Boeing B-52 Stratofortress: 100 Years of Service
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 เม.ย. 2020
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Awesome fact: there is 1 b52 in service currently that has been flown by 3 generation of pilots from the same family. So it was flown by a grandfather, father, and son. THAT is amazing for ANY kind of craft be it military or otherwise.
Ok ..you win!
Talk about a family business, eh?
That is the one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard 😎
I actually heard from a couple different sources that the fourth generation of that family is at the Air Force academy now and hopes to really fly a B-52 I hope the Air Force lets him cuz that would be cool
All this really says is that either daddy or grandpa achieved the rank of colonel or better. Probably both. Nepotism is rife in the American military, it just moves along tribal not familial lines. Its actually a pretty beneficial bit of corruption, if there's anything to be learned from the example of the British Royal Navy.
I'm now retired, [I'll be 70 in a few months], but both my father and myself flew these beasts. As the Oldsmobile ads used to say, "This isn't your Grandfather's Oldsmobile". However, you CAN say, "This is your Father's B-52". We actually both flew the same aircraft.
Wow! Now THAT'S some history!
That's pretty freaking cool! :D
I am 73 and I was a hydraulic tech from 6/67 to 6/71 , great airplane C & D models at Kadena and G models in the states.
That's awesome bro. Most dad's would just hand over the keys to a car. Tell you that it sticks a little in third and have you off.
I know for sure of at least one Airman who flew the same B-52 as his father, and grandfather
Not quite sure why people say it’s ugly, i think it looks rather magnificent.
Forza Martini it’s a beautiful plane... so very elegant in its clean lines!
Have any of you seen an avro vulcan?
@@TheFPF422 It sure is beautiful and for any plane to be able to last almost 100 years without breaking up from metal fatigue alone is a testament to those who designed and built her, truly an incredible plane!
@@mcduck5 British bombers of that age look good but they went obsolete in less then 30 years.
It doesn't make B-52 ugly. It's just not super-fancy looking but not ugly either while beating every other fancy looking bomber hands down in terms of range, operational costs and ease of maintenance.
@@glennweyant8566 You realise that they replace the wings and other essential parts every now and then right? If it were the original B-52s they'd all have crashed.
12:30
"Yeah we almost blew up one of the Carolinas.
But that's why we got two of them."
Was (Not Was) - I Blew Up The United States
I've looked at the map. Mom was pregnant with me just outside the blast zone. If they saw mushroom clouds in Las Vegas from 4 kiloton blasts, she would have seen quite a sight that day from a 4 megaton blast, had the bomb's tritium reservoir been released and a couple of other dominoes been standing.
I think of things that happened in the US we know and wonder about things in the USSR we'll never know about.
Don’t knock the B52s(the band), they are the world’s greatest party band!!! They may be getting old, but they are a blast, especially in smaller venues!!
God blessed us with a spare.
I live in one of them!
I still insist that while not a green screen, if you compile the backgrounds of the various Simon channels, we have hopes of piecing together the room that Simon is being held captive in and being forced to pump out channel after channel for the masses.
Maybe it's all just CGI, it'd take more effort and money to create individual hair strands in CGI so they just made AI Simon without hair, I'm sure there's a room like that in counter strike go or something.
And possibly the basement danny is chained to a radiator in
@@simonkimberly6956 I wonder why BB is the only channel in which he says who the script is written by. I really enjoys Danny's scripts, his off on a tangent style is very entertaining.
That and the morse coded "help me" eye blinks. Of course.
Poor poor Danny, he won't keep his mouth shut
The last B-52 rolled off the assembly line in 1962. When they retire in 2045, they will all be at least 83 years old. Damned impressive.
I believe the B-52 is the only aircraft with a service life long enough to qualify for retirement age.
the@@ManiaMac1613 the dc3 has out lasted the b52
"They don't build them like they used to"? Why would they? They still have the old ones!
For more B-52s, of course.
That phrase is mostly used for the entirety of a product (in this case aircraft), in which the products made on the assembly line today aren't made with as much gusto, quality, or lifetime use, as they were in the past.
So, they don't build bombers today like they used to: reports differ, but in all likelihood both the B-1 and the B-2 could be wholly replaced by the B-21. Both the B-1 and the B-2 would then have shorter and underused lifespans compared to the B-52, suggesting that the USAF doesn't build bombers like they used to (to last perhaps a century, as the B-52 has potential for).
Because they were made in the USA not some third world shithole like the PRC (yes, they are third world because the average citizen does not live a sufficient lifestyle to be first world) the rich don’t count.
Why is there a quotation mark at the beginning and not at the end, it seems like you copied someone else's comment and forgot to copy the quote at the end
@@intergalactic_butterfly You missed the point of the comment
That was the best episode of Binging with Babish so far.
Hahahahaha
Id said I hate you, but im pretty sure these guys are related somehow
Best comment
So I am not the only one ...
Not Vsauce?
When I was in the Air Force 5 years ago, I was told pretty commonly that the last B-52 pilot's mother hadn't yet been born.
The last B-52 pilot's mother hadn't yet been born, 5 years ago?
@@BrightBlueJim I'm not saying it was true, just how commonly I was told that the B-52 would be around forever. To be honest, I won't be surprised if even the 2045 retirement date of the BUFF is too optimistic; after the F-35's nightmare development, I'm not optimistic about the B-21 actually being ready by then.
