See other Retro 50s 60s Articles
Title: The B-52 bomber turns 60 (photos)
Source:
[None]
URL Source: http://www.cnet.com/pictures/the-b- ... rns-60-photos/?ftag=ACQf1069b9
Published: Nov 15, 2015
Author: staff
Post Date: 2015-11-15 08:12:20 by BTP Holdings
Keywords: None
Views: 1232
Comments: 10
The B-52 bomber turns 60 (photos) The first one flew in 1952. And the youngest one in the Air Force -- and there are about 90 total -- is still flying after a half-century. B-52 in the air It was at the vanguard of aviation technology in the 1950s, and it's still going strong today: meet the B-52 Stratofortress. Like the multipurpose C-130 and the high-flying, super-spying U-2, also products of the '50s, the B-52 heavy bomber continues to show that old doesn't have to mean outdated, even in an era of rapid technological change. Just the opposite: through good maintenance and occasional updates, vintage tech can hold its own against flashier but more expensive, and more finicky, next-generation (and next-next-next-generation, even) designs. The very first flight of a Boeing B-52 took place 60 years ago this weekend. According to the company history on Boeing's Web site, pilots A.M. "Tex" Johnston and Guy Townsend on April 15, 1952, flew a B-52 prototype from Boeing Field in Seattle to Larson Air Force Base in Moses Lake, Wash. (The aircraft in the photo is a more modern B-52 cruising over the Pacific Ocean in July 2010.) Poster Comment: I recall during the Vietnam War, they bombed the North Vietnamese to the peace talks in Paris, and then proceeded to lose the war. The B-52s flew out of the Philippines. Slide show at source.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: BTP Holdings (#0)
So, where are the photos? X-15 would have included pics in his aviation posts. Where the hell's he been, btw?
It's a slideshow at the source. Go there to see the pics. ;) "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
This platform is outmoded. The B-52 was designed to carpet-bomb jungles and erase cities. It's inefficient and vastly overpowered for surgical jobs called for today like precision-bombing hospitals. "If ignorance is truly bliss, then why do so many Americans need Prozac?" - Dave McGowan
The B-52 was originally designed to nuke the Soviets. They were converted to drop conventional bombs during Vietnam war. I can recall making a delivery in the straight truck to an old SAC base in the U.P. of Michigan which was turned into an industrial park. ;) "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
B-52's at Carswell AFB, middle right are the "bunkers of extreme death" (notice that it's a fenced compound): B-52 over Fort Worth/Carswell AFB:
#2. To: Obnoxicated (#1)
So, where are the photos? X-15 would have included pics in his aviation posts
#3. To: BTP Holdings (#0)
the vanguard of aviation technology in the 1950s
#4. To: randge (#3)
The B-52 was designed to carpet-bomb jungles and erase cities.
#5. To: BTP Holdings (#0)
I got to climb up on the wing of a B-52 back around 1987: stomping on it was like stomping on the solid concrete ground, it's a tough military bomber. 
-Alex Kurtagic
#6. To: X-15 (#5)
What are "bunkers of extreme death"?
#7. To: StraitGate (#6)
The flight-lines of B-52s ready to go, I think.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#8. To: StraitGate (#6) (Edited)
They hold the Big Firecrackers. In the painting you can fully see that it's a triangular compound next to the flightline.
-Alex Kurtagic
#9. To: StraitGate (#6)
It was where the nukes were kept. It was fenced off from the rest of the base and patrolled 24/7. ;) What are "bunkers of extreme death"?
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
#10. To: X-15 (#8)
OK. That makes sense. Thanks. They hold the Big Firecrackers.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest