B52 Thread

In 1945, Air Materiel Command issued a request for a new strategic bomber "capable of carrying out the strategic missions without dependence upon bases controlled by other countries.”

It was required to cruise at 300 mph at 34,000 feet with a combat radius of 5,000m

On 5 June 1946, Boeing's 462, a straight-wing aircraft powered by 6 turboprops with a gross weight of 160T and a combat radius of 3,110m was declared the winner.

However, by October the AF expressed concern about the size of the aircraft and its inability to meet requirements.

In December, Boeing was asked to change their design to a 4 engine bomber with a top speed of 400mph, a range of 12,000m and the ability to carry a nuclear weapon.

The outright cancellation of the Boeing contract in Dec 1947 was staved off by a plea from its president and in Jan 1948, Boeing was instructed to thoroughly explore recent technological innovations, including aerial refueling, flying wing, jet engines.

Boeing then laid out what was essentially a new airplane.

The new design (464-49) built upon the basic layout of the B-47 with 35-degree swept wings, 8 engines paired in four underwing pods, and bicycle landing gear with wingtip outrigger wheels.

A notable feature of the landing gear was the ability to pivot them up to 20° from the aircraft centerline to increase safety during crosswind landings.

The YB-52, the second prototype, modified with more operational equipment, first flew on 15 April 1952 with "Tex" Johnston as pilot.

The Air Force then increased its order to 282 B-52s.

The B-52B was followed by progressive improvements with reconnaissance variants, culminating in the B-52G and turbofan B-52H.

Built initially to carry nuclear weapons for the Cold War-era, in total 744 B52s have been produced to date.