This man appears to be trying to replace all documentary studios in the world singlehandedly. Is it legal to have a monopoly on documentaries?
@luca kro: Did you hear a distant roar in the sky above you as the joke flew over your head, or did you reply with sincerity because you wanted to?
Distant roar of a B52...?
The history guy would whoop his ass.
He's a match for Brady Haran and his 201 edutainment channels.
I told him before that if he keeps it up, he'll have to make a Top Tenz Simon Whistler channels video, so.
My hotel was at the end of a runway where these craft were about 75 feet high on take off. This was the loudest sound I'd ever heard: the ground shook, my colleague could not hear me shout even a couple of feet from his ear. It demands total respect.
I can still recall being 4 years old, living on Taiwan, and watching as the B-52s took off from a nearby Air Base at a rate of about one per minute during the escalation phase of the Vietnam War.
In one particularly unnerving incident, of which I was blissfully unaware being only 4 years old, a B-52 actually lost one of its 500-pound bombs and it dropped only a half a block from our house. My friends and I heard the bomb crash into an open field, so naturally we all ran over there to investigate. To the absolute HORROR of the BDU (Bomb Disposal Unit) that showed up to deal with the unexploded ordnance, us kids were playing with it and clambering all over it, even banging on it with rocks to see if we could get inside! OMG! Wow! If I only knew then what I know now.
Eh. Children can be dumb.
That’s a great story
I have a book about the Vietnam War and that incident was mentioned in it by the author. I cannot remember the title or the author, it has been several years since I have read the book.
An old TV series called Navy Log, i think, one episode had 2 kids playing with a bomb on Guam, maybe. Dad was EOD, he and an expert from the states deactivated it. Cool video on TH-cam somewhere.
@@Melonist not so much dumb as blissfully unaware.
When the last B2 is retired, its crew will be shuttled back home on a B52.
A Huey
Prolly catch a HOP on a C-130
Oof
@William Hutchinson Why a tanker?
Herky Bird :p
This is like Modern Marvels with the added benefit of NOT being on the History Channel.
@Bernhard Jordan 😆😭💀
Who the hell still watches TV channels? If it's worth watching just get a VPN and download it on RARBG. I quit watching TV when it went digital, din't even bother getting a converter box and trashed the analog CRT TV when I moved a few years later.
@@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718
Good for you. . . 😒
I miss that show.
You mean the moonshineing American Pickers of the swamp people channel?
The narrator: "operation crome dome"
Me: notices narrators bald head.
Chrome...
@@REDVETTExxx correct
The only thing that came to my mind is that mustard talking about the same thing
How did you miss mentioning the dramatic role B-52's played in "Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb" ? The image of Slim Pickens waving his cowboy hat is one of the true classics in all of film history. (Note: the voice of Darth Vader was one of the plane's crewmen.)
The B-52 is a great example of the saying If it's not broke, don't fix it.
If only you knew how broke it was....
@@brandonbarber6797 Its been flying since the 1950s and will continue flying until the 2050s. It doesn't sound so broke to me.
It's been in bad need of a re-engine since it entered service. The one in the 60s was fairly useless with how fast engines were advancing at that time, and it's worth noting all of the potential new engines are just retooled Buisness Jet engines.
@@ralphjackson2518 As long as the engines work is all that matters.
It's actually always broke. Just broke and flying.
It isn't fast or stealthy, but when you just need a flying dump truck for bombs and/or missiles, call the B-52s.
I assume "fast" is the B-1 and "stealthy" is the B-2
@@joabes7710 The B-1B also has a greater payload capacity in its 3 bays, than the B-52 has total including the wing pylons. The Spirit performs the decapitation strike from on high, the BONE brings the noise (the engines are deafening in close proximity when the afterburner is lit) with the LRASM or JASSM-ER, and the BUFF lays waste to whatever is left standing with conventional gravity bombs, laser guided bombs, or stand-off missiles.
@@Drummin003 yeah right!
Speed and stealth are for surprise, surgical,and short range operations.
The B52 is for long range strategic overwhelming operations.
@@smainebelhadi1193 But they are all so incredibly slow compared to ballistic missile warheads.
The Stratofortress is a naming convention which includes the Flying Fortress and the Super Fortress
Dayton is home to a very advanced Air Force research and testing center.
And yes the design change was that casual.
No, the B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-29 Superfortress both had fortress at the end, so combined with its jet engines and high altitude, they named it after a portion of the atmosphere, the Stratosphere, making Stratofortress.
@@DoggosGames You literally just described what a naming convention is, only dumber.
@@noonedude101not really, your comment was more retarded than his
"Dayton, Ohio: The everleading edge of aeronautics."
*Stares in Wright-Patterson*
Where Air Force manages all their new aircraft design programs. Only Edwards AFB is more known due to the actual testing, and Palmdale. Dayton, also home of the Wright brothers. Come on Simon!
Yeah, sometime Simon gets a little too snarky for his own good.
Video Suggestions:
1. Nimitz Class Carriers
2. Typhoon Class Submarines
3. Saturn V Rocket
Josh VerSchneider All fantastic suggestions!
Nice bro
The typhoon subs are vodka fueled
Virginia class attack subs, those new ones!! They're the definition of silent!
Check mark next to typhoon
Slim Pickens donning his cowboy hat with James Earl Jones in the bombardier's seat and George C Scott describing their flight, will always be burned into my memory of the B-52
And to think ALL the B-52 interiors were FAKE! Kubrick's propmasters and set designers did a superb job!
