Remaining in operation longer than any bomber in U.S. military history, the B-52 was the Strategic Air Command's principal long-range heavy bomber from the time it became operational in 1955. Affectionately known as the BUFF (Big Ugly Fat Fellow), it first flew on April 15, 1952. Nearly 750 B-52s (170 of them B-52Ds) had been built when production ended in October 1962. The B-52Ds were modified to carry the largest conventional bomb load of any in the series and due to the "Big Belly" and external carriage modifications, it could carry 108 conventional munitions. On January 18, 1957, mid-air refueling enabled B-52s to complete the world's first nonstop around-the-world flight by a jet aircraft. The flight lasted 45 hours, 19 minutes. A B-52 also made the first-known airborne H-bomb drop on May 21, 1956, over Bikini Atoll. B-52s entered combat in June 1965, flying missions in Southeast Asia (SEA). By August 1973, they had flown 126,615 combat sorties with 17 B-52s lost to enemy action.
The aircraft on display (S/N 55-0057) saw extensive service in SEA, logging over 300 combat missions including six during the Linebacker II operation in December 1972. Its 27-year career began in 1956 with the 42nd Bomb Wing at Loring Air Force Base, Maine, and ended 14,204 flying hours later with its final flight to Maxwell on October 11, 1983. It served with numerous bombardment wings and saw combat with the 22nd Bomb Wing, 99th Bomb Wing, and 306th Bomb Wing.
Specifications
Span: 185 ft.
Length: 156 ft. 6 in.
Height: 48 ft. 3 in.
Weight: 450,000 lbs. loaded
Armament: Four .50 cal. machine guns in tail plus 50,000 lbs. of bombs
Engines: Eight Pratt & Whitney J57s of 12,100 lbs thrust each with water-alcohol injection
Crew: Six
Cost: $7,000,000
Performance
Maximum speed: 638 mph
Cruising speed: 526 mph
Range: 8,338 statute miles unrefueled
Service ceiling: 46,200 ft.
This aircraft in on loan from the National Museum of the United States Air Force
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