The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an iconic strategic bomber with 70 years of service and counting.

Gallery:

Features:

• Armament: 4x M3 12.7 mm machine guns, 66x M117 750 lb bombs, flares, chaff
• Livery: USAF, Strategic Air Command, South East Asia and Gloss Black
• Wings bend and flex with maneuvers and airspeed
• Swiveling front and rear landing gear for crosswind takeoffs and landings
• Maintains nose-down attitude in level flight
• Auto-aim tail gun
• Fairly accurate performance
• A cockpit that should be VR compatible

Controls:

• AG 1 and Yaw: Front Wheel Steering
• AG 2 and Yaw: Rear Wheel Steering
• AG 3: Bomb Bay and Arm All Bombs
• AG 4: Drop Tanks
• AG 5: Drogue Chute
• AG 6: Air Brake
• Trim for trim
• VTOL for flaps

Notes:

• Thanks to ChiChiWerx for the roundels, ReinMcDeer for the auto-aim tutorial (plus SenSkysh for the original code), and realSavageMan for the wing flex tutorial
• Tail turret will auto-aim at targets within 1.3 NM, press Fire Guns to shoot

Background:

The B-52 has its origins in postwar strategic bomber programs aimed at superseding the then-new B-36 Peacemaker. It was recognized that a new long range design which could reach higher speeds would help offset some of the threat posed by newer jet interceptors. Convair’s proposal of a jet-powered B-36 with swept wings, known as the YB-60, proved unsatisfactory. Boeing was given the go-ahead to explore aircraft configurations, with their YB-52 taking flight in 1952. After a few design iterations, the B-52B entered regular service in 1955. Officially named Stratofortress, the B-52 is more commonly known by its nickname: BUFF.

The BUFF has a long, thin fuselage with flat sides. The pilot and copilot are seated side-by-side, with an electronic warfare officer behind them. On a separate level below them sits the navigator and bombardier. The wings, which are high-mounted and swept back by 35 degrees, can flex more than a dozen feet up or down. Underneath each wing are two pods of two engines. The tail surfaces are conventional, with all-moving horizontal stabilizers and a tall vertical stabilizer which can be folded down to fit inside hangars. A lone gunner is housed in the tail, aiming the four 12.7 mm machine guns with the aid of a radar. The landing gear of the B-52 is complex. Two sets of two wheels are mounted side-by-side in the fuselage ahead of the bomb bay, with two more sets of two aft of the bay. Both sets can rotate for crosswind takeoffs and landings. Outrigger wheels are contained in the wings to prevent them from scraping the ground. To facilitate takeoff, rather than having gear of varying height as on the B-47, the B-52 features a six degree upward tilt to the entire wing. As a side effect of this, maintaining level flight means that the nose of the plane points downward slightly.

The B-52’s trial by fire came during the air wars over Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Strategic Air Command, which had spent the previous two decades preparing for a nuclear war with the Soviet Union, was instead called upon to wage a very different war. The B-52 soon proved vulnerable and losses ensued. Several upgrade programs were carried out. The B-52D was the most capable variant used in the conflict, with improved defensive avionics and weapons. With the Big Belly modification, it could carry an awe-inspiring sixty-six 750 lb bombs. B-52 crews faced hostile SAMs, flak, and MiGs relentlessly during operations Arc Light, Rolling Thunder, and Linebacker I and II. Two B-52s even managed to score confirmed air-to-air victories against MiG-21s with their tail guns.

The B-52 has so far survived all of its intended replacements, including the Mach 1 capable B-1, the Mach 2 capable B-58, the Mach 3 capable B-70, and even the stealthy B-2. The B-52H remains in use today, soon to be modernized as the B-52J, and may fly into the 2050s, potentially reaching 100 years of service.