@@mikecowen6507: It's my understanding, perhaps as an extra on the DVD release, that the accuracy stirred a security concern. I don't remember what was said about their technical advisors, whose knowledge helped in creating the set.
Gen Turgidson
th-cam.com/video/UxLe8MWdWe0/w-d-xo.html
I have that movie on DVD. It's a classic.
@@bicyclist2 "Hello, Dimitry? ..."
4:10: "Almost unparalleled with other military equipment." .
A/C of a similar age that are still in service in the USAF:
C130 1954 (+2Y), KC135 and the U2 1955 (+3Y), T-38 1961 (+7). The UH-1 Huey [Training variant] 1959 (+5Y)
Long story short, if it fills a niche role, and does it well, there is no need to replace an airframe.
Also if we are nitpicking "equipment" that honour probably goes to the M1911. 109 Y/O and still in limited service.
The J model c130 is redesigned completely from the ground up... other than the basic shape. It's all new.
The Army still uses the M113. First accepted in 1960.
Finnish Defence Forces still uses sniper rifles with core parts from Mosin Nagants built for the Russian Tsars army. Those are from 1800's.
Browning M2 .50 BMG machinegun. Developed by John Browning in 1918 and went into service in 1921. Still being built and issued all over the world.
MG3, rechambered MG42 in 7.62x51 NATO, still in use today.
”Peace is our job. Bombing is just a hobby."
- something I read back in magazine a long time ago.
I would feel more offended as an American at the constant haranguing but then I sit back and think about what the world would be like today if any of the other 1st world nations had the same military power as the US. Which makes me feel pretty secure and forgiving.
"Peace through superior firepower" is my favourite..
As an Air Force member and someone who sees these every day, I do sometimes forget how incredible they are, and it is interesting to me to see someone not in the US Air Force talk about them and be excited about how cool they are.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, as a 12 year old living in LA, I looked to the B-52 as our protector and savior which would take the Soviet Union out if they attacked us. The NIKE bases around LA also made us feel safer. I know we were scared and looked to the armed forces to protect us but especially the USAF to stop the Soviet Bombers if they came over the polar region. Thank God that never happened... My daughter is an AF Veteran and served most of her time at Mountain Home AFB. She worked in encryption and computers as an E-6.
@@Code3forever Our family lived on Elmendorf, and many others. We went to school on base with civilian teachers. Minutes away from Russian ICBMS . F-4 phantoms and C-130s circled the base in good weather. My dad was a Navy Recruiter, and life was good. I looked at B-52s and be -58s to be our heroes in the "We still can kill them if they kill us first" mentality that is now long gone, so it seems. This was the '70's, and there was no duck and cover. This was a much different world than the one we would face in civilian life, even after his 20 year career.
@@MaveRick-on2cm When the Missile Crisis took place, us children were told that these drills would and could save our lives. Seeing film clips on TV of the B-52 and B-58 Hustler was mentally reassuring. I was surprised in 1970 when I became a policeman in a medium size city in LA County that there was no civil defense anymore and the civil defense signs on buildings in and around LA were from the past when I was a kid. I realized then, and then understood the idea of MAD and that there was no place to run or hide if the buttons were pushed. I will never forget Admiral Hyman Rickover, the designer of the nuclear submarine, telling Congress before his death around 1980 that based on the number of nuclear weapons the US and the Soviet Union possessed at that time, that he calculated there was enough to destroy the earth 5,000 times over. Even with a reduction of the total number today, man is capable of destroying our world 500 times over. Because I lived through those times, the thought of nuclear war always plays in my mind.
The B-52s never sounded bad. Plane or band. I'm at a mall on a diet pill, baby. Tin roof, rusted! Jet exhaust frying chickens in the barnyard!
I once made something for a B-52 when I was at Boeing Aerospace at Plant 2 in Seattle. I don't recall what it was. I made parts for Minuteman missiles and even, it seems preposterous now, hydrofoils. This was in the early 90s.
Previously, I had made parts for the Rockwell B-1B Lancer (specifically a bombardier control bulkhead) and of course, that infinite crater of taxpayer dollars, the B-2. We used to joke that the B-2 was made of brackets, since every part (unclassified, of course) was called a "bracket". What a dog of a plane the B-2 is. The B-52 was essentially sketched out over a weekend and it's still in service. Even adjusted for inflation, the purchase price of a B-52 wouldn't buy you the owner's manual for a B-2. On diskettes.
This comment was fucking wild, and uniquely entertaining.
Ahh man.... The B-1B is my favorite plane. While not intentional, that is the sexiest plane without question. Concorde fans, fight me.
My best friend works at Northrop Grumman and is doing.... some work.... on the B-21. Obviously, he can't tell me much at all, but what does seem clear is that the industrial military complex is a money black hole full of wild inefficiency, favoritism, and a place for ex-military to go into to make a huge salary while practically doing nothing.
@@BRUXXUS yup, my dad recently retired from Northrop after 26 years which came after a 20 year USAF career and was paid well, verywell, as an NDI tech.
Maybe with this coin change shortage, Simon doesn't have any jukebox money.
n i c e
The ship you spoke of in the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests was the battleship USS New York, it survived two nuclear tests and was studied and retired two years later. When it was retired it took eight hours of barrage from other ships and aircraft. Probably the toughest ship ever built of it's time.
