Boeing B-52D "Stratofortress"

The Boeing B-52D Stratofortress remained in operation longer than any bomber in U.S. military history and became the Strategic Air Command's principal long-range heavy bomber after becoming operational in 1955. Affectionately known as the BUFF, it first flew on April 15, 1952, and nearly 750 B-52s, including 170 B-52Ds, had been built when production ended in October 1962. The B-52D was modified through the Big Belly and external carriage changes to carry the largest conventional bomb load of any in the series, with 108 conventional munitions. On January 18, 1957, mid-air refueling enabled B-52s to complete the world's first nonstop around-the-world flight by a jet aircraft, lasting 45 hours and 19 minutes, and on May 21, 1956, a B-52 made the first-known airborne H-bomb drop over Bikini Atoll. B-52s entered combat in June 1965 in Southeast Asia, and by August 1973 they had flown 126,615 combat sorties with 17 lost to enemy action. The aircraft designated S/N 55-0057 served extensively in Southeast Asia, logging more than 300 combat missions, including six during Linebacker II in December 1972. Its 27-year career began in 1956 with the 42nd Bomb Wing at Loring Air Force Base, Maine, and ended after 14,204 flying hours with its final flight to Maxwell on October 11, 1983; it served with numerous bombardment wings and saw combat with the 22nd Bomb Wing, 99th Bomb Wing, and 306th Bomb Wing.

Montgomery, Alabama · United States