Other Aircraft: "The B-52 is obsolete." The B-52: "I will be the flyover aircraft for your retirement ceremony."

Something crazy is that the time jump between the B-52 entering service and the present day is longer than the jump from the wright flyer to the B-52.

One retired B-52 pilot had lost his favorite tobacco pipe “somewhere” on his bomber. Even though his faithful crew tore the plane apart they couldn’t find it. 25 years later his granddaughter returned it to him wrapped up as a birthday present. Believe it or not she was assigned to the same B-52 as her grandfather and found it!

This plane is like an old truck. You're not sure of its intentions, you're not sure if it's been reliable but it's here and it does the job

Just imagine in the future you're a Space Force pilot in your highly advance space craft orbiting Mars and you see a 200 years old bomber somehow propelling itself in the vacuum with it's jet engine wondering how the hell is the thing is still in service

Don’t forget the C-130, a cargo plane from the 50’s that’ll also live forever. My dad always said “when they retire the last C-17, the crew will fly home on a C-130.”

My dad built these in the late 50s . It's crazy to think he had a hand in the greatest bomber ever. Rip Dad

It’s amazing to think that some of the people who helped design aircraft during the First World War, or could remember the first flight of the Wright Brothers, probably had a hand in designing and building the B-52 bomber. An aircraft that will probably still be in service when the first humans walk on Mars. Truly an amazing piece of aviation, and American history.

There is a key reason the B-52 continues in service: It’s effectively a flying truck chassis that can be put into a wide range of roles with different payloads. The ballistic missile effectively rendered the strategic bomber role obsolete decades ago, but the capacity of the B-52 to carry out a wide range of other mission types has kept it alive while several generations of other bombers have come and gone.

B-52 is like that piece of gear on your character that is way under the character level, but has such a useful unique effect that there's nothing newer that's overall better.

on that nuke crash. Do you think the people making the nuke questioned the need for 4 triggering mechanisms? I can imagine one engineer asking another why they need a fourth and the other being adamant that they add a 4th only for them to say told you so 50 years later when it gets declassified.

I'm an old Air Force pilot and loved the engineering of the B-52 and the C-130 Hercules. