Apr 152012
I missed it by a day:
Sixty years on, the B-52 is still going strong
It was 60 years ago today, on April 15, 1952, that a B-52 prototype built by Boeing took off on its maiden flight. The 1950s-vintage B-52s are no longer in the U.S. Air Force inventory, but the 90 or so that remain on active duty (a total of 744 were built, counting all models) aren’t that much younger. They’re all the H model of the B-52, delivered between May 1961 and October 1962.
The B-52 is expected to make it to at least 2040.
On the one hand, it’s impressive that the design has lasted this long. Ont he other hand, it’s sad that nothing better has come along.