The backbone of the U.S. strategic bomber force
For seven decades, the B-52 has served as the backbone of the United States’ strategic bomber force.
The B-52A made its first flight in 1954, followed by the B model’s entry into service the following year.
Once operational, the B-52 became the U.S. Air Force’s principal long-range heavy bomber throughout the Cold War. It remains an important component of the USAF bomber fleet today. In total, 744 aircraft were built, with the final example—a B-52H—delivered in October 1962.
Aircrews nicknamed the aircraft “BUFF,” short for “Big Ugly Fat F*cker.” During its long service career, the B-52 established numerous records. On January 18, 1957, three B-52Bs completed the first nonstop round-the-world flight by jet aircraft, covering the distance in 45 hours and 19 minutes with just three aerial refuelings. The B-52 also conducted the first airborne hydrogen-bomb drop over Bikini Atoll on May 21, 1956.
Flying the B-52 BUFF
Former USAF B-52 pilot Lee Alloway shared his perspective on Quora:
“From my perspective, the B-52 was fun to fly. Half my Air Force career was spent in direct flying jobs as a pilot, instructor, or evaluator in eight different aircraft flying for SAC, MAC, and Air Training Command. Each of those aircraft was fun to fly, given the opportunity to leave the local area and do something other than fulfill HHQ-directed training requirements. The BUFF was not the most agile, comfortable, or attractive aircraft, but the mission and the challenge of flying it well made up for its shortcomings. With any flying assignment, the fun factor has more to do with the unit personnel, leadership, and mission than the aircraft”
“For me, flying the B-52D from Guam was the best. Great people, good mission, occasionally quirky leadership, and each airframe had its own personality. Too many years in the salt air took its toll on the hardware, but maintainers had enough workarounds to get us in the air. Once there, things started falling apart. No mission came back with a Code 1 aircraft. My last flight on the D came back with 100 maintenance issues.”
He concludes,
“Still, she flew, always took care of us en route, and got us home. For those who say she is sluggish, I recommend you kick off the autopilot and learn to feel what the aircraft is asking for. Embrace her design, fly her with subtlety, and she will dance the skies like a (somewhat portly) ballerina.”
The most unpleasant plane to fly
Vilmos Shepard, another former BUFF pilot, shares his perspective:
“It handles terribly, sluggishly, and with some weird behaviors due to the location of the spoilers and flexibility of the wing. The plane is incredibly noisy and has a low cabin pressure differential, so you must be on oxygen whenever you’re cruising at high altitude. Every regular crew member sits on an ejection seat that is about as comfortable as sitting in an… ejection seat, except unlike a fighter crew member who is typically in the seat for an hour or so, a typical B-52 mission is 10+ hours.”
“There is no bathroom, only a piss can hanging on a wall where the ceiling isn’t high enough to stand up straight, and a bucket under the EW instructor seat for the women on board or the poor sucker who has to take a dump. There is no legit bed for sleeping on extremely long flights, just a bit of the floor where you can lie down.”
“I would say it was the most unpleasant plane I ever flew.”
Vilmos concludes,
“But the mission was challenging. An hour of air refueling on every mission, several hours of low-level flying every mission (not done anymore), day, night, VMC, or IMC, and an hour of approaches and touch-and-goes at the end of each flight. So at least it wasn’t pure boredom, like flying an airliner on a 10+ hour flight.”
Photos by U.S. Air Force
