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The Staff of SOH
OT: An interesting photo
- Thread starter SeanTK
- Start date
Yeah, B-52 skin seems to gather fatigue wrinkles quite a lot. Duxford B-52 skin, like you said from your observations, is also far from smooth surface.
I also may be wrong, but I remember reading from some place, that wrinkles appear there after some time and are the result of skin aluminium contracting and expanding. After all, you don't see similar behaviour with most of the other pressurized aircraft, tubeliners or even vintage propeller pressurized airliners like Connie.
heywooood
Mayor Emeritus of Taco City
metal fatigue - the BONE was supposed to replace the old BUFFS long ago....
Daveroo
Members +
i know this next comment is offbase for this thread...but ive seen most of the B-52s over the years at Beale,one year there were 4 of them at one show,at that same show (Open house) they were still actively flying the SR-71's,they had one on display that you could approach,was roped off,but you could get within 30 feet or so,but it was explained that it was drained of all fluids...then you could walk down to the far end of the "show area" and look into a couple of open bays and see two more of them sitting in those bays and they were sitting there dripping fluids..you read about that..you see it in mags and books..you see it in documentaries..but until you see the planes sitting there in person..with all that stuff dripping and oozing from them...well wow...and those two were flown that day which was cool too...the SR and U2..they take off and sort of just go UP....like rockets....people ask me all the time..wow..you must see the SR71 or U2 (when they flew the SR) coming in and out hh?.....well no..you didnt see them..i think they stay within the airbase property to climb and to decend..lol..
While looking at the B-52 that's located at the Castle Air Force Base museum in California I overheard a couple of gentlemen discussing the wrinkles on the B-52. One explained to the other that the wrinkles come from the wings drooping downward when the plane is on the ground. When the plane is airbourne, the wing flex upward and the wrinkles disappear. So the appearance of the wrinkles doesn't have to do with pressure, but the flexing of the massive wings.
they were wrinkled when new. Very prominent before they were painted (g & h models had bare metal in those areas). If I remember correctly, none of the other areas of the plane were wrinkled
heywooood
Mayor Emeritus of Taco City
they were new 60 years ago...April 15 1952 maiden flight first copy - granted most of the ones still flying were refitted more recently - so the youngest flying example today is likely 30+ years along
thats ok for a car - mine is a '97 with 120,000 miles on it and it runs..mostly
from the mfg's own website:
The April 17, 1952, edition of "Boeing News" described the takeoff this way:
"This was it. The tremendous roar of the engines grew louder and louder as the plane gained speed. It raced down the runway with deceptive speed, past the other bombers that had made history taking off from here: the smaller B-47s, the B-50s, the B-29s and an old but proud B-17, nearly two decades of history-making bombers. The huge crowd that had gathered to watch the takeoff let out a spontaneous cheer."
One of the happiest people to watch the YB-52 climb into the air was Boeing President Bill Allen. The normally reserved Allen, standing with other executives and Air Force officials, waved his arms like a cheerleader. "Pour it on," he shouted. " Pour it on, boy."
Johnston and Townsend kept the plane over the Seattle area for about 40 minutes as they checked the landing gear, flaps and ailerons. They then climbed to 25,000 feet and headed for Larson Air Force Base at Moses Lake, Washington.
Arriving around noon, the YB-52 flew over the Moses Lake area for the next two hours as the pilots continued to perform a series of tests. Johnston radioed back to Boeing Field that the plane's performance appeared to be just as predicted by the engineers.
At 2 p.m. the YB-52 touched down on the 10,000-foot runway at Larson Air Force Base. The flight had lasted two hours and 51 minutes. At the time, it was the longest and most successful first flight in Boeing history.
Co-pilot Townsend knew the B-52 was well built. But he never imagined the plane would still be around 50 years later.
"None of us ever dreamed the airplane would stay in service this long," Townsend, 81, said recently in an Associated Press interview. "Three generations have flown the B-52. By the time it's retired we ought to have two more generations.
"If you would have told me that then, I would have said you were out of your tree."
that was 10 years ago
thats ok for a car - mine is a '97 with 120,000 miles on it and it runs..mostly
from the mfg's own website:
The April 17, 1952, edition of "Boeing News" described the takeoff this way:
"This was it. The tremendous roar of the engines grew louder and louder as the plane gained speed. It raced down the runway with deceptive speed, past the other bombers that had made history taking off from here: the smaller B-47s, the B-50s, the B-29s and an old but proud B-17, nearly two decades of history-making bombers. The huge crowd that had gathered to watch the takeoff let out a spontaneous cheer."
One of the happiest people to watch the YB-52 climb into the air was Boeing President Bill Allen. The normally reserved Allen, standing with other executives and Air Force officials, waved his arms like a cheerleader. "Pour it on," he shouted. " Pour it on, boy."
Johnston and Townsend kept the plane over the Seattle area for about 40 minutes as they checked the landing gear, flaps and ailerons. They then climbed to 25,000 feet and headed for Larson Air Force Base at Moses Lake, Washington.
Arriving around noon, the YB-52 flew over the Moses Lake area for the next two hours as the pilots continued to perform a series of tests. Johnston radioed back to Boeing Field that the plane's performance appeared to be just as predicted by the engineers.
At 2 p.m. the YB-52 touched down on the 10,000-foot runway at Larson Air Force Base. The flight had lasted two hours and 51 minutes. At the time, it was the longest and most successful first flight in Boeing history.
Co-pilot Townsend knew the B-52 was well built. But he never imagined the plane would still be around 50 years later.
"None of us ever dreamed the airplane would stay in service this long," Townsend, 81, said recently in an Associated Press interview. "Three generations have flown the B-52. By the time it's retired we ought to have two more generations.
"If you would have told me that then, I would have said you were out of your tree."
that was 10 years ago