Boeing B-52A~H Stratofortress_Profile Publications 245

8/4/2019 Boeing B-52A~H Stratofortress_Profile Publications 245

1/25

BoeingB-52AIH S I atofoi ' L J i ~ = SI b y Peter 1 M . 80 e I r s

T _ _ _ _~


2/25

'W hile the original A ir Force desig-nation of B...52- ,remained C0I1st81n t, th e different designs which wereevaluated by Boeing must be regarded as [entirelyd i ffe ren t a ir -cra ft . In th e event, the design study u lt im a ..tely selected nlay now be 100ke d \1pon. as an excellentexam ple of a . basic design capable of major modificationseveral times after delivery, Indeed, 'modificationsplanned to extend the life of the airframe and '0 0 adaptthe 'b om ber 'to m eet chang ing operational requirements,

Th~'p1. () totYjNtB'ot- iJ'l! ! X B- !2 JU ~A .P serJal number 49: '~230) . On . 0 1 ' 1 : ea:dy tes. 'f ,f i~glu act :ot r~p( lm~~ by a No .r th A,I 'Ue1 ' I~canF~8(i Sal;r,g ~'Ch,~' iJ~R"aN' ' I ' ,T J j _ ( !device et the to p of the " i J e r t lcalfi~1IS part o/tne test equTpmeru. (Photo :Boeing)

S ftrato ortressoe ing B-52AIby' [Peter M ~ Bowers

THE EIGHT-ENGINE, s . w e p 1 t - w m g .BoeUtg~52 Strate ..f or tr es s , ('t be g iven . po -pu la r name ls rarely used) has. been.the principal long...ange healY jet bomber of Strate.lieAir Command , ,(SAC; form ed 1 94 6); United. States A irF er ee , s in ce it became o pe ra tio na l in 1 95 :S i11te B-52:is a ,dl~S:tiDglliiSbed e xamp [le o f active ~o:Dgel~ty~' - . l I t " 20 years after i r i s .first :fli:gbt, th e Su.pe:dortress bas.

I iii. i ! . . i seen bea.vily ' Dg a g e d m o peratioas o ver VIet Nsm, This: * a . ~ be r e g a r ~ ~ e d , . a s t i l e half-way m ; , , ~r~ , fOf ~ ~ _ a ~ . a~e_~ n .hand to .Mapt the B-5:z,to. a nsv.r missile wea,o.n system

L '= .-..Ill.. .w l!" :' k th' 8 0 ' . ~ L . . . . . b , -~ ' ( uI'ft'JLUI0n OOwiu , .oop . ! I S -~ '.. e m g OODl.-e :r operntttonl._ a n _ .c ompetitI ve u ntil 1 9 5! tINOT B,I 'G [GER. B-4'1

Because of its genera l con figu rat ion , higher B , - d e s i g u a " ,tion and tater date of :introduction int.o service, th e B -.5 2h as o fte n and erroneously been regarded as a scaled-updevelopm ent of the revolutionary-Boeing 13,-47Stratojet(Aircraft Profile No. 8 3) ~ Th e B ,~ 47, incidentally, was firstflown on December 17) 1'947; some 52 months before'[be,'YB~52 proto type. tool to th e air in April il l 9 5 2 ..Far from being a bigger B=47 the B-52 started alongan entirelv differe nt lin e of d evelo p m ent, Several majo r; '1 !configuration changes w ere m ade in . the e arly d esig nstages 10 adapt the new long-range heavy b pm b e.,f to therapidly changing technology of the years immediatelyfollowing World War Two, Any external s im i la ri ty w i ththe B~47 was arri ved at by ev e lu tio n a nd no t as a develop-Tuell t of tha tpreviou sl y -esta blished design ...AC121l

D is pla y m od el o f th e B oe in g M o .d .e l4 62 , ph o Mgrap,hed j ' fl AIJr if 1946. Thiswas the o.riginal straight~w{ng .. turboprop concep: of th Bi~52. uluide .a , ,. ly s iwwS ' i 'i flMe .~ceo f war time /Joeing 8-29. (Photo; Boei ng)

,241


3/25

'-'11 D r , ' . " 6 . - . ,III _" . l~ :_ '::JJ:'_.:"':'.' [11::. . . .

( Ph ot o: B o ein g )S ~ ~ 1 r ;s tager s o f de'jJ'(doping the JJ.j2 Stta;tofo r tress "

ORIU)I!N OF THE DIE,S,~GNModel 46,2,11 J une 1946, the 'Boeing Airplane Company wasawarded. a United States Air Force contract for designstudies of a t lon g- rang e b ea vy bOIU ber, The Air Forceallocated it the. Experimental Bombardment Modelnum ber X B= 52 w hile, similarly, Boeing assigned Model46 2 for th e first basic design study. This. resulted. in aconven tional straight-wing design clearly showing 'theinfluence of the wartim e Boeing B-29' Superfortress(Profile No " 101).,Propeller-in rbines == six in all - were selected for theModel 462 the powerplant being the still experimental5-500 shaft horsepower Wright XT.35-W "Typhoon "."The m ainplane spanned 221 feet (wing area 3".250 sqU3I'efeet) and the length was ),61 feet 2 inches, The grossweight increased with various studies from. 360,000 to400-,000 pounds, In it ia ll y" , t he Model 462 was to carry a .9-man crew and up to 1 .0,540 pou nds of bonibs for a .range of 3 , m O O nautical miles ( 3 ,570 statute miles)" Top'speed was. calculated as . 382 knots (440 m iles p er 'hour) .. .at 35,,000 feet, A peculiarity of the design 'was that the:four m ain wheels of the nosewheel undercarriage eachretracted sep ara te ly in to' the fou r inner engine nace ll es .The chief innovation of the Model 462 \VaS~ however,the choice of turboprop engines .. In tills. immediatepo st-w ar p erio d, th e piston en gine w as. a bou t to g ive wayto the jet engine. I:ut the pure jet engine was, fo r thetime being, ruled out because of its high specific fuelTh~ W['mght.!?5~w T.Y~~~QO:fi'~i8S fllightB~~st~ ln the nose of a Y e , g 8 J ~ ' b ' I ) j : i 1 I tB'ee~ 1 I f ! ; B~ ~_70-11 o -VE (ser-laJl ,44~~158~.) operated by the WrigMAeronauticel Divn.{:I~ the Cur t is s- W l ''1ghJtCorp, - H!lJI11JR""2 4 2

consumption. Turboprops would bridge th e gap- it wasl"l' be h . . . d thre t" oetween t e reel proca tmg engine and. e gas tur-bine fo r b ig ge r aircraft such as transports an d long -rangebombers, In this case, intercontinental distances for bigbombers could. be viewed as. up to lO~OOOmi le s. Themaximum rang-e of t h e - ea.rlier 'U " S ' ~ A c . Strateaic A 1 ' "-, .'- 1,(". -:' .... ..~." "-" . ~. ..'.;.," . I .. i! . !C~. 'b)..- ~;. ,,1Command "Long Rifle' '."th e s ix -eng in e Convair B=36,w as in this category,Deficiency in tbe desired. range was the problem ofth . i " l i t i a l X B : , '~ 5 . 2 : ! M 1 r d e l 4 "6 "2"desien dv T \ . . , ' . ', '1 . ." . . ; .l, e Inl la~." .' . - .,,0 _ o . _eslgn study ... ![J.e so uuonmaterialized when the Air Force decided to' adopt. thehose and tanker in -flight refuelling system developed mBritain by pioneer Si r Alan J. Cobham 's '00mpany ,Flight Refuelling, Ltd. Although this manually-con-nected. hose-aad-grapnel was not suited to the. speeds ofnew-generation aircraft, it 'was used on a number ofwartim e B-29s and post-war B-50As adapted to the.techniq ue in [9148. The prob lem of faster aircraft w asresolved when Boeing deve loped . i ts OM} "Flying Boom'a er ia l r ef ue ll ing s ys tem ,Model 464~17Continuing studies and refmement of the Model 462resul ted in the new designa tion of Model 464,. In theModd.464-17. for example, the number of engines hadbeen cut from six to four and rnainplane span reducedfrom. 221 to 205 feet; while retain jng the gross 'weight 0. f40 0 ~00'0 pound s. E f fe ctiv e range was e x trended by the ' 1 l J seoflarge external tanks.,Modell 46,4-2 ,9 ''With in-flight refuelling taking c are . o f the range prob-[em, th e Air ..orce Project Office for ' the XB,-52 became