Didnt the USS Nevada survive 2 nukes, and like,,, over 4 days of CONSTANT bombardment by most US ships???
I remember in the 80's when the false defcon 1 scramble happened and seeing squadrons of fully loaded B52s take off from Everett Washington flying over Abbotsford B.C. to USSR going bat sht fast and low, we knew right away what would happen in 10 to 20 minutes if it wasn't an exercise(Witch We never saw B52s ever do this before) and thankfully never again.
I was stationed in the Pentagon's Nat. Mil. Command Center when that happened. Worked on the display systems that the powers that be made their decisions on. Some idiot in C. Mountain put a training tape online and caused it all. That whole thing got fixed real quickly!
My parents were stationed at Barksdale and my mom told me when she went to sleep the night before all the B-52's had been there and when she woke up that early morning they were all gone every one and apparently i think somewhere in the middle east had gotten absolutely leveled like the next day. And yep love hearing stories in these comments since im only 21 myself many of which happened wayyyy before my time
I was a crew chief on the tanker. We went on enhanced alert several times, repositioning the tankers to the end of the runway, for faster response. We never did find out what prompted the move.
I'll have to run up the BS flag on "squadrons of B-52s" taking off from Everett, WA, seeing as the closest Buff base was at Fairchild in Spokane.
@@barrygrant2907 7^
One of the great things about it is the landing gear. It has 4 struts, instead of the usual 3. And all of them can rotate the wheels to align with the runway even when the plane is angled to the runway due to a strong cross wind.
deezynar and the fun part about that is that if you watch any american tv show from the 70s and 80s it is an undercarriage film of a B52 that is used as stock footage of passenger planes taking off. The unique struts are a dead giveaway...
@@psgouros I've thought that stuff looked weird as when they land the gear deploys different from the takeoff. Cheapskate Universal studios.
It was called crabbing..
@@robertheinkel6225
Yes, it is.
You should do the Chicago Sewer System. They literally had to lift the city up 4 feet to install it.
the city still stinks
The seattle underground is similar- they had to burn down the whole city and rebuild it a story higher!
@mark bushnell
I think he might be in a sewer filming these videos, that's why it's mostly brick around him because he build the man cave in the sewer like teenage mutant ninja turtles.😉😆
And New New York.
There used to be "Chicago entries" which were exterior doors built on the 2nd story because the building would sink and the 2nd story would be at ground level... That's what you get when you build on a swamp.
I am from and live in Dayton. And you're surprisingly correct. This humble little city is actually at the bleeding edge of a lot of aviation. Thank you wright-Patterson AFB.
Also from there, the Wright Brothers had their bike shop there. You know, where they built the wind tunnel and the plane.
Also home of the national museum of the USAF. Awesome museum
@@jacobsemus9477 NAFM my _BELOVED_
I loved the AFM when i went there. Got pics of the Raptor, 'Hawg, and BUFF (3 of my all time favorite Fighter, Attack, and Bomber crafts :D)
I love how the B52 looks, I think its a gorgeous aircraft.
Absolutely but it's eastern cousin the TU-95 is rather ugly
@@ezragoldberg3132 wasnt the TU95 literally just a reverse engineered b17 or smth??
That aircraft with the tail torn off still landed. Amazing aircraft.
bbeen40 like the F-15 that landed without one of its wings, and with the pilot not even realizing they had lost it. American engineering at its best!
Reminds me of the many pictures of mangled yet still flying b-17 flying fortresses
@@jubjub7101 I find it pretty impossible that a plane would lose it's wing and the pilot didn't notice 😂
@@Sergiblacklist pretty easy Google search....was Israeli Air Force.
Cockpit view was restricted, plane flew so well after losing wing, the pilot didn't realize until after they landed.
theaviationist.com/2014/09/15/f-15-lands-with-one-wing/
@@jubjub7101 🤷🏼♂️ feel like he should have noticed 😂
Dayton is actually hugely significant to the history of aviation in general and the US Air Force in particular. The Air Force museum in Dayton was on the most memorable experiences of my childhood.
What’s really amazing when you think about this timeline ; from the time the B-52 first flew to today when it’s still flying is about the same as the time from when the Wright Brothers first flew and Concord was flying
"People sleep comfortably in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." George Orwell.
Thank you SAC!
When the B52 is retired a piston DC3 will fly over the background 😂
Very true.. but most likely with a pair of PT6 turbo props.
Actually, I think both the 52 and the DC3 will head off to that secret base where we keep things that just work.
@keith moore Yes. Museums... In particular, the Smithsonian Air & Space which restores nearly all aircraft to working condition.
@keith moore airandspace.si.edu
@keith moore Got ya!
For his next TH-cam channel, Simon should get up and sing what he remembers of old songs, without any musical accompaniment.
This. This now. Please.
Lol.
Based on what we've just seen - - ummmm nup. I don't want to spoil my image of Simon as a do anything kind of guy.
No, please.
YES, PLEASE. MY BODY IS READY.
Simon, the B-52s wrote Love Shack about a bar that's in my hometown. Ive been there several times. It's on the Atlanta Highway in Montgomery, AL. If you pay attention to the lyrics you can catch the line about the ATL Hwy. It was open until a few months ago when the city shut it down because of several shootings that had occurred at the location in the early hours of the morning.
Got a laugh when I notice the "Ironworkers having lunch on the beam" photo in the background. A Ironworker for 40 years and I'm looking at the same image now. Enjoyed the video.
