B-52 strategic bomber engine upgrades

[41]

What could be more manly in the world of flying than grabbing a fist-full of 8 throttles and pushing them all forward to the stops? A 4 engine buff just isn't right, if for no reason other than a bomber pilot's happiness.

There is a plate in front of the throttles to prevent full throttle on all eight engines. It would rip the wings off I have been told. They remove the plate when they lose several engines.

 

[linedo50]

The thrust gate on the throttles on a B52H is there to prevent the pilot from applying too much power because if he does the aircraft can pitch up out of control. The flight controls can not respond fast enough to keep the plane in level flight. In the tail section in the buff there is a big jackscrew that moves the whole horizontal stabilizer. I remember climbing up thru a hatch just aft of the rear landing gear to inspect and lubricate that jackscrew. Another feature of the H model is that they only have spoilers on the top of the wings with no ailerons like most aircraft. As a crew chief I was qualified to run engines on the Buff. For a farm boy that had grown up on a John Deere tractor climbing up in the flight deck to sit in that seat and running those engines for maintenance was quite the experience.

 

[41]

I flew on one in 1982 as an observer during a Polo Hat Exercise. I rode in the training seat behind the pilot and co-pilot. We flew out of KI Sawyer at night time on a flight that lasted 17 hours. My ears rang for two weeks afterwards due to the noise even thought I was wearing a headset.

There were other pilots on board that did refueling training connecting to the KC-135 tanker. Most of them had no trouble getting into position due to the lights on the tanker wing that showed you when you were in the correct position. I was sorry I didn't take my camera.

 

[armenius]

I fondly recall "intercepting" B-52's during drills back in 1957.If you think it looks big at ground level you should see it at altitude!We made intercept rocket passes at an angle of 90 degrees to the B-52 and our airborne radar was locked on to the nose.By the time the computer signaled fire and break away we were VERY close and had to pull up and roll over the tail.It looked enormous.T 40-45 thousand feet it could turn and if we tried to turn with it we would stall in the F-89.I never imagined it would still be flying.The Stragic Air Command with it's B-47 and B-52 fleet airborne with Nucs and preplanned targets 24 hours a day kept the Cold War cold and held the Soviet Empire at bay for years.Those guys had a tough life.

 

[FTG-05]

I don't think any of the J-57 turbojet models are still flying.

The B-52H, the only model still in service, does have turbofans, but they are ancient TF-33s from the early 1960s. One proposal linked in my other post has the 8xTF-33s replaced by eight more modern engines that will fit in the same nacelle, weigh less, generate 10-15% more thrust and have 10-15% better mileage.

Correct, all the G models and earlier, have been retired and have been for quite some time. Except for some museum pieces, most of the G models have been broken up to comply with START treaties.

The last non-H model flying B-52 was the famous "0008" operated by NASA as a carrier aircraft. This carrier aircraft started it's new career with the X-15 program back in the late '50's and it was finally retired Dec. 2004. It was the last J-57-engined B-52 to fly.

 

[BigBill]

I was bear hunting on top of a mountain when a b52 flew over us very low.
It was so low I could see each rivet. I never seen a b52 up close before it scared the songs out of me. All of a sudden it was there. We got buzzed.

Another time I was home outside when a gun ship came over us low and slow with the gun port doors open. It wasn't puff it was the newer one.