The Giant US Aircraft With 8 Engines ! The story of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress

Hi, welcome to the Daily Aviation Channel. This is Mark, and the plane you see here is the B-52 Stratofortress. With a length of 159 feet, a height of 48 feet, and its eight engines, it is one of the most iconic aircraft of the U.S. Air Force. Produced by Boeing in the 1950s, 740 B-52s were built in different versions until 1962, and it has been in service for more than 60 years within the U.S. Air Force, who plans to fly it until 2050. This would make a century of service. The B-52's history begins after World War II. During this time, the U.S. Air Force wanted to retire its old bombers. It asked Boeing to build a plane capable of replacing the B-29 and B-36 Peacemaker. To facilitate the development of the B-52, Boeing decided to reuse the general design of the B-47, which it had built itself some time ago. This new aircraft made its first flight in April 1952 under the name of YB-52, and was put into service in the U.S. Air Force in June 1955. Its efficiency and versatility allowed it to replace the B-36 and the B-47 that quickly became obsolete. A few years later, on January 10, 1964, an incredible event occurred to a B-52. Indeed, during a flight made to test the effect of strong turbulence on the B-52's structure, the rudder of the aircraft broke off in flight. Yet, this accident did not prevent the B-52 from flying five hours without a vertical stabilizer before a safe landing. All crew members were safe and sound. Throughout its history, the B-52 has served as a launch platform several times, mainly for NASA's experimental projects. For example, in 1955, NASA modified a B-52 to use it as a mothership. Nicknamed Balls 8, this aircraft was an integral part of the North American X-15 project. The X-15 was an experimental hypersonic rocket that was built on behalf of NASA and the U.S. Air Force as part of a research program on very high-speed and very high-altitude flights. In practice, the X-15 was hung under the right wing of a B-52 Balls 8, and the separation between the two aircraft took place at a high altitude so that the X-15 could perform its flights that were usually exceeding Mach 5. In 1968, the program was stopped following a severe accident that involved the X-15 some months earlier. But this disaster did not end the Balls 8's career, which continued to serve as a mothership for many other projects. Among these projects, there is the X-43 Scramjet, an unmanned aircraft powered by the atmospheric ramjet, which was created and tested on behalf of NASA as part of the HyperX program in the late 1990s. In 2004, the X-43 launched from the B-52 Balls 8 and achieved a speed record of Mach 9. Some years later, Boeing built the X-51, the successor to the X-43, which flew for the first time in 2010, but this time under the wings of another B-52. The X-51 achieved a top speed of Mach 5 in May 2013. The B-52 is equipped with eight Pratt & Whitney TF-33s installed in four pods located under the wings. These engines provide enough power to propel the plane up to a maximum of Mach 0.8. And although they were produced more than 50 years ago, the U.S. Air Force still plans to keep the engine TF-33 for many more years. The B-52 has a wingspan so large that it needs stabilizing wheels installed at the ends of the wings to prevent them from touching the ground. These wheels retract once the B-52 is in flight. To increase its range or avoid landing during a mission, the B-52 can be refueled in mid-air. But due to its huge size, the B-52 must slowly approach the tanker aircraft, and pilots of both aircraft must be cautious not to approach within 100 feet of each other to avoid a dramatic collision. And to land, the B-52 is equipped with a giant parachute to slow it down when it has to land on short runways or during emergency landings. With a length of over 90 feet, every time it is used, the parachute must be repacked and it takes many hours. Several U.S. Air Force airmen must pay attention to the slightest details in order to have a perfect deployment of the parachute. The crew of the B-52 consists of five members, the pilot, the co-pilot, the weapons systems officer, the navigator, and the electronic warfare officer. All of these members must share the cramped space inside the aircraft and have to climb inside the B-52 using a ladder located under the plane. In 1991, it was decided to remove the tail gunner post that became obsolete because of new missile technologies. Since that time, the guns located in the tails have all been removed from the U.S. Air Force B-52. The B-52 has enjoyed an exceptional longevity. It has remained in service despite the B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit that were supposed to replace it. And the B-52 could also remain in service after these two planes are decommissioned. A legend is born. 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