4/25

interested in modifications t l 1 : ? d would increase thebomber's speed, Boeing had. been studying im'p~oveddesigns on its ow n and responded with a new model the. - --". - --,~ - - . . - . -,. -", - " - . - -" . ;" .. - , .464=29. This ' featured ! a . more sharply-tapered wing 'with20 degrees of sweepback 'while retaining the four WrightXT35 turboprops. of the 464= 17.A 'm ajor change w as. the adoption of (ill centrelinelanding gear 1LUld er th e fu selage superl1:ciaUy after 'thefashion of the B,-47 but with the forwa rd and aft unit smuch closer together. On the Model 464= .2 9~ the spanrem ained at 205 feet l a n d , 'the w eight at 400~OOO pounds,but the calculated maximum speed increased to 3'9'5knots (4.45 rn.p.h.).Mode~4!t14=35Pro gressi ve studies and improvemen ts resu 1ed in yetanother turboprop model, the 464-35" 'This variant badco- axial propel] ers 'and the. wings pan r ed uced to.' 18,$ feetan d length to 13 l li f ee t 4 - inches. But, most important, theweigh t was reduced to 280,0 o n P OlJnds, With the SHJn.efour W right X T35 turboprops a nd 1 ~OO () qu are feet less,of wing area, the Model 464=35 promised, a top speed of4 35 k no ts (50 0 m .p.h ..)atan altitude of 41 , O O e } feet,i\1'I d 'I'4:4 4- -'VII,o~,e .'.u- ..~:IThe development of th e large, turboprop (XT35) enginewas no t ad vanci ng as rapidly a s expected. 'W i th an , orderfOf' two experimental XB..528 pending, it began to ].0.0kas if no turboprops w ould be available for th em . T urb o-jets, on the other hand, were improving rapid J y " BOltingengineers carne to . the conclusion that th e X B ~ .s 2would- be better with tur bo j ets than tur b op rop s., To this. endf o - i L l - . . d d th Mod I 4~4 35 '. f , 1 k . ,tney a aptec ,,- e Mode - u , - . , " atr .rame to. us e eightWe stinghou se ,XJ40 ..W& ' ] 2 axial= flow turb o je ts pair ed , in,,fou r nacelles similar to the inboard po ds of the B,=47.S t il l in th e 280 O O O = p .u nd 'wei ct,l. t b ra cke t the speed- " - --""'- - ,&1_ ,!y., . I. . . .. ,: 'j ' , - , . A I to A A i l i o '~i.. '.ts ( 5 0 7 " , - ' _ . h.) t 4 ' 7 - 'OIif1i(~ c- -tm-creas1eu ,o "''"t-"U' I ' ! ..no.: ' , ,>., m,p .u., a. .,.vv te e .The B oe in g engineers took their Mode] , 464-40 studiesto the, Air Force Proj ect Officer only to find that lite to ohad reached th e same conclusion and was. about tosuggest a turbojet ,XB~52to th em , Gove rnmen t procure-

. .ment procedures, howeve r ~ ar e of necessity slow and lagway behind the thoughts ofproject offic~rgand designers,In July 1948~Boeing 'was awarded a contract for thec on stru ctio n o f tw o e xp erim en ta l B,~52s. ,Although thesewere to be powered with tTl!Jrboprops, Boeing: was urgedto continue 'the turbojet stud l i e s .Models 464=46 and ~,47Tl ....- .- -,-,~b.-, ,t ~ ". ,~,t... n,.-, '.' I ".... .." - n ~ " , '*'o.'UII e m on tn s ,Late r I U J . e D oemg engineers ~Oz l[.W0revisions of the Model 464~40 to the Air F orc atWrightField, These stu d ie s 'we re : essen ti~]lY.the sam e airffamewith six J,;fO 'engines in a Model 464-46 an d the samenum ber of the 1 1 ~ ' g h ' l Y promising axial ~f),ow J S7~ thenunder development by 'P ra tt ~ Whitney in the -47, TheP ro je ct O ffic er was impressed. but also saw' a . poten riaJfor still] more speed. Pointing out that the 20P sweep 0 fthe wing" WBlS" the principal speed-lirniting factor, hesu gg ested an increase of sweep , a ng le to , raise the speed ,.This w as on a Friday, The Boeing enginee rs held a shortconference and then told th e Project Officer that they

lid' k.-. b k "Ik ,iI. 1 '1 , " ' M A . hW O U : J l I., ee oack on tn e ~O," ,OWU l,g ........nday witl an ,improved design,MQ,d,e~,46 ,4 \-4 9 - the X,IB~52emergesThe engineers retu rued .to thei r hotel r001113 where" Hsingresearch data that they' had brought with them, theyproceeded to redesign the best featu res 'O f ' the Models4 64 ~4 0 a nd ~47 into a new model, the' 464=49" whichfeatured eight J51 engines 'In the podded. arrangement ofthe 464=40. The wing span \Va.S kept at 185 feet, 'b1!J thesweep 'was angled a fur ther 15 to 35 and tbe wi ng areajumped ];400 square feet to. 4 ~ O O O square feet, greatest ofan y of the X B,- 52 stu dies, In spite of this great increase;th e g ro ss w eig ht r os e to only 330,000 pounds. W hile one'engineer converted the n ew configuration to mode] form- with balsa. wood hurried liy pu rchased from a . localbobby shop - others organized the revised aerodynamicand structu tal data into a presentation do cumen t thatwas. typed by a pu blic ste no g ra p her ,The new model was unquestiona b ]y superior to its.predecessors in spite of th e .g re ate r weight, The PU r

243


5/25

T he c om p le te d X l' i~ .j 2lV~$ t ran s / er red f ron 'i : th e Boeing factory 1 : ' 0 the ftight;' t es t h ang a r u n ti e! ' w r ap s an a i n g r e at s ec r ec y on the n i ; g l t t of No vernbel' 2 9 !, 1 9 5 1 "T he j o/ ,d "d ow n v er tic al t .e dl w a s afeature o/all s~b,!;;equent B'-52s. (Photo: Boeing}

Force project office w as deligh ted. and. action 'w asq uic kly ta ke n. to re vise the exi stin g con tract fo r turbo-p ro p XB ,-S 2s to allow construction of the redesignedversion with eight jets and 35 wing sweep,B-,52 'PRODIUCTIOIN

S u bseq uent 'w i nd . t unne l model tes ts and exha ustiveengineering studies brought the XB =52 configuration 1[]Pto Boeing Mode] 464-67 'standard for actual construction a.Such was the contidence il inspired by the design tha t th eAir F orce d ecid ed to order production quantities beforeth e prototype flew, In c on se qu en ce , A Jr Forc e letters-

of-intent 'were issued to Boeing to authorize purchase ofd '" lins i d f a f ]p ro uction tooling In . 3 . _ ' vance 0.a. tormal contract.'F th o 'd f 1 1 d S ' . h ... 1 dc "1.-"1'1: 1'1 ' ' - 1- -- .. : < " : . . ' . .'1 - ' .. ' , - I" - ( 'i . :1- i ' . : , . - : "11 ' . .".u r i er or ers. o . O W L 5 _ . + . . moe t .. quantiues mvo ve ")taxed the capacity of the main. Boeing plant in Seattle -whe re o ve r 6 . ~ O O OB , - 1 7 8 ( Pr ofi le No s, 7 7 , : ' B - R 1E &pi an d205: B-l7G) had been built - the Wichita, Kansas,division of the company was designa ted as a secondmanufacturing source by the Air Force. ]0. World WarTwo, th e Army A ir F orces opted for Wichita. as the siteof a new inland 'factory for B =2 9manufacture, From thenew government - b uilt P lan t 'M, no few er than 1.,644 ]8.= 29Superfortress bombers were delivered ,.Wichita produc-

Nose of the X1J:-.j2f showing th e ,~m:lde:ntr;;m~opy for the cl',ew ,~nd th een tr y h atc h u nd er .the beny. Th,{t d ' C t r ' k a re a s (w e m ou ld ed n(m-mdallicssructure to ' COlJe l ' radar eqM'ipment. A f'i:-19 Superfortress is jacked:"''lJpi~ the b ( j . c k . g . i . ( n . ~ n , ' ( r (Photo: Boei1 1 g )

Tl t, (~XlJ~51 demonssra: es t lu:e, ()peration of its Q ' \ 9 \ S ' s - w i ' ' t a la.nding g ea r , "the wheels are align ed with l:h~' runway w h U I 2 t n , e bomber is pobUt ;d20 degrees to' p or i .. Note _hq.! both winttlp pro te ctiot: wheels are off th eg.'o,~md when ~~ieB~j2 IS lightly loaded" ChaiSe observer F-86 Sabr,eawa it s b e hi nd t he XB -52 '. (Photo ::Boeing)

2 4 4


6/25

Earlf }lig/u' test p h o t o ' 3 .o f th ~ YB '~ 52 ' (USA F.: 49-.231) with l~Oa rmament i ns ta ll ed .in the 'udl ~UJ'rfJ~.The l 1 1 . h i t e : cr{)R~on black 8qU(;i.remrned-i(1:Ml.y behil~di ;h'ft wtng ts a target / 0 1 " ' the p\~otoih:odol.iteused t o i rcu ;: k t h e e.xperiJ"'Jerd.a;/l;qYrnber dU'rjn, ta ke- of f an d landfng an d determiJ'le exact lift-oJ! and to~chdoWRpoints. _ . (Photo: ~Boe:ing)

A J the time offintftt:ght. Ap"i:lj5, 1 952 , t h e f 0 1 1 1 " - = _u :n il l an di ng g ,e '( lr~re k e YB-52 W 'Q S ~ , c l r J 1 s s t j t f J d,~~em., . t A ir Force r ,equ ' st , the i 'K i . iaal tY-Nde,{ j '~edphotos oj' th e flr:;,~ flight_ had tt~e_l : a n d i 'ng ge,(f l' _, t m . ~ ' , c ; J j e d out. u.m'eto.~clufdphoto released l a s e r i sshtnw1: f o r' c ompari son . (Photos. : Boe ing )Tht YllS2' deploys aut: 44-jm.tl bruktllg pCJ"Gckuteduring a Ian dUlg, ah-,~er1 ' I e " th at th e pro tolype na ss uf fi ci en t / rJ rw a rd s pe ed h ii f - re t o h . c n ~ g ' n J , r . o n r.h ewb~gs, as e t; Jidenecd by the height oj the wingtipp rot ec ti on wh e "e /sa b ov e l~e gnnmd.(Photo: Boeing)

245


7/25

Thfit/u produc.tion lJ-J].r W " e r e the three lJ-51As, dijJenng OtdI1i(J.J'dty f r O J i U . t h e P1'(),o' types i n h a v in g a 1 " / $ ' ! J ' i s e dnose d r t ' s i 1 J n f O J ' side-by-side C'f,ew.iKe-a.'ting.This is. the .fir l' B51A (.serial no. j2~.J :' sho 'w~~On tal! as 20'(1) .onan early t e s t j l tg lu" (Photo: Boeing)tion started, with the :B..52D model, which together withthe B-S2E and B-52F models, 'were produced 000=,currently in Seattle and Wichita. Sea ttle produ ctionended w ith the B -52 F w hile all B ,,SlO and B...52H models'were buil t in W ic hita , Engineenng responsi hility an dservice support for the entire B,52 programme was thentransferred to Wichi ta to permi t Seat tle to concen trateon Air I' 'orce K'C-13,:; tanker/transports and commercialjet transport 'WO'~'k.

'with, Air F 0ro e se ria l n um b er 5 5= 49 id en tify in g; it as the49th A ir Force aircraft ordered in the fiscal year 1'955,,,I t carried the c/n~ of 4 64 00 1;. in dic atin g th e f ir st BoeingModel 464 bunt under that system, The last of 461Wich i ta -boilt B~52 s carried c/n.., 4 64 46 7. T h e S ea ttle B- 52c/ns.,started at 16248 for the XB,~52a .n d e nd ed . a t] 7 46 7"'The difference is greater than the total of.2 77 B~.52sb u iltin Seattle due to other Boeing models being built inSea.tile concu r ren t I D y , .S,erial NumlbersThe point of origin of B~52manufacture is identified bysuffix letters, Thu S" ,(1 B -5 2D - BD origina te d in. Seattlewhile a B.~52D'~BWstemmed from Wichita+ Similarly,B,,52s. were built under tw o different manufacturer'sserial num bering systems, referred 'to as elms for 00l1S-tructor' s numbers hereafter, IThe Seattle models wereserialled under the original Boeing system that num-bered all. airframes consecutively from the first Boeinga er op l a ne of 1 9 1 1 6 . ~ The 'higher n ur n bers do not reflec tthe correct total however. 'because of the immediatecancellations following the end of World War Two inA ngust 1945. Also, the 1,664 B-2'98 buil t in Wichita 'werea ll ocat ed Sea tt le . clus.The Wichita plant, on th e other hand, 'was originallythat of the Stearman Aircraft Company, This dated from1927 when a young man Lloyd Stearman returned. toWichita to . set up the factory adjaoen t to ' the MunicipalAirp 0rt. In the early 193a s - , the Wichi ta plant standar-dized on a system ' that, serialized aircraft by the. totalp ro du c ed , o f a part icu la r model, The system was retainedafter Stearman became a B oeing subsidiary in l'9 134 an da Boeing division in 1939. The one exception to ' sub-sequent use of the Stearman cju" system was the war-time B-29 production, The production B~47s built atWic hita u se d. the Stea man system. while the two Seattle-bu il t prototypes used the Sea ttle s ys tem , The Douglas,and Lockheed licence-built production m odels usedthose manufacturer's own cjns.The first Wichita-built Stratofertress was a, B,52D~246,

Test Programlm'r!"While a n e xte ns iv e experimental flight test programmewas u nd erta ke n at Seattle to im prove the, B,52~ theshakedown te stin g o f th e Seattle-built production modelswas conducted at a separate test fa.cility on Larson AirF orce B ase, T his w as. nearly 1.50miles east of Sea ule illa desert area on the far side of a mountain. range,The- production test programme was conducted thereas one of the first serious efforts to . overcome objections. '. di tol '[.to jet no ise adjacent to , arge metropo: it an a reas .B 52 M O ""D "E L S[ E O ' 'UE 'N" C~r : :: :-:---,j .,,1 I ~ ,_ .. I, ".!"~

The various models of the B , a 5 2 from the prototypesthrough the final production model, form a rare andperfect exam pie of se q uential as si gnm ent of seriesdesignations to a successive series of the 'basic model.Few Iong-production models in. Air .1 orce history hold tosuch ,H I pattern.The B-52 is . also u n u s n a l, nno t uniq ue, in that in spiteof many modifications m ade subsequent to delivery,h b edesi '" . '~ "there ave; een no neoesignanons or new series letters .As an example, the Boeing KC~135,~a contemporary ofthe B,-52 - was delivered from the factory with designa-tions only as high a s . K'C 1358. There were also someout-of-sequence ] ,35Fs~ but .that suffix letter 'w as u sedto-identify a model built specifically for France an d nota sequential development as A" 13" C and so. on. Sub-sequent modincations to KC-135s. have resulted in , seriesletters as high as' U and also to changes in the prefixletter for other special-purpose work like VC for Very


8/25

AN,:~htB-~2A3.wtre u~edfor test muJ;de'liNdopme~u;w'(H"k, ,~fUt. CO/l ' l .pt rtaQ1i '. ( ) I u s : work a s th e BO~ I ,~ .g 'p l an' ~ j , t h e ji f. s t lJ-,52A, Ula$ mCidifietl i r J 1 . 1959-_ t1s al($j .moo v,e-hidefor th rocket-powered .rese'areh North Amer ie o .X -I Sa ndw a s r ed es ig n, (1 ,h ;dN B~ j2 A - (Photo: USA'F)

. .

~n., R1J-~2_B a t C a st le A it. Fo rc e [ jo s e i .stm' wit: 'h_lhr? Fl-,in ch"A ir Foret Jett~erin~I;~'us e ,w~lt~nt WJ.~d(JU1I.~re'~ou t r~UofiU~d wilh th e w . h . : i t ~ ,ther~al-re!1rt~uv,(jpamt, Here, the s,t{ir-spa~gl~J bluti: band )01Strategic A.,~'rCommand J : . 9 carried On ' t'hf1rft.'arf us el ag e , 1. r~ ': J; teadf i9.~ . t lw nose as In late: mstaUau.ons"(Pheto: U~eing)Distil'2guis.hln:g featlln~ o ll he 1


9/25

Important Persons, RC for' reconnaissance Ve'fS]OnS,. ECfor fiying command posts. and/o 'electronic relay stations.The 8=528 have always remained bombers and havenot been given series let ters above B=52H , the lastmode l p rod llJ ced,Additional prefix letters other than X for xperimentaland Y for Service-Test are R, (Reconnaissance), appliedat the factory and the N and Iprefixes used on. specialtest ai rcraft diverted from regular service for test an dresearch pro grammes such as being the paren t c arrie r o faircra ft ]ike the N orth American X,-lli5 rocketplane,XB-5,2Of two flyable B-52 prototypes ordered, only one wasdelivered as XB",52. This had been refined from thedefinitive Model 464~49and emerged as Boeing Model464-67. , Pr inc ipa l differences were a, 14=feet increase inlength , the, use of Upiper wing surface spoilers an d onlya tiny aileron loca-ted between each pair of wing -a ps inplace of the conventional ailerons of the 49.,. and an,increase in gross weight 'to 390,000 pounds, The main-plane aerofoil section is unique, with 19~3 % , th icknessBoeing-designed section at the root (Boeing 2 37) andprogressing th rough Boeing 248, 251, 250 an d 23,6 to .9 . 5'6 'a; B ", 2 ~ ' 3 - ' 6 - , - t h . . sti -_..--/0 -oelng r . - ; a - J l 1 eW J . n ~ , 1p.,Carrying Air Force serial number 49=230 and c / n .16248,~as already observed, th eX ls- 5 2.general Y resembledan enlarged B..47. Common fe atu re s. were the 35 swept, ; -, th . dded- -"., ' t h ' " "b' - -]~' '- 'f,., ]" -- - "-,-\ . ln g, _ ,e po - -. c -__ en,gm,es. - e -lcyc.e c e n i ~ J e1 n e maInlanding g ea r an d. the pilots "bubble" canopy, In,practic-ally all oth er detai ],8, however, the two models displayed- . t - d '' 'W . , .great I. anerences.Powerplants wer-eeight Pratt & WhitneyYJ57-P-.3axial- flow' turb ojets deli verin g 8".700 pounds of static

