Last B52G dies today!!!

[TucsonVTXF]

http://www.kswt.com/story/24243432/...-dismantled-at-tucson-base-under-start-treaty

 

[M35A2-AZ]

Sad day for USA.

My Father in-law was a officer on a B52G. He had to eject out of it and was one of the two that made it out.

 

[3dAngus]

I don't think this is the end of the B52s.... yet.

It is the end of the designated number of B52Gs that were identified as ones that had to be eliminated in terms of nuke carrying quantity.

The B52 still flies today, it is just that the quantity has been reduced by 39 in accordance with the START treaty.

As Maddawg correctly points out below, the B-52H still lives today in at least 2 different bases at Barksdale and MInot.

 

[maddawg308]

No worries - the USAF plans to keep the B-52H in service until the early 2040s, making the youngest of the fleet 80 years old. Gotta luva BUFF.

 

[steelypip]

The Ds were mostly cut up for START compliance back when, but a number survive at museums. Between the G and D model, I'm personally fond of the D because it had the biggest tactical footprint, biggest bomb bay (big belly mod), a better bomb/nav radar system, the bleed air powered generator and hydraulic buses, a better paint job, the iconic tall black tail, and the flexible wings that eventually doomed them even after a rebuild. They also burnt water on takeoff for extra thrust on hot days, which made a warm-weather MITO of D models even more fun to watch and hear than one of G models.

The Gs hung on longer, but have been going to the guillotine for a long time now. I see that ten Gs are on display, versus 24 B52Ds. If they were all flyable, that would be two squadrons of Ds versus less than one surviving of the G model.

The H was the last of the line, and an oddball in a lot of ways - There was a Gatling gun aft instead of the four .50s all other Bufs shipped with, they had mellow, quiet turbofans for their engines (instead of the noise and smoke generator that is a J57), and they were purpose built to be missile haulers. It was a really big deal when they finally got pulled out of SIOP and into contingency use. Now they're all that's left on active duty of the 744 BUFs built.

Interestingly, only one F model survives. They were gone from the active inventory by the time I was aware of them. Even more interestingly to me, that one F model was shipped overland(!) from Oklahoma City, OK to Palmdale, CA in 2006, which must be quite a story - definitely an oversize load by any measure.

 

[Bill W]

Whats START??
I thought it was per S.A.L.T. (I II) agreements that we started cutting them up and leaving them out in the open so Soviet sattilites could confirm the disposal

 

[B3.3T]

Google is your friend. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/START_I

 

[insanejecke]

what a waste why not sale it to us? am sure some of our member's would love to park one in there back yard.

 

[Another Ahab]

The H was the last of the line, and an oddball in a lot of ways - There was a Gatling gun aft instead of the four .50s all other Bufs shipped with, they had mellow, quiet turbofans for their engines (instead of the noise and smoke generator that is a J57), and they were purpose built to be missile haulers. It was a really big deal when they finally got pulled out of SIOP and into contingency use. Now they're all that's left on active duty of the 744 BUFs built.

Living here in Alexandria, right outside DC, we see all kinds of aircraft for funeral flyovers in Arlington National Cemetery (ANC). And I'll attest to the smoke pouring out the multi-twin engines of a B-52 Stratofortress. It surprised me: black and heavy.

 

[wreckerman893]

If you like to read there is a book, "Flight of the Old Dog", a fictional account of a B-52 combat mission.
The BUFF is an amazing aircraft.
I think I remember reading that one of the pilots flew the same aircraft his grandfather flew.

 

[TucsonVTXF]

http://azstarnet.com/metro-b-demolition/article_3730f51f-c395-592c-a167-719dcf079098.html