I was in the Ohio Air Guard when my organization retired the venerable A7. The squadron threw a celebration for the occasion. A number of aircraft flew in, creating a cool mini air show. One of the visiting planes was a B-52. After the show was over, the departing aircraft all buzzed the field as they left. When the B-52 came around to buzz the hangar, it was like death on the wing. The sky darkened, and there came this roar like you've never heard-like a tornado bearing down on you. The walls shook, pictures fell, water glasses cracked. It sounded so horrific, I wanted to do nothing more than curl up in the fetal position and suck my thumb.
180th?
"Want some freedom"
"No"
"We weren't asking"
“Psssst, Hey kids!” “Wanna buy some democracy!?”
Yes but confined to weaklings. US is a coward when it comes to real adversaries. Russian ICBMs would wipe US off the face of the Earth in 20 minutes flat and China will soon be capable of the same.
@@ryanalt5048 Russia is smart enough to not attack the US, hence why both Russia and the US have been fighting in the Middle East, and even at that America also can ICBMs that can wipe Russia off the map
Ryan Alt found the hater😂😂 we don’t know about the most powerful weapons in our arsenal. But we do know about the largest and most updated military on the planet. Russia doesn’t have anything on us in a conventional (no nuclear, biological, or chemical) war.
@@ryanalt5048 You do know that in 2018 the russians attacked a fsa base backed with us troops in syria, the us had zero deaths, while 215-250 russian soldiers were killed. th-cam.com/video/XaeDMOWkCwU/w-d-xo.html
As a kid in the early 60s I lived in Lake Charles, La. In school we still had Civil Defense alert practice, actually getting under our desks and there were still bomb shelters. Chennault Air Force base in Lake Charles was a SAC base. What that means is that B52s were always taking off or landing day and night. They were very loud, especially when taking off and the sound was referred to as the Sound of Freedom. SAC practice at that time was to have a percentage of nuke armed B52s in the air all the time so they couldn't be caught on the ground and would be relatively quickly launched as a counterattack against the Soviets.
I have had the extreme pleasure in Viet Nam of witnessing, in a close precarious distance, a B52 dropping a butt load of presumably 500lb bombs. The altitude of the bomber was so great that I could not see the bomb bay doors as you describe, nor could I hear it's approach but the resultant concussion knocked the breath from me and shook the ground like an earthquake.
Thank you sir for your service. Im sorry that you and your fellow soldiers were treated like shit upon coming home.
Too bad they didn’t land on Hanoi Jane.
Thank you for your service sir
lol..."Thank you for your service, as you stood by and watched your country bomb the shit out of another, that was no actual threat to you.."...........very brave indeed.
No Neck hate the government not the veteran
I remember graduating from USAF Basic Military Training and my buddy being assigned to be a crew chief on the B-52 and I to the U-2. We laughed that in the early 2000's we were both going to work on jets from the 1950's that were also bands from the 1980's. Later in life, I was a flight instructor at Castle AFB (since decommissioned). It's now an EPA Superfund sight. Maybe EPA Superfund designation sights would be an interesting topic.
Upon returning from Storm 1, the excited pilot told his wife about being the first one into Bagdad. Her response was "Great!, Now you can mow the lawn", lol.
Your channel hasn't been around long but holy damn the quality, expertise, quick uploads, & continuous interesting content keeps me coming back. I especially love the aviation videos! Keep doing a great work!
I was a sheetmetal mechanic on the b25h. I have seen markings from b52 pilots from korea and vietnam. Initials and payloads. Super cool seeing history.
Two points: The B-52 was never used at all in Korea; and two, the H model was never used in VN.
Once, at an airshow, I walked under a B-52's wing that had its flaps fully extended. I could barely touch the tip of the flap, and I'm 6' tall.
For several years, I used a very realistic PC air combat simulator named Falcon. The B-52 was a flyable airplane although it wasn't the main one (that was the F-16). The first attempts I made to take off where complete failures. If I fully extended the flaps from the start, it didn't allow me to reach adequate speed. I had to start with the flaps halfway and wait until I reached 100 knots before extending them fully in order to get the beast airborne. Even then, I never had more than a couple hundred feet of runway left. Landing was no picnic either : because of the unusual landing gear configuration, you had to keep it as level as possible on touch-down.
There is a joke in the USAF about the future retiring ceremony of the B-2 being distributed by a B-52 flying overhead.
On Google Earth, I once counted the B-52s in the Arizona boneyard. I stopped counting at 100..…
There were over 700 (I believe 777 was the actual total) B-52 built over all the different runs.
All but the B-52H model (the turbofan one) have been retired/put out to boneyard.
Simon, I hate to say based on you're first sentence I can't believe a word you say, you have to duck under the flaps when they are extended fully...
@@brandonbarber6797 I may have been mistaken and the flaps wheren't fully extended as I thought they where.
Rock Lobster is a timeless classic, just like the B-52s and the B-52.
I'm now questioning Simon's taste in music.
@@Strideo1 With this coin shortage Simon doesn't have any jukebox money.
@@Strideo1 I know. I want to ask him what he's listening to that's so superior?
I thought everyone liked the B-52s
@@andrewkoines6389 I positively LUST Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson. The guys are fine but I'm a het male.
Every channel Simon is on adds so much class and professionalism, He's a great host and I love the content he puts out.