thrust, These 'were podded in pairs on four underwingpylons similar to B~471nbo.ard pylons. A unique featureh f ,j ; ' " - bi . he I d" h I "n -as tile use < 0 i ~ou r tur .,mes 1n l.e 1orwa rc I w -ee we swhich were driven by high-pressure air bled from thesecond compressor stages of the eng ines . Thei r purposewas to . operate the'B-52s power sys tems,Although positioned a.s on the B=47, the X B= 52 land-ing gear used double units mounted side-by-side, Thesegave the XB ...S 2 [ en ou gh ground stability to stand level">,without the wing-tip-protection wheels touching the ~grou nd, However _ the mainplane was so flexible thatwhen it contained a full load of fuel" both tips droopedto the point where both tip gear 'were on the, ground tocarry the weight. Another unique feature of the mainlanding gear V \ J R S that it could be turned 2(f to [ ea ch s id eto allow' the aircraft to era b into strong crosswind s yetl and . wi th the wheels parallel to the runway, Braking w a s .assis ted 'by the adoption. of a 4 4 - foot diameter ribbonparachute carried in a special compartment in the rearfu se la ge in th e manner of the B-4 7 .'Defensive armament was limited to four 50~ca.libr,e(0,50-inch) m achine-gu n s in a manned tall turretB orquick exit in, an emergency, this turret could be jet=tisoned 'by firing four expl osive bol ts, The military load.of nuclear or conventional bombs was carried in a longbomb-bay located betw een the, main landing gear units.Fuel was carried in bladder-type cel ls be tween the wingribs and the forward and rear spars a n d in the fuselage.Normal crew for the prototype was five men, withpilot and co-pilot seated in tandem under a bubble-typecanopy in the extreme nose. Others. were on a deckbelow and the, tail gunner could go aft to his turret andreturn only 'when the XB-52 was unpressurized.Th X =2 d f l ] ""~I '''8 ~.',e ':B-5" tested various r ap-aneron, or 'naperon

F or w ar d la nd in .'I l ge ar " mit's o f a 1 J; 5 2B 'revealing tha: the lamiin'!; lights a re b ui lt into the wheel wett doors. The lower radome has been removedto ~'ho'wsome of the radar installation. (Photo: Boeing)


10/25

~.

IiC DIII, . .. . . .: : a

Q 1 ! ! 1!,A.U1 ' 1 ,"""'Iio!.~""".1No


11/25

Flight vf,'ew of a ' I J .-52C w t ' ~ 'hlap.f fully ,e'x t en d ed . ,Note t tu Ji l fl ap s a re .' r livlded b' i th e an;\"]. ' immllch"lludy b~hi~d a~',(!'inboard engines", ,Drop tasks ( w e 3 00 0-gall(J,l'~ (U" S) capac ity, , (P~oto: Boeing)

A lJ-51C is acc,omp~~i , ed by O n t o j th e USAF' s last B=17 Fo r I; r es ses /f)1' COl1'I. f /cl.raUwq)urpoftes" Used in 'ii'QI'io,~$i li;t;'i.U~y and , ex e cu t iv e t ranspor l' roles i J t . thei~'f i 'J~t1


12/25

The firs: (USAP;' 55~Ol/9) ol170 IJ-51Ds was bt.n1t in W ichi ta, and c a rr ie d s uu ab le ,l et te ri ng o n t he n os e topublicize ~he[act, Extension c:f'lhe blue noseba nd of t he S t ra t eg ic A tr Com~i ' : l ( :md in to Ihit wh i te ~ p"ah~ le da r ea wa s a non-standard tJpplk 'Ct l .~:t l~_ (Photo ; Boei ng)

P ' W ~ ; - , "1 .! ~ '0 .l;"2 D T "!IJ iO, i! j , an,[;,r c;O~IUH),r:S stal.lf :Nl'~ ' on: a ss-oas: in e, B o e i n g emhj'gn'1E in th e ce n Ires of t h e ; controi-column: are ~w vet im Jtailed. Since they are nothookr:dup to any tbjr' tg an d ca n easity be Ii l i lx~ ra f :edJ 'by sou1;J.tmir;uimter.~,they ar e the last i tems ~~I '1 . ta lledi/~ th(f:bomber before it is delivered" (Photo: B oeing)

( Ph oto : B o ei rag )


13/25


14/25

Boeing B-52'G='120- B W Stratofortress (U 'S A F se ria l n o : 59 ... 59,2 . ) ofthe 92nd Bomb Squadron. 9'2nd Strateqic Aerospace W in g l , 1,5th A 1 1 FForce, based at Fairchitd AFB,., near Spokane, W,as .h~ l ng ton " The 92nd- 1 3S I , " 0 1 : 1 p' k p ' h e r " d ' . f' f k n i',; S movre cartoon -'U1:, 'Ia n t ..er" c evrce appears~(;(t 0 " COCr-pll't~onb h sid f h f' I~ Aside vi f h I B ~ ' 52-'G" hi J ! . . . . Ik' "t. Sic' 18,S0' t re '.US'!IB.'g,e ',51' Ievrewoi t,IS ~"'-,'- -W_~IIC:u too ",part Inth D ' I ' " - . tbe " 9 - " 7 1 - S , " " ' "C ~ : B ~ : ' " ', b ' ' ' , rd N c . , . . , . .. t' ;-.,.-:: , ' , , . , . . . stiti .:" ls,i _ I e . ecem,_ l i a r a, I',_:: :.' . om l _ aln , ,avJgalon .,",,'mpleH~ IOrl-i'd '- iict sd .'. ' .. -,' 2 : - 5 6 ' -pl-G "e . on pa g e 'c w

..


15/25

W U h (t r ti n/O I 'C ( J tl a tr fr ame . t he f ir st S ea t tle-b U,~11 .52 E (USA F;' ,56~631) ~IV"'Sused to ' d ev el op 1 0w " ,a i. tu~'depenetratio tec ! t l i iqu)( ! '$ ~ I ~ w ~ , e r , e b yhe bombecould apPIOtlC/u. t he t ar g et undetected by jiYlJlg behnv t he de fe nsiWl radar screen. (Photo: Boeing)

A W it :hi ,t t1 ,.bMUt ,B~51D u , ' ! / , e d ~otest (J. McDo lJ ' I ' l : e . l 1 D\O~glas.A"D,M'-20 Qua i ' ~ decoy . 'I 'nissitr;, . Olfole01 " tw o of t"krNHt can be earried in t he bomb-bay . La~uM~he;dw{i,en I~eare~~elnJJerritory I th e Qt~ail speeds ahe-ad oj ' du t B~ j2 w h ilr l its eiearonic equiprn !jt makes an im a ge ,a n dj(;n.si~~ea d ar s c re en s dull' 'solon likeana t hev B-31 mwd confuses ,~hedd~~:if:tt. (Photo: Boeing), . 4 , W t'chir.a-.tmilt ,8'-52 (USA F: 56 - ; ' '0 '1) wit~ the standard CaJ f l o :u j l age s ch em e u se d OJ ' lnuclear- wgapOJ1S carriers / two= ,~on l ' ,g; l"ten an d tal'l:" with wh . i t - I tunders ide s. T~1 i\owhi't-p'(;ttnted A,(;M~28 Jlo.ul'~d Do g , l j~ i , 'V: , f lae, f Ia r Y z c : t; w r i e( l. , (Photo: author)

~ ~Y

., .254


16/25

dotte 'o n photos of the contemporary Convair YS,-6o.wh ich wa s b as ic ally a . B-36 f it ted . with a swept wing andeight B,-52-typ e Je t engines as a backup design for theB,-,52).Following delivery to the Air Force, both the XB~52an d YB,g52 were turned back to B oeing o:n bailmentcontracts and used for test and developmen t pro-grammes. Most notable change to the Y8- 52 in. its'~ ' 1 f~ 'ik, 1 l , , " 1 1 illater years was t re us e 0 the shorter vertical ta1- even-t l J , a . U y - .u se d o n th e -B ,-5 2G 'an d B~52Hprcductionmodels.L~)The Y B= ,$2 was 'flown ,to Wright-Patterson Air ForceBase in Ohio, and eventually became a permanentdisplay at the Air Force Museum there in 1958"

