I recently saw a show that I though stated that the B 52’s in sevice now are about 30 years old. Someone has informed be that the last B 52 came of the assembly line in 1962 making it closer to 45 years ago. Does anyone know when the last B 52’s that are in service now came of the assembly line?
Soulcrusher[oX)]
as per Wickapidia the B-52 made its 1st flight in April 1952, I remember seeing them in the early 60’s at WPAFB in Ohio with the B-47’s
I was a Crew Chief on B-52H’s at Min(dr)ot AFB, ND, from 9/89 to 4/93. Our “newest” birds were built in '61. There may have been something built in '62, but I’ve never seen it. I remember the first time I found out I was going to be working on the BUFF, I didn’t even know they were still in the inventory! The ones used for training at Sheppard AFB, TX, were “D” and “E” models, and man were they UGLY! The “G” and “H” models looked a little meaner in my book, with the shorter tail and the chin bubbles that looked like jowles to me. After a while they kind of grew on you and you begin to love them a little more. In '93 I went to Whiteman AFB, MO, to work on the B-2A’s and it felt like I’d gone from a dinosaur to the future overnight. At least when something had gone wrong with the BUFF, the chances were good that it had been experienced before and someone knew what to do to fix it, not so with the “SPIRIT”.
From Boeing “In all, 744 B-52s were produced by Seattle, Wash., and Wichita, Kan., plants between 1952 and 1962.” Let’s look at this. The current in service H model made its first flight in '61, so that gives a year before the line closed. 744 were made in 10 years, so that comes out to about 74.4 a year. At a average of 75 a year, assuming they are all still in service, the year is 1962.
I’m at work and don’t have the time to research it, but I’d be curious to know which Ser. No.'s were built in '62 and where they are now. Like I said, all of them that I’ve ever seen or worked on were built in '61. I’m not saying I’ve seen or worked on them all, but I’ve never even heard of a tail number starting with a “2”. They were either “00__” or “10__”.
Boeing built 102 H models, all at Wichita, Kansas. The last one came off of the line June 22, 1962 and was delivered to the USAF’s 4136th Strategic Wing at Minot AFB on October 26, 1962. The serial number was 61-040, indicating it was ordered or paid for in fiscal year 1961. The AMT/ERTL kit of the H model has decals for this bird when it was stationed at Fairchild AFB.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Thanks yardbird. I was really wondering about the accuracy of the info on the show.
Soulcrusher[oX)]
The information probably was reasonably accurate at the time the show was produced. A lot of those shows are 10 or 20 or more years old.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
Ah yes, I forgot that the serial number was based on when the contract was requisitioned/paid for, not when it was completed. I’ve actually worked on 1040. Thanks Darwin.