Former B-52 Squadron Commander with 3000+ hours in the aircraft and a couple of combat tours under my belt. My longest sortie was 35 hours in the G-model (i.e. no bunk) as well as airborne spare for the around the world sorties (47 hours) as part of Global Power 94-7 in the H-model. The H was, by far, the better aircraft for no other reason than the small bunk. Add in the TF33 engines and upgraded electronics and it was a significant improvement. However, even with the bunk, there is no comfortable location or position in the aircraft and those long sorties were brutal. Ejection seats are by nature stiff with little padding, the noise is unbearable even with hearing protection and the temperature could vary by 50 degrees from your head to your feet. The "kitchen" mentioned in the video consists of just a small convection oven tucked into a panel barely big enough to fit a frozen dinner. If used, chances are the bottom of your meal would be burned and the top frozen. There was no sink, or coffee station, just a jug of water located right next to the urinal. Bathroom facilities consisted of a urinal can and, only in the most extreme of circumstances, a seat bucket and plastic bag for #2. Going #2 required stripping off your flight suit in cramped quarters, and then doing your business literally 6 inches from the back of another crewmember who was still in his ejection seat doing his job. There was no flushing and the smell lingered until the guilty party had removed his poop bag post flight. Which is probably why in all my years of flying I can only remember twice someone doing #2 on the sortie. Bottom line, the aircraft was designed for performance (1950s style) and crew comfort or accommodation was an after thought at best. Overall, I truly enjoyed flying the B-52, but I was always happy to get off the aircraft when the sortie was over. To this day it makes me laugh every time I hear someone complain about a "long" commercial flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo and the horrors of cramped reclinable seats, poorly stocked drink carts, nothing to watch on the entertainment system, and having to wait to get access to one of the six bathrooms.
When I was a young man on a tractor plowing a field in Western Kansas, a B-52 flying very, very, low came up behind me. Because of the tractor's engine noise I did not hear it until it was almost over me.
Needless to say it was an experience that I will never forget. To this day I have nothing that has happened to me that can compare with the absolute terror and exhilaration that I felt at that moment.
I saw many farmers drop to the ground and hide under their tractors when they spotted our B-52 coming up on them. At 150 to 300 feet (low level flight) I'm guessing it IS pretty frightening.
B-52s used to buzz our scout camp in Arkansas when I was a kid- so low they’d break branches off trees, and the woods wold stink of jet fuel ( kerosene ) for a half hour afterward-
...wait until you get laid!
You ought to try topping a hill on a winding country road to find yourself staring into the air intake of an F-16. That's a truly terrifying machine.
Did anyone else realise he actually put the link up, unlike usual???
Usually he's something like, "Link down below, not really."
I was expecting a rick roll
or it a rick roar
Honestly wouldn't have put it past him, haha!!!
@@beanbag9865 indeed, expected that as well
Hello Simon, I love your videos . If I am not mistaken a B52b of Vietnam vintage could destroy an area of roughly 1mile by 1/2 mile.
There was a pod (3) B52s over Khe Sanh every 20 minutes around the clock during the siege. They dropped their bombs under radar/radio guidance and frequently never seen the ground. They were the single biggest reason the Communists never overran the base as they tried to tunnel/build trenches to the base perimeter.They greatly helped prevent a second Dien Bien Fu by General Giap.
Anything that is designed, built and flown for 65 years is a mega project in every aspect. The fact they plan to fly them another 25 years + is just amazing and cements the period behind Megaproject.
When Boeing had engineers with slide rulers. (Make that "slide rules") edit.
Slide rules. Not rulers. Although they also had rulers.
And for better accuracy, longer slide rules!
And standards.
@@evanulven8249 The key ingredient to any endeavor, regardless of the measuring device.
You realize that there is a whole generation or two, that just Googled, “slide rule”
B-One “Lancer” bomber is gorgeous. Nick named the Bone.
Isn't the B1 actually way physically larger than the B52?
Not that, uh, size matters. 🤔
Sean Brazell
No, but its max weight and weight of ordnance are similar.
B1-B is Mach 1.25
b-52 is Mach about Mach 0.85(?)
B1 60,000 ft
B2 50,000 ft
B1 75K lb of ordnance
B-52 70K lb
They aren’t all that different.
A10
@@WeirdOne19142 Cost.
A B-52 safely landed with its tail torn off of it?!!! That truly is incredible, the B-52 is a fantastic machine.....👊🏻🇺🇸
No, the "tail" was not torn off, the vertical stabilizer was missing.
Saw one of these at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. It’s absolutely insane how big it truly is.
Also was at Dayton NAFM, i thought i knew what _"big"_ was. The B52, even though its on like,,, 10ft tall pillars, TOWERED over everything else. It practically took over half the hangar it was parked in, looking over the smaller planes as if it was the hangars' King, and the other planes its' subjects
You should just randomly stop run to the back touch something say "it's not a green screen" the continue like nothing happened. Somebody will be wondering it at that moment and you'll blow their mind.
This would work well in business blaze
thekidd blaze blaze
I agree. Just do it!
But what if Simon is part of the green screen animation and he isn't real either? Ever think that might be the case? With CGI and deepfakes as good as they are now it's quit possible Simon doesn't actually exist in the real world (been the case for a few Korean pop stars for years now, they are just computer-animated holographic projections when they do concerts). I think Simon is short for SIMulatiON, kinda like the movie SimONE even though it's 20yo.
As a former aircraft structural maintenance journeyman that worked on these behemoths, it is an absolute monster to behold working on and see them flying.
