Oklahoma City largest single-site employer: Tinker Air Force Base
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Can the Air Force keep B-52 bombers in service for 100 years?
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BaeecIBKB0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BaeecIBKB0)
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The fortunate thing for the B-52 is that they were built like a tank. Boeing built one of the strongest air frames and they built so many of them. At the AMARG base at Davis Monthan in Tuscon has all of the B-52's that were built and still survive in one place. Several of them have been broken up over the years to comply with SALT I and SALT II treaties from the nuclear arms reduction era. They also have a supply of complete air frames and have over the last several years actually brought two out of storage and rebuilt them to replace ones that have been lost.
The other thing that has led to their long life span is that unlike a commercial jet they don't have the number of take off and landing cycles that a passenger jet goes through, and when in flight, the crew area of the plane is the only portion that is pressurized instead of the whole aircraft.
I got to see one of the most famous B-52's back in 2013, Balls 8, one of the B-52's that was used by NASA and the USAF for carrying various experimental aircraft and weapons systems.
https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/balls-8/ (https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/balls-8/)
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(https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-g2GGZSw/0/D5qBJKw7mnG8xBTdcsTkZWZdGH249zQcrSRk7BCGr/L/i-g2GGZSw-L.jpg) (https://kevinallsop.smugmug.com/Miata-pics/n-gvJD8F/i-g2GGZSw/A)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-t3GJdqP/0/DJMtfBkHZMj4vfcLL4KmKxnj7JkZ9DQMPBnqXQxdJ/L/i-t3GJdqP-L.jpg) (https://kevinallsop.smugmug.com/Miata-pics/n-gvJD8F/i-t3GJdqP/A)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-f2L3zgt/0/4xzRppc9f6SdnGV8rfzVkNCSk9nZTL2qpM6Z7RBv/L/i-f2L3zgt-L.jpg) (https://kevinallsop.smugmug.com/Miata-pics/n-gvJD8F/i-f2L3zgt/A)
I interviewed with Boeing back in the late 70's for job doing avionics upgrade work. Got to go climb around in their test fuselage they had in a hanger for doing that work. Beautiful plane! Small cockpit - I got around fine in it then, but I bet I could not fit through the passageways at all now!
Interesting how small the two bomb bays were that I got to see. I thought they would be bigger.
Quote from: heironymouspasparagus on March 01, 2024, 07:08:22 PM
I interviewed with Boeing back in the late 70's for job doing avionics upgrade work. Got to go climb around in their test fuselage they had in a hanger for doing that work. Beautiful plane! Small cockpit - I got around fine in it then, but I bet I could not fit through the passageways at all now!
Interesting how small the two bomb bays were that I got to see. I thought they would be bigger.
It is deceptively small. I could almost place my hand flat on the pylon for carrying aircraft and on the side the outlines of the aircraft and such that this one carried are right at eye level.
Another forum I'm on there was a discussion about why didn't the USAF use the GE9X engine as a replacement on the 52, and they had a hard time understanding that the diameter of the 9X is close to the diameter of the 52's fuselage. From the ground to the top of the fuselage, not the top of the vertical stabilizer, is about 20'. The 9X is roughly 17' in diameter when you include the cowling
Quote from: dbacksfan 2.0 on March 01, 2024, 08:16:28 PM
It is deceptively small. I could almost place my hand flat on the pylon for carrying aircraft and on the side the outlines of the aircraft and such that this one carried are right at eye level.
Another forum I'm on there was a discussion about why didn't the USAF use the GE9X engine as a replacement on the 52, and they had a hard time understanding that the diameter of the 9X is close to the diameter of the 52's fuselage. From the ground to the top of the fuselage, not the top of the vertical stabilizer, is about 20'. The 9X is roughly 17' in diameter when you include the cowling
They look much bigger when flying over you. We were in the panhandle quite a few years ago and a flight of about 9 came flying over at VERY low altitude. Guessing 300-500 ft. or so...? Could very clearly see the rivets. They were also very loud but SO impressive!
My 3rd favorite plane. B-17 number one.
B-1 number 2, since I got to do some work on their systems.
B-52 number 3. Could it just be because of "Dr. Strangelove" movie? No telling...
Have watched some videos about quick response take offs. They have a system worked out for that!
Maybe I'm grumpy here but when did Tinker become part of the Tulsa suburbs???
Quote from: Hoss on March 10, 2024, 10:18:08 AM
Maybe I'm grumpy here but when did Tinker become part of the Tulsa suburbs???
Growing up I always thought of it the other way, that Tulsa was a suburb of OKC.