Even before the B,-52 prototypes were f ir st flown, the A irForee decided tha t the new model shou ld be prodnoedand. au thorized funds for prod ucti on to 0ling: in ad vanceof actual prod uetion contracts, The initial order 'was forthree Boeing Model 464~201~Os"to be designated B-52A.These had Air 'Force serials 5.2-ID,to 52=3 and c/ns. 1649']to 16493., .There 'were no plain B -52 m od els as there hadbeen B,~29s~;,arly post-wa r p olic y decreed that the firstproduction 'model ,_ barring prototypes going. to higherletters - wo u Id ha ve th e series suff ix let ter ,A,.The major outward difference between the productionB-52A and the prototypes was a change in the 'nearly4~feet lengthened nose con tour with the deletion of the('bubb le" canopy ~Henceforward the pilots were sea tedside-by-side instead of in tandem, Crew accommodationwas increased to six, While th e three B-52As 'we re notfitted with bombing-navigation systems, they did carryType A~3A f i re- cont ro l systems ,Powerplants 'were the .]57~P..9W turbojets with waterinjection. While (be 'B,.52As were equipped to use thenew Boeing-developed "Flying Boom" system of aerialrefuelling, unrefuelled range was increased by the ad-dition of two ] ~ ,OOO-" S . gal lon drop tanks under l J M : ~w ings. to su pp leme nt the n ormal 3 '6~OOO-a llon internaltankage, Gross weight remained. 3 ' 9 o . ~ O O O pounds andsp eed w as 4 90 kn ots. (564111.,p,.h,.) at 46 ,700 feet,

The first B-S2A rolled out of the factory with approp-riate ceremony on . Ma reb l8 ~ 1954~ and 'm ade its firstflight on August 5.,After company test flights, an. threewere tu rn ed over 'to the Air Force, 'which immediately

turned them 'back to Boeing on -baihnent contract forc on t in u ' ! . ' : ' I i tion 0 - f the d, f O ! / V : 9.~opm~. 1 1 - ' t p ' " 1 " ! F ! . gr .>qI, 'OO ' me Whe n~ !u,1 I.. ,~ .II.J !. _ .' " .... . .... """ Iv 'I;,;~, - , ~ , ' I I , r ! t , . ~ . " . . . . . . . . . V' V llrl -even tually redeli vered tot he Air 'Force, all three 'wereused for continuing test work and never served withsquad rons. T he m ost fatuous use:of the B-S2A was ' underthe d esignation of NB-S 2A when used as for the airbornelaunch of the North American X ~ l l - . 5 rocket-poweredresearch aircraft,The unit costs of the three _B-52As was a s ta gg er in g(for the time) ,$29 ~38 3".466" but it nm s t be realized th a tmuch of the production tooling' 008\1 was charged againstthese three aircraft and was. not amortized, over :3 " longproduction 'fiUfi.B,m,528Of 50 B.-52B medels d elivered , the first 10 were originallyto . have been B~52As b ut w ere mcdified to th e standardsf he l B 5 - 2 ' 8 - ' B ;, M d ~ 464 2'01 3' d-t ~ . . - I -:: .' " ..' -' -:, _ , '1 ' .' . I I I . " _ . _ ~ -o t, e .ater--, -, .oe.1ng 10, : e J . ' " . - _ . " - " ~ an; w,erecompleted as 8-5288. These were allocated USAF .serials53~373 to 376 and 5 3 . .380 to 398; c!ns, 16852 to m 6 8 5 . 5and 1 6:85 9 to 1687'7i respectively,However, only 23 of the 50 were completed in theoriginal born ber configu ra tion ; the remainder wereequipped 'with an alternate reconnaissance capabilityand. were delivered as RB,..52Bs.,Principal differencefrom the B-52A was tbe use of later J57-P'~19W:"~29'W~and ,~29'WA water -injeetion powerplants, Gross weightincreased to a maximum of 450~OOOpounds. SomeB g52Bs used the A,-.JA fire-con tro 1 s y s t - e m , and othersemployed rbe MD -.5 system ,;, al l used the MA =6A,b om bing- na vigation system"First Hight of the B-.52B was on January 25;. 1955, andthe first delivery 'to an Air Force unit was to the 93 rd13.0mbWing of the Strategic Air Comm and at Castle AirF o r e . B , " 7 . i 1 se, nea r M - erced,- : C a 'ill' forn ia - , n 'n - ~ J ' I I ' i i 1'i i f 'I l , ' ; : ! ; ; 2 ~ 0, 1 - 9 . : - 5 - = - " ~e e - "" " '" _ Gl;;! _ ,I!;,. ., . ,..... ...... .~ ._ - _ . t i . 11 .. . .' " -, u ., 1 ; , W , u . . . . . "7,. _.'On January 18~ 1957, th ree ,B ,~2Bs. from Castle AFBcompleted f i l l non-stop flight around 'the world, Elapsedtim e w as 45 hou rs w , ' 9 ' minutes for the 24,325 miles at anaverage speed of 452 knots (520 m p.h.),RB-5,2BThe 2 ' 7 ~ R -' B'5~2'B.f'!' ossessed 'JI unique feature T ~ 1 l l . . 1 ',C W :as a"v. ", :'._.; - _ '0 ',":.rgIO( 00-:.:.. !Q, I~ "" . : .. " l~~a,. I~ , _ l! I, J .k l. o . _. .. .[~~ .- 'zed 1 hi h ld~ b e - '" - d '-~. _ " : " :- . -' 1 '1 1 , '1 - ' -:i'j ::: < ~I., . .' " "1 ~. :11 I (." "" .. I: _ '. "1 .. :' '_ .. "'.' '1 .111 .: 'I"two man pressun . caPS1[]e \V ic .cotuo carnec inthe bomb-bay, It could be equipped, with cameras fo rh hi ,. ith ,. '~. .p otograpr icreconnatssance or WI.' ,_various etectroruc

The f iY:Sf Sf;!auf:~"lnlUtB~51F~USAF serial no. 57~3'O(shown as. 700'30) ready few factory test jil.glu. Obsen.le tha: the he~'y fuel lO:(l:dl,in te 'wi1'lgs ha spvessed bot A Wing ;t if) protective roller oS to' the grmllul, Left aileron~ located b~',hf'eenthe tw o /ull:rexunderi.jfo'wler flaps ~is raised. (Photo: Bo~ing)I

255


17/25


18/25

Th e f ir 8,~B~(; (U SA F; 57-6468) 01'1 an e,~rly tes: f l ighl a c t : : , o m p 1 a n . i J r t d by ,~ "chase 1'1 ,F--86Sabre. Prb1'(: iptaJ e x t e r n a l iden ti!ying}eatWire is the ,fJhOl'Umtdv,er:l ea l t aU , Seas :lIe .B-52p~'odttrr;Uorl rm,tA;dwU h . a ~ elJ;j2.E; a l l s u f J se q ~em ;B ~52 models w~rt. b .u il t only tu Wiehi,~IJ. {f'hoto ';Boeing)

~1~!lJ~~F:~:~! i~~r: ~ ~ 7~ : t z B ~ O : ~ : : ~ ~ ~ S ~ ~ S 3 ,(Boeing c!ns. 16434 to. 16503 range); 52-8710 to 8716(c/ns 1 6 p '3 ' 0 < to 'j 6 ' " 8 ' A I 4 ,' . J " . ' 5 3 : : 3 , ~ o F , to.'. : ' ' 7 ' 2 ' ( C ' / n i e ] 6 4 , - 5 : ' t ' o "",', ,,0, 0 .. = " "t ,. '- ,'_,~c iJlUI, ~ . .' ,u,"'~ .' 0 _' _",'ffi6851)and 52-377 to 379 (c/ns~ 16856 to l li,6858)~Th e unit price of B- 5285 a n d RB,~52B,s dropped to$14;430~812, or roughly half 'that of a, B~52A" TwoRB-52Bs (52-7 an d 52=9) were redesignated JB-52Bswhen used as carriers fo r the X-IS at Bdwards (formerlyMuroe) Air Force Base, headquarters of the Air ForceFlight Test Center"O t h e r B : 5 ' 2 ' ' B e . a n d R: , I B , c ; 2 B " ' s W ' e r e m o ' - d ~ J : ; ; : ,. . . .:I ~'A B - - ' - ' 5 ' 2 : ' C ' ' .l~I~. ' !_~ ~ __..j a ,II.~ .:" -J I :I.J I ..... :." I! !ir .: .... _ .U.I~ Il.v :,-,_"! :.standard in l95 7 and 195B. ,The last examples wereretired and placed in extended storage at Davis-MonthanAFB, ne ar T ucson, A riz ona , on June 29; 19,66.B-52CThe 35 B=52Cs carried the Boeing Model number of464- 20 '1 -6 and USA ' serials 53 ...99 to 40.8 and. 54-2664to 268:8. The Boeing cj ns, 'were" respecti vely ~,688 to16887 and ~7ll i59 to 11183mThese were essentially improved B,~52B8 and retainedthe reconnaissance capability of the. RB=52H but did notcarry the R - prefix. Fuel capaci ty was increased to 4 1 . ~700U" S, gallons by the use of 3, OOO-g;aJlon drop tanks. The

IInit cost of the B-.520 w as again reduced b y half; to aprice of $7 ~247,! ,963 each,First 'flight o f 'th e B=S2C was March 9", 195,6~This wasthe first B~52 to ' carry the thermal -ref lec ting white pain ton the under- su rfa ce s wh ic h was just . coming into voguef or nucl ea r-weapon earners. 'O nce again, security 'w asinvolved; the purpose and composition of the paint wasc la ss if ie d , Th is posed a problem fO J B oeing as a pain ted.B-52C was 'to participate in dedication of the new' testcentre at Larson Air Force Base across the CascadeMoilntains from Seattle, It was decided to' ignore thepresence of the new paint scheme completely 'with theionic resul t that its appearance w as never questioned.