I live near where they fly and I'm still impressed every time I see one streak across the sky. Truly a marvel of engineering.
It was awesome. My dad worked on a base during his time in the Air Forces. Amazing that it is still around. Some how I feel comforted.
Bravo, Simon. Now do a video on its Soviet / Russian counterpart, the Tu-95 "Bear" bomber from the same year!
Wish granted friendo he did it
No Comparison! The Bear is as obsolete as a WW1 Airplane! We could shoot them down with P-51s!!
Kelly Johnson always said "If it looks ugly it'll fly the same" So yeah some planes are designed to win beauty contests.
Now there's a guy one of Simon's 150 channels should do a spotlight profile on. Genius engineer!👍🏻
Do you think you could do a video on the Nevada-Class Battleships as both ships had interesting careers. One of which USS Nevada tried to escape Pearl Harbor, fought at D-Day , Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, and survived 2 atomic bombs. I would say that's a mega ship. Glorious video
I love seeing Simon in the same frame with an overlay that, literally, says "Chrome Dome".
Well done, lads. Well done.
My uncle was a lifer in the air force and BUFF was designed to "flap" it's wings during flight he said "the only time to worry is when the wings stop moving in flight" and with it's bicycle landing gear it is the only aircraft that can "crab" down the runway IE go straight down the runway while pointing it's nose into the wind.
Not straight. But sideways. Those bicycle landing gears are designed to twist up to 30 degrees left or right so the plane can takeoff or land in a side wind. There is nothing like watching a BUFF trying to land in a 50MPH side wind while crabbing 20 degrees left or right.
@@StryderK Gee I think I said that?
The B-52 wings flapped a bit on take off. Angled downward sitting loaded, and as it ran down the runway. As soon as the aircraft lifted off, the wings rode up and angled upwards.
@@chrischristensen4380 I recall seeing that watching close interval when I was stationed at Griffiss AFB in the early 80's. I was there when we went IOC on ALCM's.
Cool thing is: ur father can be a stratofortress pilot, u can, and ur son / daughter can before it’s retired
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Personally, I think it’s beautiful.
Between you and Curious Droid, I'm not sure that much more can be explained any better. Excellent presentation!
The B-52 is A fine example of "if it ain't broke don't fix it". The B-52 is the definition of the perfect bomber. If something is perfected then why spend money trying to make up a new one. The B-52 already has new technology fitted into it but the airframe is so good that no one decided to replace them. The bomber is So perfect that it's still used and feared by enemies to this day. Its speed unbelievable maneuverability and the downright massive payloads it can carry makes it one of those feats in human engineering that no one can really replace because it still holds up to even this day.
The B-52 is a mature ecosystem from training, logistics, maintenance, facilities, etc. It has the highest ready rate than the B-1 and B-2. There is decades of institutional knowledge of how to task, fly and support these things. It’s actually amazing the Air Force isn’t trying to kill it or replace it.
Dayton, OH is home to the Write-Patterson air force base and also has the US Air Force Museum. They do alot of plane stuff there surprisingly. Youd think they'd make submarines.
Also the home of The Wright Brothers
Home of the Wright Brothers, hence the spelling; Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. They also do air shows, my parents took us kids a couple of times in the 90s.
The Air Force Museum is part of WPAFB.
Just so anyone who sees this knows, the US Air Force Museum is free to visit. If you find yourself in the Dayton, OH area, its a great way to spend a good chunk of the day.
It is closed due to the virus, so check online before visiting.
I've been hearing this my whole life, that the B-52s is HIDEOUS. I believe I have a fine grasp of aesthetics, I frankly don't see it. It has handsome clean lines?!?
I wouldn't be surprised if the BUFF moniker came from fighter pilots. Hell, the A-7 was called the SLUF (slow, little ugly fucker) and the A-10 was called the Warthog, despite their respective names of Corsair II and Thunderbolt II.
@@GrizzAxxemann The Corsair and Thunderbolt retro product names were stupid. We get it, Republic Av. riveted aluminum in the '40s too. That's purely a def. contr.'s board, advertising and union puff up. Only taken seriously by politicians. I'm sure you're right, as all eyes were on the top interceptor pilots at the time. Hell, the A-7 WAS slow and little, and it would F# your day up ugly if IFR. And I thought the A-10 was called 'warthog' because it had armor piercing 'tusks.' Other than PREFIX-DESIGNATION, DEVICE, SIZE, servicemen don't usually give their gear a suitable nickname if it already has one. 'Corsair II' & 'Thunderbolt II' were asinine public marketing names.
@@ericblue7099 You basically went into great detail pretty much agreeing with me. Cool.
@@GrizzAxxemann I am among the few who refer to the A-10 as the Thunderbolt II
@@nowthatsjustducky that's great, nerd.
One of the very best videos so far, in my opinion! Simon never disappoints
During WW2, the difference between many of the Aircraft from the beginning of the war until the end of it is vast, technology really jumped forward during that war. I think if there is ever a conflict like WW2 again, these will enter the war, but what leaves it will be so far advanced it would be truly amazing.
In Northern California in the 80's we had the B52 with nukes at Mather AFB. The SR71 at Beale AFB. And the C5 at Travis AFB, all within 50 miles of where I grew up.
Simon is a legend. I find 99% of his videos interesting. Thank you for the content. Thanks to the guys working behind the scenes, too.
