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| Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
Gallery - Profiles |
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| NB-52A. USAF serial number 52-20003.
The B-52A was the first production series. Three were built and
delivered to the Air Force in the summer of 1954, but they were
immediately returned to Boeing for flight test duties. In the late
1950's, the one shown above was modified to carry the experimental
X-15. Another was assigned to Chanute AFB, Illinois and
permanently grounded for use as a teaching aid at technical school
training center. The third was scrapped. |
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| B-52C. USAF Serial No.
54-2672. This is the 19th of the 35 Model Cs produced. It
was assigned to the 2nd Air Force (number on tail) and the 7th Bomb Wing
at Carswell AFB (shield on nose). This is one of the original
silver finish planes with white underbelly. Note the "O"
that precedes the tail number. It stands for obsolete, indicating
that the plane is more than ten years old. |
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| B-52E USAF serial number 57-0028A,
as she appeared when assigned to the 17th Bomb Wing, based at
Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. She displays the original B-52 finish,
natural metal with white undersides. The latter was a high gloss
paint designed to reflect the heat of a nuclear blast. The SAC milky way band is on
the left side of
her nose, with the SAC crest. The bomb wing's crest was normally
painted on the right side of the nose. Such planes with the backbone of the
deterrent force. |
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| B-52F. USAF serial number
70144. On February 1965, Viet Cong guerillas attacked US forces in
the central highlands of South Vietnam. Four days later the Joint
Chiefs of Staff ordered B-52F squadrons of the 2nd and 320th Bomb Wings
to Okinawa for strategic bombing. Shown above is the "Mekong Express,"
from the 454th Squadron, 320th Bomb
Wing. It has an impressive mission tally on the side of its fuselage. |
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| B-52D, USAF serial number 56-680.
170 "Ds" were produced, more than any other model. In
1966, it was anticipated that the Viet Nam could become
protracted. Rather than risk newer planes to anti-aircraft fire,
it was decided to use the older B-52D, which was then considered
obsolete. Combat modifications included a much larger bomb bay to
carry more conventional weapons and a camouflage paint scheme. The
D flew most of the combat missions. Crews called her the BUFF, an acronym.
Officially, it stands for "Big Ugly Fat Fellow," but the guys who
flew them and worked on them state that the second F as to represents a
more obscene term, one that couldn't be used officially. The term stuck
and B-52s have been called Buffs" ever since. This plane is from the 306th Bomb Wing. |
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| B-52H USAF serial number 10024 was
assigned to the 29th Bomb Wing. BUFFS returning from duty in
Vietnam, were repainted in three tone green over gray scheme that became
known as the Strategic or SIOP scheme. This aircraft has the EVS
system turrets on her nose. |
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| B-52G. USAF serial number 58-0239 of
the 69th Bomb Squadron, 42nd Bomb Wing. It is equipped with EVS.
Shown as it appeared at the "Giant Voice" bomb competition
held at Barksdale AFB, La. in 1974. |
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| B-52G. USAF serial number
76492. "Old Crow Express" saw combat in Operation Desert
Story attacking Iraqi positions in Kuwait. She was with the 379th
Bomb Wing that was based in Saudi Arabia. |
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| B-52H. USAF serial number 00014.
This BUFF was assigned to the 7th Bomb Wing, based at Carswell AFB, Texas
during the early 1990s. All of the B-52s flying today are H models. |
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