And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Specifically RB-52B-15-BO tail number 52-8711. It was the 15th production B-52, and notably the first B-52 actually delivered to SAC for operational service.
Out of 50 B models built, the first 27 were built to carry a removable reconnaissance pod and two crew portions in the bomb bay, hence the RB-52 mission designation. They could drop bombs with the recon pod removed.
8711 still exists as a display model at the Strategic Air and Space Museum, Ashland, Nebraska.
The avionics upgrade that the B-52J will have includes removing the chin pods that adorn the H model; aside from the electronic improvements, it will also allow the BUFF to regain a slightly higher maximum speed that was lost when the pods were added.
SAC air scramble.
ReplyDeleteVery early Buff! No adornments under the chin, tall tail, J-57 engines, white anti-flash underbelly. I’m guessing a B-52C
ReplyDeleteMissed it by THAT much!
DeleteIt’s a B vs C model. And a historic one.
Specifically RB-52B-15-BO tail number 52-8711. It was the 15th production B-52, and notably the first B-52 actually delivered to SAC for operational service.
Out of 50 B models built, the first 27 were built to carry a removable reconnaissance pod and two crew portions in the bomb bay, hence the RB-52 mission designation. They could drop bombs with the recon pod removed.
8711 still exists as a display model at the Strategic Air and Space Museum, Ashland, Nebraska.
The avionics upgrade that the B-52J will have includes removing the chin pods that adorn the H model; aside from the electronic improvements, it will also allow the BUFF to regain a slightly higher maximum speed that was lost when the pods were added.