I flew the B-52 for 13 years and miss it everyday. It was a lot of fun to fly and i saw and participated in so many interesting things during that time. You have a lot of great information in your video on a great plane. Thanks, I really enjoyed it.
Same here -- had about 3,100 hours, finishing as an IP at Castle AFB. Bought a house about one month before they announced its closing -- definitely bad timing.
4:47) Old Roman saying, "Si vis pacem, para bellum." If you want peace, prepare for war.
5:52) Looks like a remodeled B 36 Peacemaker.
Look up the B-47.
every so often we lose a B52.
but thats ok, there are still a few in storage in the desert.
@keith moore www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/05/16/wise-guy-flies-again-b-52-resurrected-from-boneyard/
I remember when I redonned the uniform back in the early 1990s (went Air National Guard and was in the 2nd to last AGE class at Chanute. During that time the STAR II treaty was being put into effect, and suddenly the static display B-52 was dismantled from the base. Turns out that was in keeping with the letter of the treaty that we would give up a certain number of our B-52 bombers. Those on static display were the first to go, because the treaty didn't say they had to be currently operational.
I wonder how many operational bombers that actually saved?
nowthatsjustducky that explains why Darwin aviation museum in Australia was given an old well used b-52 in the early 90’s
@@jacobburns2975 I would say that must have been where our ol' gal went, but there were several from bases all over the country that got dismantled for the same reason.
And then Chanute AFB closed down the next year anyway.
The BUFF is awesome. Man, for something designed over a weekend you got some pretty decent ROI as the U.S. Airforce.
I live in the suburb of Ainslie in Canberra, the national capital of Australia. I’m about 1.5 Kilometres from the Australian War Memorial which sits at the foot of Mt Ainslie and at the top of ANZAC parade which leads to Old Parliament House. There are memorials to Australian military campaigns all down the parade. In 2016 there was a commemorative ceremony for the 50th anniversary of the battle of Long Tan. The USAF sent 2 B-52’s from Guam to do a fly over. I was watching on TV as they flew low up the avenue and then stepped onto my front deck as they flew over my house at a thousand feet or so.The sound of those 16 engines was awesome. The planes were eerily beautiful and almost alien at the same time. They must have been intimidating for the Vietnamese.
Love your channels. Another great video - as expected.
They're pretty much exactly what we need in a heavy bomber most of the time, a UPS Truck of DOOM.
FREEDOM, by the truckload... same day delivery.
NO BODY DOES IT HALF AS GOOD AS WE....(US) DOES!!!!! AMERICA TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN!!!!!!
An average semi carries about 80,000 lbs.
UPS does a fairly good job of destroying packages on their own.
DOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
You should do a video on the minuteman ICBM weapons system. I used to work on them, the sheer infrastructure involved in the development and fielding is just massive.
There is something about you Simon that tells me I would really enjoy having you as a mate. Your balance of intellect and wit is fascinating. I can imagine sitting down in a pub with you over a beer would generate conversation rich in serious learning as well as much mirth.
Way back in 1981, I happened to be delivering tires to a small independent tire retailer in Moreno Valley, which was quite close to the end of a runway belonging to March AFB. I stood in awe watching a B-52 take off; It seemed it could not possibly be flying fast enough to get airborne. And it's crazy how far the wings sag under their own weight. What a beast.
the song "love shack" should make you happy every time you hear it.
That where it’s at!
Depending on your generation
@@Solnoric Actually the B52's are extremely popular with Gen Z as a cult band. My 20 year old daughter and her friends are huge fans of Love Shack & Rock Lobster.
Sad to realize getting together may look very different in the future, when we can even be over this Covid .
Kate Pierson in her prime would make me happy.
Haha! Those loose nukes reminds me of a Dylan Moran sketch:
“America is like the bad housemate of the world - ‘sorry, man, did I break all your shit?’”
Worked on these during my time in the USAF. One of the Best Ever!
Love your podcasts and TH-cam vids keep em coming
Also, on the topic of video suggestions, the russian super deep bore hole (im pretty sure thats the official name... the deepest hole dug by people), it could be interesting.
It'll be interesting if Simon presents it
they had to stop drilling that hole because mole men emerge from it like in the Superman show
@@sirclarkmarz im aware, thats part of why its so interesting and i think Simon should do a vid on it
Damn if it wasn't a green screen I thought it was just a set. I didn't realize you actually had an awesome red brick walled office. Pretty Nice
Watching Prowlers and The Buff take off and land at the same airfield, I will never forget the noise and pure excitement watching these magnificent machines take flight.
BZ to all those involved in the two platforms, and RIP to the EA-6B.
I rewatched this 3 years later and the buff has gotten so many upgrades in just 3 years it almost deserves another video.
*confused look* "What's a photon torpedo??"
When I was in college, I visited Barksdale Air Force base as part of a group. We were able to fly the B-52 simulator there, and I successfully landed with my copilot.
I flew the sim at Wurtsmith AFB. I too landed. After crashing three times though. I still have the flight plot somewhere.
I was stationed at March AFB when they had the Buffs. Everytime they took off the whole base could hear it and the buildings (including my barracks) near the flightline shook just like during an earthquake.
I lived in MoVal when March AFB was a SAC base you could hear the 52s all over the valley...
5:36 you're aware the Wright brothers were from dayton ohio and that human flight was quite literally invented there, yes?
Also, Ohio on the whole produces a lot of astronauts.