashion.

The pilot regained control and the crew decided to stay with the aircraft that landed without one of its most fundamental flight control elements. All G&H service models now have EV electronic visual systems, allowing the pilot and other crew members to see what is ahead of the aircraft. Even in darkness and fog via infrared television cameras and monitor, this improvement was very timely as the B-52's role had changed to that of a low-level tactical bomber and it may now be necessary to fly through an atomic cloud with airplanes. The interior is protected by radiation-proof curtains and the EVs would provide the only visual information to the plane crew.

Red phones and flashing lights remain the currency and when the bell rings on exercise or in battle bags, an impressive deterrent force must spring into action now. The first thing a general in charge of operations will do is abandon his land base for the safer mobility of an air command post, at the same time that the alert is given and the crews rush to their planes, which are always on standby. for instant action, the general is in the air. and the 52 follow them closely because only in the safety of the air can the sexual deterrent force survive an attack and, at the same time, beyond their ability to give their response, high-speed takeoff is a prerequisite for survival in this exercise.

The possibility of a nuclear flash is anticipated because radiation-resistant curtains are placed. Now the crew is totally dependent on the EV system and other electronic aids as they do not dare to look outside the cockpit while flying at low altitude. Each pilot waits for instructions from him. When all 52 are called back, but everyone involved knows they have the ability to continue if necessary, the exercise is over and the general is happy with the layoffs. The 30-year-old bomber still performs well, but clearly time is running out almost as soon as the very first B-52s rolled off the assembly line.

Sac was looking for other designs for a replacement. First of all, there was the ill-fated xb-70. His design was surpassed by surface-to-air missile technology. More recently, there was the B One project with swing-wing technology developed by Rockwell Aviation that provided a combination of high speed and altitude with swept wings and more economical low-level flight with forward wings; However, the cost of deploying large numbers of Bs was not acceptable to the Carter Administration and this project was shelved throughout the 1970s only to be revived again in the early 1980s, not in the high-speed paper that was dedicated to low-level bombing, more than 100 of these latest models now known as B-1Bs are being deployed in bags;

However, if the B1 B Si matches the overall performance and value for money that its predecessor, the B-52, so clearly achieved, it will represent an extremely good investment for the Air Force after three decades of service over a period of unprecedented technological advances in which the B-52 remains a weapon of impressive power and effectiveness, it will be a very difficult act to follow.