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What makes the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress so long-lasting?
When Michael Riggs started work on the Boeing B-52 programme almost 20 years ago, the newly-hired engineering graduate expected Boeing would soon move him off the Stratofortress programme. “I thought it was going to be kind of a short stint, because it was an old aircraft. I thought it was an old aircraft because my dad flew it in Vietnam. So I thought, ‘Hey, I'll spend a little time on here and I'm going to need to look for another platform to be working on’,” he says. (www.flightglobal.com) עוד...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
I crawled over a B52 in the aviation museum at Darwin. What an amazing aircraft. Very interesting to see the technology of over 60 years ago. None of this hydraulic stuff, control surfaces were activated by cables. The cockpit would have made Biggles proud. What was impressive was the bank of eight throttles.
"Bombers B-52" - Available now on Amazon Video $2.99 for rental or $5.99 for your very own copy! Yee Ha! :-)
Being born on a B-52 base a few years after their introduction, I can only hope I last as long as they have. The nice thing about airframes with realatively low flight hours is that thet can keep flying for years. As far as metal fatigue, it should not be too hard to create a CNC program, load up a piece of metal and cut it to specifications. Surely there are design prints, somewhere with the dimensions of each piece that makes up the plane, laying around.
Having worked on various joint service programs over my career, I met an old timer who led the contractual negotiations for the government with Boeing. He said the entire initial acquisition contract for the B-52 aircraft program fit into ONE 3 inch binder. Today, that size would only cover a moderate upgrade to an aircraft!
I am sure... and that is probably an Understatement!
Right truck for the right trucking company, at the right time. Really good Luck.