Detailed tour through a B-52 Stratofortress

JUST TO THINK, THIS AIRCRAFT WAS FLYING 2 YRS. BEFORE I GRADUATED HI SCHOOL, I AM NOW 83 YRS. OLD ! AMAZING !!!! MADE OF THE RIGHT STUFF !

"This is a Boeing B-52 lets take a look at its quirks and features and then we'll give it a Doug Score."

Former B-52 EWO here. Wanted to correct a few misunderstandings. Regarding your story about ECM and ATC, no... just, no. First, during peacetime, we're squawking via an IFF transponder, so we wouldn't be invisible to air traffic control. We also don't fly around actively jamming or doing so indiscriminately because if we were jamming an airport surveillance radar, it's not only not seeing us, it's not seeing anyone else. Also, there is no radar absorbent material on a B-52, or at least not for the purpose of rendering the aircraft less visible on radar. While serrations are used to scatter incoming RF on some aircraft, those on the B-52 tail wouldn't have that effect. That said, given the proximity of the ALQ-153 TWS on the vertical stabilizer, it might be related to it (although having spent 8 years and 2000+ hours in the B-52, no one has ever mentioned that, so...). Fun fact: Going to the "loo," aka "honey bucket" is taboo for the obvious issue of aroma. Having flown a Global Power mission, we carried a chemical camp toilet. Also, the urinal is close to very hot electronic equipment, so it tends to simmer, which lends to the distinctive aroma inside the cockpit. Good times.

MY dad flew one of these in the VIETNAM war. I still remember us going on base and him letting me see all of the planes. I sure do miss him and his stories!!

This is the most comprehensive and straightforward tour of a B-52 I’ve ever seen.

Really enjoyed the tour. I was the co-pilot on this particular tail number "596" on 1Apr73 on a night bombing mission from Guam to Vietnam. Brings back lots of memories.

So, when the B-52 is finally retired, it will have flown for over a 100 years. That is crazy crazy crazy incredible! What a plane!

This one was built in 1959 and it still looks futuristic now. Incredible plane.

Been there, done that, tail number 2596 was one of the BUFF's I worked. Spend several years of my young life crawling through every inch of B-52G's. It's amazing where they used to stick Electronic Countermeasures Equipment on BUFF's. Everything from the nose to the top of the tail. We had to fix it all and fix all RF paths and electrical wiring (including the Chaff Dispensers in the Wing and Flare Dispensers in the Rear). It was a great job, though sometimes stinky, dirty, cold/hot, and everything in between.

The Bell X-1 precedes the B-52 by about 6 years and was dropped from the bomb bay of a modified B-29 and later a B-50. You might be thinking of the North American X-15 which was released from a hardpoint mounted on the aircraft's wing between 1959 and 1968.

As a child my husband was inside one of these at the airshow in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. It was returning to America from Vietnam and the crew took a side trip to the airshow. He remembers the USAF crew being very friendly and kind with children. They made a big positive impression on my husband who was 12 years old at the time. God bless America, NORAD, Canada and NATO.

I had no idea there were more than two people flying in these planes until I watched this. Thanks.

As a former taingunner we only used the water injection on take off for extra thrust. You could actually feel it when it kicked in. Great video, brings back a lot of memories.

Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in the X-1 in 1947, he was carried aloft by a B-29. The B-52 carried the X-15.

When I was a small child, my kindergarten teacher was married to a B-52 pilot. For our field trip we were allowed on a USAF base and were allowed to crawl through the B-52 and the KC-135. The B-52 variant we were in still had the crew station in the rear with the quad .50's and it was tiny there. The coolest part of the trip though was the large matted surface in the KC-135 where the crewmember laid and looked out the windows to fly the boom.

USAF Veteran: Mather AFB, 320th, B-52G’s 1968-71. AMS “Black Hats” worked on the Terrain Avoidance and Bomb Navigation Systems. Lucky to be on “Flying Status” for approximately one year. All good, lot’s of good friends, good memories and a great job at a young age.

You should have crawled down the back end. The one at Duxford in UK had graffiti from the Vietnam war era scratched into the main bulkhead, including mission dates and bomb tallys. Very cool.

I was a crew chief on the B52G from 83 to 87 assigned to the 379th OMS Wurtsmith AFB. MI. I was on flight status and loved to sit in the IP seat between the pilot and co-pilot. Working on the BUFF was the best time of my life.

I was a respiratory therapist with the World Famous Army Flight Team. On a very sketchy instrument landing in a C-120 into Minot AFB one frosty February Sunday morning. The instrument warning " MINIMUM. MINIMUM" the whole way to the runway. The fog suddenly cleared and all we could see for the whole length of the runway was B-52's! Parked next to one another, nose and tail, left and right all the way down the runway. It was the first day the 24/7 B-52 patrols had been "stood - down" by President Bush. It was awesome and eerie at the same time.

Thank you for the guided tour of my old office. I was a member of The Strategic Air Command and began flying F-111's. When my Aardvark was retired, I got the "keys" to my very own BUFF! My late father was an Admiral in the US Navy and was not pleased when I decided to enlist into the US Air Force vs US Navy. He worked on General Electric jet engine designs in the 1950's and 1960's. He had taught me how to fly many years before I learned how to drive a car. I prefer flying, less traffic! The only saving Grace my father allowed was I at "least" I would use engines he had designed. The US Navy had nixed the F-111 so my father was unsure of its air worthiness. I no longer fly because I am a terrible back seat driver!