B-52 became a Boeing triumph

Associated Press

SEATTLE — When he and Tex Johnson took the Boeing B-52 bomber on its first test flight nearly 50 years ago, Guy Townsend knew it was well-designed.

But he never imagined it would still be bombing after all these years.

"Never. None of us ever dreamed the airplane would stay in service this long," Townsend, now 81, said Tuesday from his suburban Mercer Island home. "Three generations have flown the B-52. … By the time it’s retired we ought to have two more generations."

It was 50 years ago Thursday — Nov. 29, 1951 — that the first prototype of the B-52 emerged from Boeing’s south Seattle plant, under cover of night and a huge tarp. The tail fin was folded down to help conceal its radical, eight-engine, swept-wing design.

That prototype was damaged during testing and never flew, but it was followed by a second prototype on March 15, 1952, and the maiden flight came a month later. In the first photographs released to the press, its landing gear was airbrushed out to hide its configuration.

In all, eight models of the B-52 were built over the next decade, a total of 744 planes. About 100 H models, all built in Wichita, Kan., remain in service. The Air Force says it may retain them until 2040.

The B-52 has never been used to its initial potential: dropping hydrogen bombs on a Cold War enemy a continent away. But the Air Force has found other reasons to keep it around — conventional bombing in Vietnam, Iraq and now Afghanistan, photographic reconnaissance and launching missiles.

The 390,000-pound plane has an 185-foot wingspan and can carry a crew of five at up to 650 mph. It can fly as high as 50,000 feet or as low as 200 feet.

In a fast-changing world of laser-guided missiles and stealth bombers, the plane’s longevity is like something out of a much older arsenal, such as the catapult. It has outlasted several other bombers, including the North American B-70 Valkyrie.

"It was a design that had a lot of growth potential," said Al Lloyd, a Strategic Air Command historian and former Air Force officer who works for Boeing. "It was designed to carry nuclear weapons, but it grew as the threat changed, as far as what kind of weapons they could put on it and what kind of electronics can be put on it."

Townsend, who went on to become a brigadier general, agreed.

"We used to have a big, open flight deck," he said. "That’s all full of equipment now. It’s doing a beautiful job."

Others are less excited to see the bomber still in use. It was reviled by the peace movement as an indiscriminate killer and a symbol of the Vietnam War.

Since the 1980s, the B-52s have been upgraded with improved electronics, environmental controls, autopilots, radar and the capability to launch cruise and short-range missiles.

Boeing has suggested replacing the eight engines with four more powerful ones such as those used on the Boeing 757. Meanwhile, many of the B-52s have been destroyed under the SALT II disarmament treaty.

Associated Press