B , - , 5 , 2 , 0 1When it became evident that the B-52 was to 'becomethe principal heavy 'bomber of the Strategic Air Corn-mand, the Air Force designated, the Boeing Wichita:P h~nt as the second production source, Of ]70 8. -52D Sb uilt, ! 69were from Wichita. Designated Boeing M o del,4 64 -2 01 -7 , th e 1 01 S ea ttle-c on stru cted B , - 52D s had'USA_F serials .5 5-{~,8 to 1M7 ' and 56-5 8.0 to 6 5 6 , (withS e 3 1 ttle-type cins . 17 I 84 to 17 :233 and 17263 to 17313).The 69 Wichita-produced models bas USAF serials55-49 to 67 , 55~673 to 6 80 ; an d 56= 650 ...6 ,57' ' to 698 (but

. =~ : . h 'n 'd '" 'S - . H. '/ 4 ' 6 " ' . 1 1 ' 0 0 ' ' 1 ~ ~. . . . .4 6 4 0 " : " 6 " 9 ' ) 'c a r n ,o U , t -en], ',tearman type cos., - "~.:.' .1 'W -,.. ." .' '",The Seattle construction numbers were not consecutive'because, of concurrent production of the KC~135Atanker-transp orts,The Wichita-built B-52D flew first, Roll-out was onD e cem b-er 7" lli'9 55 and first f l . f u g ln t was, 'May lli4~1956;with delivery to Castle Air Force Base on June l4 m Thef ir st S ea tt le - bu i tt B=52D 'Hew on September 2 8~ 1956.The 8-52D's were e ss en tia lly B ,- 52C s without thereconnaissance capabihty ; powerplants were the J 57 ~P ~19 'W or ,-29W and the gross 'weight and : f l l L l e~ ,capacitywere the same, The fire-control system, could be eitherthe A,-3A or the MD-9 while the bombing-navigationsystem w as still the MA6A" The cost of a B-52D c a m edown by a furthe:r i=nru .ll ion donal'S '~O$6,580~872 each,B-,5lEOne:hundred 8-52Es were built by Boe in g, as the Model464=259. Forty- two were produced in Seanle with USAFserials S{ ~,-31 to 6 , 5 6 . and , .57-ll i4 to 2'9 (clns, il l 7 3 1 4 to1 73 39 and 1 74 08 to 1" 7 4 2 3 ) , The remaining 5 8 cam e fromWichita with USAF serials 56..(i'99 to 712 and 57 ~'95 toil l 38 (c/l1s., 464070 to 464127). The ti l rst B,-t)2E flight wasat S eattle o n O cto ber 3, 1 95 7; w ith the first Wichita flighttwo weeks later on October 17.The B ...52.Es. 'were similar to the B..,)20 except forimprovements in the bombing-navigation and electronic

251'


19/25

A B ~ 5 2 G w it h 7 () () '~ ga llo 't l" {U. 8,.) drop tQ : ! J1bbei~ used by lhie Air FO,i"Ct't o ' t e s t eiectronic c'Oltmermeasures pods that can be ~e,enu;nder the win:g"ybet w g ; ' e n,~/~ enb o,,~ n1an d O~ tboard nacelles. Note; the daub te th,{Podo/iht t ,wgl$t markings fore ! f . m a aft on the / u : s e l a g , ( j ' " (Photo: USA'F via, Bo()~lng)A B ~ 5 2 1 G (USA.F. ; 58-159 as ' 80159 o~~~'J~:elm)U~'kgs-olfwith t]:itO AGM~28H ound Dog mis sUe3. At . r h i s sh : ; ! " t , e the: W[flg'up protection gea}' h a s.complde ly retracted and tlte main tanding g.e,~r lS j~ 'St starting up. Blueband o f the Strtuegic Air Command earned { m the. nose , but no embllt~,1~(Photo: Boeing)

Wii~h the same J li ro rte ne d v er ti ca l ta il of the /S: -52G. the 1152H '~i'QSs.imiltl~in appearance except for ~hel a r g . r ; I - ildets of the mtwe p'O"~e,1f~~P& 'W l'F33 f a n ~ : < ' e t e ng in es . T 1u twhite,-appeQrin.g ,~OS!2 and hJil sections, . . . ' i , ' - e ' I!. I here are acwaly light red -- D , Q ' Y GIr)'I h l [ f h ~ ~l5'lluhtyma:r/angs on a testair-cr ,a/ t. ;,Hound Dog r n ir S ,SU(} 8a r e i n evidence. ( Pho to : 'Boeing )


20/25

systeme Production exp er ie nc e 'b ro ught th e cost down to$5 . l,948~4 ,90 ~ the lo we st o f any B-52~Early B -52E s w ere used as carriers for 'the Prat~&Whitney J52~po:w'ere-d, North American Rockwell A,GM-28 (e:x-'GAMF77) Hound D og inertia 1.gufudance, air-to-ground, thermonucleer missile, Likewise, B-52Esw ere em ploy ed to test new low-altitude operationaltechniq ues designed. '~O fly under po tential enemydefence radar screens"B-5 .2,FT he B ,-52 F ~ B oeing Model 464~260- \VaS th e last B~52m e del b uilt in S ea ttle, F o rty-fou r were produced therewith USAF serials" . 5 7-30 'to 72 (c/ns, I 7424 to 17467 )~Another i I l . c : : were delivered from Wichita with USAFtILi". _IU_'I!.r.."'~ ~.'b- .. 'b-.l.l, _.I V.-.' l it. v, _" _y '_".'" .'se ria ls 5 1= 1 39 to 1 83 (c/ns. 4 { )4 ]2 8 to 4 64 lli 7 2 ). T hte firstSeattle B . .5 2 F f l e w o n M ay 6 ' j ' T h 158 and t h e first Wichita1110del on May 14~t958.The maj or difference between the 8,-52F and ea rliermodels was deletion o : f the air-driven tur bines and theirre pla ceme nt w ith so -c alle d " ha rd driver' alternators, Oneeach attached to th e port unit of leach pair of J 57=P=43W'tm rbojets,Following delivery of the last Seattle-built Bs= 52 F onPie br uary 24 , 1.959",all responsi bility for the B- 52 design,production, and service support was transferred toWichita. 'U nit cost of th e B;-,52F increased slig htly to$6 -8 - , , 1 1 0 4_ " , ~;" ., 4: -5 " - , -_ -

B-5 1~ ' GThe ~',..520 incorporated the first major appearancechange in 'the B",52 since the B,-52A, nose revision, TheBoei -I gMode14!64~253~ 'w hic h u se d th e shorter verticaltail tested on the YB,-5.2 - was the major productionmodel of the B-52 series" AU 193 'were built in Wichita:'USt\F J serials .57m , 6 4 6 8 'to 6520, 58 =158 to 2 5 s , and59,-25 64f to 2602 (e j ns. 46417.3 to 46436.5), First rollou twas July 23, 1958,; and . f irs t f lig ht was on 'October 2 7 , .Initial delivery started on N ovem ber 1, 195:3"Internal changes were extensive ~ the fuel capaei tyw a s increased 't o 46,000 gallons 'by the lJse of additionalta n k s ,9nd elirnina tion of the ru bber bladder-type 'tanksin the wings, The cells between th e spars an d ribs weremade into itegra li tanks, forming wha t is . known as a

,,'wet wing". Capacity of the drop tan ks was reduced to'70 0 ga']ions eacb, G'1'088 take- o ff we igh t 'was ia er ea sed 'to488 ~000 pou nds with allowa ble '< 12tOlfJ lb.) taxyingwe i g h ' --tof500 , 000 p- ounds .' . . -_ ' e ' ' _ ' 'The arm am ent system . was revised by de le ti ng the tailgunner' 8 po 8 1 .tion and moving hun to tbe fo rw a edfuselage section, where be could operate tb e tail guns byth e ,A . O S , ;o 1 5 fire-centrolor remote control monito J O O , byradar or CCTV (closed-circuit television),The B-52G was th e first 'model produced 'w ith faei li -ties for deploying th e' A 'GM - 28 Hound Dog wingedmissle tha t had been tested on , U 1 . earlier 8-52. In ...cidentally, the. B,~,52Gw as to ' have- c a r r i e d t h e , cancelledDouglas 'GAM'm,87A Skybolt missile, In .additicn, theB-S2G could carry four McDonnell D o uglas AD


