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OT: B-52 crashed at Edwards AFB

DawgsGoneWild

DawgsGoneWild

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Crazy. My office is about 1/2 mile off the end of the runway for Barksdale AFB in Bossier. Those things are awesome to watch all day
 
thatsbaseball

thatsbaseball

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mstateglfr

mstateglfr

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Given the fleet's age, it is amazing these are still in use and plan to be used for decades to come.
Really impressive.
I wonder how many are a sort-of Ship of Theseus at this point.
 
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RocketDawg

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thatsbaseball said:
First of all I hope the crew is OK . Those planes are basically irreplaceable aren't they ?
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I don't know if the crew escaped or not. As far as I know, the B-52 doesn't have ejection seats/capability like fighters do. I also don't know how many were onboard, but AI says a standard crew is 5 individuals.
 
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Darryl Steight

Darryl Steight

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Two of those exact Stratofortresses did the flyover for the USMNT match at Soldier Field last Saturday. It was an amazing sight. The wingspans are impressive and I can't imagine one going down. Praying for the crew and anyone involved in this crash.
 
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POTUS

POTUS

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Wikipedia says they have ejection seats but the crew besides pilot and co-pilot have downward seats. Not sure if that would work if it’s low the ground.
 
BossDawg78

BossDawg78

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TaleofTwoDogs said:
My father was a EWO on the 52 in the early 60's. We would watch them take off from a vantage point just yards from the end of the runway. Awesome sight and you leave wondering how that beast can fly.
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It's pretty mind blowing that they can get off the ground. With the size of those wings, I'm sure it produces enough lift to get a small ship off the ground. It's also neat to see one (or any gigantic plane) up close and look at all the intricate piping and wiring within the wheel wells and such. It's incredible to think of the engineers and designers who started with drawings on a piece of paper and ended with a war machine where everything from front to back works together.
 
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DAWGSANDSAINTS

DAWGSANDSAINTS

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Saw these back in the day at CAFB Open Houses. My Dad worked there and we would go every year.
Amazing how big those planes are.
 
BrunswickDawg

BrunswickDawg

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Aug 22, 2012
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TaleofTwoDogs said:
My father was a EWO on the 52 in the early 60's. We would watch them take off from a vantage point just yards from the end of the runway. Awesome sight and you leave wondering how that beast can fly.
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I grew up in the flight path for Dobbins AFB/Lockheed - GA when they were refitting the C-5's in the early 80's. Different kind of monster, but I always had the same thought about how could something that big fly.
 
Darryl Steight

Darryl Steight

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BossDawg78 said:
It's pretty mind blowing that they can get off the ground. With the size of those wings, I'm sure it produces enough lift to get a small ship off the ground. It's also neat to see one (or any gigantic plane) up close and look at all the intricate piping and wiring within the wheel wells and such. It's incredible to think of the engineers and designers who started with drawings on a piece of paper and ended with a war machine where everything from front to back works together.
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The B-52 wingspan is 185'. So the width of that plane is basically from one goal line of a football field - past midfield - to the opposite 39 yard line.
 
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aTotal360

aTotal360

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Napoleon378 said:
They're incredible airframes that are easily upgradeable with modern weapons and tech. Much more cost effective to upgrade a good airframe than to design and build a brand new one like we have had to do with our fighters and smaller bombers
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I get it. However, at some point, there must be diminishing returns to using a 60-year-old frame.

And, yes, I get that this incident could have been caused by modern software.
 
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Napoleon378

Napoleon378

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aTotal360 said:
I get it. However, at some point, there must be diminishing returns to using a 60-year-old frame.

And, yes, I get that this incident could have been caused by modern software.
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for sure. The other thing to note is the modern US military doesn't have a huge need for a large fleet of non-stealth heavy bombers anyway. So, we could go spend billions on R&D and produce a new slightly better version of the B52 but it's just not worth it. Our fleet of B1B's, B-2's, and future B21's will do the job.
 
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She Mate Me

She Mate Me

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For anyone somewhat “in the know”, what kind of testing is done on these multi decade old airframes to determine age related stress/weakness??
 
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RocketDawg

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aTotal360 said:
I get it. However, at some point, there must be diminishing returns to using a 60-year-old frame.

And, yes, I get that this incident could have been caused by modern software.
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It's going to be interesting to see what the investigation turns up. They're estimating 6 months. But this plane had 8 brand new Rolls Royce engines, from what I read, upgraded radar, and other improvements. I suspect that maintenance will be a big part of the investigation. I also read that the test flight had been delayed in days past. Hopefully they merely weren't in a hurry to meet a schedule like NASA was with Challenger.

Aside - one of my most vivid memories was at Edwards when I was going to a test one morning just at sunrise. Heading toward me was the Atlantis (space shuttle Orbiter) being delivered from Palmdale atop the 747. It flew right over my car, at several thousand feet.
 
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The Peeper

The Peeper

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aTotal360 said:
I'm a little shocked they still use planes built in the 50s and 60s.
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I heard last night they aren't being phased out until 2050's so planning on getting 100ish years out of them (the original design) before replacement. They said most flying today were built in the 60's, mere youngsters compared to those 1950's built ones**
 
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