21/25

Tai~ ( 'J rmaJ j 'u t , I~ ! of the B,~2'H w 'W ' {'harlflf;td fran~ a . J)(Jl t . t i ' Y ' of fo~r 50 ~,caJ;b~>,e.O.50-mc~) m a - c h m e - - g u m : r ; to ,a six-barrel 2 f )~mm- ,caJmO\rj : k,;u)wn(1/, ,a , u, ( jCt I 'Ung ,Gun~I" - (Photo ';Boeing)

Glo.s,e=~p '!'iew of the i~-fiight p,fJfueliing receptacle on top of the B~51lU~ij],e!ageand a shors distance beh.ind th;;.'p . u o t : $ cabi~. The doors ar eopened only drJ.ring n!/uJt lUng," note the Jac{) ,~ iOU3 stencilled rrU?iSsage tolite boom operator, - ,(Photo: BQe~'fig)

th - " 'G "" t l i G '" , , ' 'f ' t h , ' , . . 1 e. - .- 0" .,' (0 5 0 '" . - ) "I ! , . "e " a ~ lng " ,',un - : 1 ,. 0 1 ' , e onglIli't 'Y .o ur -b U n . ' ,I ..-, ~ln."tail ttlrret armament.Costing $8;965~597~the first :B-5211 rolled out of th efactory o n S ep tem ber 30 , 1 9{ )Oan d. th e last on . J nne 22,1962.. The last 8- 52.H was delivered to Strategic AirCommand on October 26 to end the eight-year produc-tion run of 'the B=52. It was. the 467th B,--52 b uilt atWichita out ofa total o f7 44 B -$ 2 s o fa ll 'models ...

8-52 OPE'RATI'Q'NS,Conceived as a long-range, high-altitude 'heavy bomberwith reconnais sance capabili ty, the B-52 was origi nally. . h H 1 1 d- f"put In110 service as 811C,. l, oweve r, cnangmg r e encesy steam of other nations fcreed rev!sion of B = 5 2 opera t-,ing concepts. T o O ena ble the big bomber to reach its'~"JI rg c ; ; 1 I - 1C-: b . ' y~ fl Y ' . " I " ' 1 '] - 'g " und e ' 1 " d efen sive rad ,a; r s.....eens thel . - t l I . , ,'!;.,oIb:!!C '" J. '_ Y 1 ',_ _ J!,"""U,L~U. ii _ ,,cl, ,Gl , .,,_ ., " .,;!I~ J l J , , , " ,airframes were exk;ns ively modified to penni thigh =speed operation at ground level,Con tin u o us changes have b een ma de to the electronicdefensi ve and countermeasures carried including the useof the ADM-20 Quail decoy", T his is a sm all un-mannedt1 J rboj et-powered drone 1M .nched by the B -52 to fly in itsvicin ity so. as to present on defensive radars a targetsim ula ting the. B . = . 5 2 . ,

While conventional and nuclear bombing capabilityhas been retained, "stand = 0 " " 'weapons in t he 'fo rm ofthe AGM-28 Hound Dog nuclear 'missile have beencarried since 1960 - on e under each inboa rd wing'section ..The B-52H was to have carried four G'A'M~81ASkybolts b ut the programme was c an cel led , a 'S h as b e e n ,st a ted. already, the:8= 52Hs were adapted to Hound. Dogs ..In 1971, 'c on tr ac ts we r- e awar-ded to B oeing to man-fa cture kits to ad.apt 281 B-52G and '8~52,,' modelsto carry the ,AGM -69A, SRA,M or short-rs '".ge attackmissile. B,~52s. can carry 20 of these>: ..,RAM solid-propellan t nuc lea r missi le s , eigh t in B l rota ry' la uricher inthe bom b-ba y an d S 1 x each on two wing pylon 8. , The firstope ra tio na l SR ,A ,Ms were delivered to L orin g Air ForceB \ a s e , ! , Maine", in April 1 f}72.A un ique feat U Te of the' AG M -69'A 'is its two-pulsepowerplant facility - the- first restartable solid-propellantrocket motor - developed by Lockheed P ro pu lsion a s.the LPIC-415 . As a supersonic missile C " " 8 pproachingMach 3.0;' has boon quoted as an unofficial estimate);the AGM=69A o ffe rs a 'Variety of trajectories and can beIt turich ed in sa lv o es a . few seconds apart - to arrive in th etarget area , 'from different directions,

Test model of ,lJ-52H (with .A G M -18 Hm;J,tJ'dDog u ' J i s . s i l e J 1 ) in prec ess of~'trt{~1f~ttli"g. (Photo: Boeing)

-~


22/25

This B52 was leased to Pratt & Whitney as ,a'flying tes bed/or the new45/Jt)O-pound:...thrust J'19D engines d t ' W . d O p . r l d ior us-e on the. ! J O C l ' t i ' $ 747tNJnSpoJ ' t . , (Plll,'o'to,; Pratt & . Whi'tney)

~F{ was ;" .Ie l' lt ; led 10 be Ille c(w"ier for the Do"glas GAM-87S&ybo l t missiies J bur tha : programme w'as c , ( ; l t l 1 c e l l e c i ' ~ nd th e b om be rscarried AG M ~28' H ( lund .Dogs instead: Th iS . B~ 52 ll c a rr ie s (1f~U compte-men; of/our dlim'fny Skybol.t s. (Photo: Boejng)

261


23/25262

A pre-produetto t e s r m od el o j th e:A G,M =,69A SRA.M missde is ('i i 'oppeaf r 0 1 " n . th e ! lomb-bay o f a caf f lo~i f ! .agt td B -52 H ( U SA F;' 60-,62 a s 00062()nfi~'n)"The m i , ~ $ n " . t t drops a h~n;dr,e:dOf' mor e f ee : below th.e bomber beforeU s soli'd~p'ropeU(nurocke: moh)'l" f i res. (Photo: USAF via Boeing)1~ 1'972. modifi,c~;tiol1s to ' .the Jj:-J2G (1.~ujH modl t l$ were' tJ.i'uiertakfm toequip .them w~th t i . ' j J ' ~O ,20' Jj:otl~g A GM-69A short-range tUl;'tlck ,missU(:$k~OliL\"n C : J i S . RA ,M . E :f ;g ht o f ti l ese solit :t-pto/Ji tl laru t r [ u :f r U J r W"apOfIS a~re'carried in the Do,mDba y (J.~,~ilmo#~t f : l" twelve on external pylons f.' s een he fl $.on a test .JJ~j'H' (USA F: o,rJ0(1) (Photo: Bceing)E.~ghtA aM ~69A .s.RA M missiles on a rOUlI"Y launcher i 1 1 : the bombabay o ja test B~;j2ll_ F i r s t ,Qpmat ion 'a{ flights li~ith t'hfl:n,(i!w w e \ . " 1 p o n Dt:g.rm a , tL o r t J ' j g AF1JJ M : a ' in e ' 1 i n Ap.ril.l9:72. (Photo: Boeing)

In Ju ne :~972" Boeing 'was awarded a contract to ada pithe B -S2 to the new SCAD, (Subsonic Cruise ArmedD e . r - 0 Y , , M . . i s s i l e ) 'C 1 4 ' - - ' f o ' , o , twinasoan t 'bofs ' .' ,-- " 1 0 '- , : : .. ~ . :. _ _ d , ' i...... " w , - ] " 'l',c~ " , .... .1 @i,;:Jk" . ur .. an p .were,decoy missile, The SC,AD missile 'win 'be carried , on theADM -'6 9.A ,S RJ\lv I lau nc he r a s a replacement for the'An-M20 Q . . . . ' ~ A-] h ' n . . l"ll,.. hAD M 20th SCAD':, 'm,~ . _ :U R b ,. , . . . . . t., o u , g ) , j " ' 1K ,e t l e : _ _ ' - ' : , - e . .. .. . , .. .,;',e; a d ; ;: ;;oy ' l" t ' 1 1 1 ] 1 0 ' : ' 0 has W ' arh ead r '!!II p ! J I h i" ' l l " 'j,,\}, thu e --0 f!~ T'ii 0-. IL~ '. uecoy, 'I a ,,;)_' ~as wa ,H- i! ;";~'I~_~, " ~j - ill, _ . , i i , P -,dl!u.i~. , . =b- ~ - -_ . - 'II.. . .'. - I I . ," ,I . . - ." _ e ' " ' ' : ,", ,a pi 0 Iem or enemy de ensi ve 1adar "Delivered ]J1 peacetime years; the B...52s of Stra regieAir Command were u sed princi pally fo r ro u tine trainingand proficiency' missions ' 1 l J ntil they began operationsover Viet Nam in . June il l 965. Many special peacetimemis sio ns we r- ecarried out to show the 'eftpabilities of theB-52 to the world These including a non-stop globalflight by three B~52Bs in 45 'hours, numerous out -and-. ' t . . , . ; : j ] " t a r " .- flis h -' ts .( ... (-' - ,*. 2 - ' 6 : ' ' l l . , ; . . . , . . , d ,- ti n) , ndlie urn cistance ignts O J , up ~ O -. noursurauom ana distance record [0.[ unretuelled Hight of 12,519 milesmade from Okinawa to Spa in . on J un e 2 2 , ] 9 62 .Opera tions against targets in Viet Nam began onJun e18, 1 9 , 6 5 ; . wi th long-distance flights from Andersen , A irForee Base on 'GuaI11., Distance to the Viet Nun ta rg et s.is a p pr ox ima t e : ' l i y 2~60 0 miles an d a com plete missiontakes, 12 hours" Since April " , 196'?} t he G uam operationshave been supplemented 'by much shorter (450-,rillle)flights from U '= Tapao 'insouthern Thai [and,T1-"- i [ ) = S 2 c . , . _ . ostlv old , B - - S ' ' - 2 D : ' , - od 1.. ..... - . '[] J , : ' ; . D'--,-. ; s . ~ , 1n s~.y O lL-er ' - -', run 'e]s, were no_o rigi llaUy used against stfa regie targets in, N orth VietNam but carried out tactical bombing of forward-areatargets i Some stra tegic bombing of North Viet Narn w a S ocarried 0ut on April 16",1 97 2, 'w hen 17 :0=52s bombedthe Ha noiarea 'from a rela tively low ' al titu d e of 300;000Co t E , ' ~ I .ct _.,'-,'.,. j... te I " . . _ - , - 1 . j1 ,i I! -. , . B 5 - - : : 2 , 'I' d .ith -.,-.1~~ " "w ,e c I o nIC coun . ..rmea su re s on , ~ 1 I : e 1-, --~8 an 0. er


24/25

aircraft successfully jammed the Russian-developed,radar ..con tro ned. SA~2S1[] rface- to-a ir defence missil..s.W eapons 'used are high -explosive 500 = and. 750",p0und"iron bombs" to a maximum of 60,000 pounds for eachaircraft. Up to 84.x 500=lb. or 4.2 x 750...b. bombs ca n 'b ecarded in. the born b=bay plus an additional 2~ of eithersize on two wing pylons, Bombs from a unit of threeB ~5:"2'J; effectively cover - : : I I targ et box 0' 6 , ' bv 1 '0 m. ] 1 , f : 1 ; ~ o n e:_. ~ . .. ..I ll !. , vlLJLul :,' ......'..."'"' '[,l. I2l , , . . . . . . _ , h " . ' 'J . 0 ..:_ ........8 . " " i J . , .F or a while, as part of U.S. defence policy, someB = 52 8 were Th the air at all times 0,.11 ai rborne alert, Thesewere armed and ready to bead for designated targets incase of a su rpri se a ttack on . the contiueotal U n ited S ta tes'~, ;. ,.' , ,;. ,-" ,;.fof Amer ica , This practice was S , O O -D abandoned In.1avourof ground. alert status a t widely-d ispersed bases in th e'USA and e lsewher e.

A W lcht tam l) .u i lt B -51D (USAF:. ' 56~684.:3. O~6()684on ~he_fi_ -:~fl )n , c a m o u f i t J . g { ; { . , Blaci l ; unders ides (I.'na '~'er[;h;-al.fi~( 1 .W l ! used in V ie Nam operations. S(lri'alntl'fj~ber tn l~flClOJj thl"f} black fin., ?Photo:: Boeing)(photo: Boeing)

263


25/25

A quar te t o IBo . t! !in' f/ .'G-mostfamous bomb-ers ." From left to'right1 a B~29J 'B-52~13',]7 an d B~47. (P'h1'~"". . . . .. .. . 1' ' J I " I , , 0 . : - ",,vlLv ~ -.lVwI .IL.IIO)I

B,-,5,2, M.ARKINGS, AIND C10LOUIRThe early B -52 s were delivered in natural metal finish.While some. parts were the familiar shiny "Alelad ~.duralumin, others appeared to be painted a silvery-grey,This w as not paint in all instances, but a different type ofaluminium alloy, .Paint was' added to the lower sides and undersurfacesin 1956when white thermal =s reflective paint was adoptedfor Air Force aircraft that carried nuclear weapons, Thiswas intended to protect th e aircraft structure by redect-ing the beat and radioactivity ofnuclear blasts ..Nationalinsignia, USAF lettering, and other markings were notapplied over the. reflective paint, Necessary instructionstencils were applied in yellow paint over the white,Factory applica tion of this whi te paint began with theB..52:C~ B..5 2B s 'w e re painted during subsequent modi-f ica tion programmes ,Camouflage; paint in tan and. tw o sha des of green, stillwith white nndersi des, was applied 'to B-52 s in. 1965w h e n other USAF aircraft were adopting camouflage.The B~52sused for dropping. conventional 'iron bombs'in Vie t Nam soon ad opted - a modified scheme for thatthea tre - the undersides" lower fuselage, and. both sidesof the vertical fin were pain ted a glossy black like then ig ht- fig hte rs o f the latter y e a r s of 'W orld 'W ar Tw o andearly post-war period. On these; '[he USAF serialnurn her ~s .carri ed ill red on the fin,The B-528 have been 'U nique in no t using colou rfu 1 .and" distinctive markings in th e WW-II and post-wartradition. The principal marking' 'has be-en the emblem ofthe Strategic Air Command on the nose (port side) ofu n cam ouflaged B =528 assig ned 'to SAC w ing s, backed upby a blue diagonal band covered with five-pointed \vhitestar.s,,,T he b ad ge o f th e particular Bomb Wing appearsagainst the blue band on the nose (starboard side). TheSA~ emblem is not used on camouflaged B ..52s~ but

Th . d' id ...~ U S A F ' . , 11 b h . . . . ., b. e 1 1 T hr v . L ~u.~ I , : : . ~ ., ~ ' serial n l lm e . r . . . a s always beenapplied to both sides of the vertical fin" At first, _a shortserial like 52 -1 was expanded to a minim um of fourdigits on th e ta il. as 2 00 1.. The number 5 representingth e (Fis ca l Yea r) d ec ad e, was. elimina te d sin ce. 'm iHtaryaircraft were not expected. to operate fo r more than] 0 years, In ] 9 58:" the serial was. expanded to five digits.in keeping: with the radio call letter practice, so 2001becam e 2 000 l , .When many 'U.S, military aircraft 'began to exceed ail l 0-year s erv ic e life ~ c o nf lic t w ith a similar s er ia l n umbe rissued in a f ollow in g decade 'was avoided by prefixingth e s er ia ls . o f the ove r - IOI aerop lanes wi th the letter 0(for Obsolete), Serial 20001 then became 'O'~2000., Thedash was important in. distinguishing the prefix letterfrom tbe "zero" n urn ber as in the case of . : 8 -5 2 :. serial60~1, whosetail number when new appeared. as 0000']and then became 0-000 '01 . in 1970.,

IB,~52 SPEe IF IIICAT'. 0 INNOT! ! : : p'eriormal lnoo d!etaJil ls, s,peedls. Raite~of-climb. s e l " v o i j . c e cei~ ing an drang a -with-Ioad ha v~ not been oHiCi i ,aI l l y re l e a se d at 't ime of writ~nQl( A . I , . i '[ : )U$t ~. 9 7 ' 2 )Spa 1 1 : : 185, 'ft. .a in.Lenglh~ 157 tt. 7 in uH ~ight (to to p of tal I); 48 f ' ! l . 4 ,1 ln. (AI:I m,odelhs ' U J I 1 135 2 F)" liO tt, 8 f n.; , ~ ' : : ; : 2 ' "Q - I~- 5 2 ' l U i ' ;,I~tD' B~ _ I i'- ~ -. IIn 1- I' V { u n , g area (tota], flaps reuaJ(;tedl); 4;.000 sq.ft,Ai ~eron ,area: 107 sqJt..Spoiler a re~:t~49 sq.ft.Flap al~al (exten dsd): 7l1 sq . ft,Asp~'G1 ~atio (mailnpla!10): 8 , 5 5 . .Dihedrall (mainpl l ;i fu-: le): 2.5 !J.[In cl de n o s (malin pilan'e: a ..0 ",T, a r~ I P~ ~ ln , e (horLzon t~ 1 ta i ~ )" span: 62 ft. 4 in., a re a; 90 0 sq ft ..'Wh,e,e ~b~se l :4 9 ft 9, in.Tr a c k .. ilb oa ~ d m a in w h ee ls ;' 6 .2 i 1,o utb oa ~ d r na i n wih e e ls : 1 3 6 in,wi n g t i ip ' IPr ro t~c t li0 1 19e a r : 148 , ft 5, in.C rosswl n d I a n (; Ji~g 9 e a r t ra ve II : 20 Q-

Documents

Boeing B-52A~H Stratofortress_Profile Publications 245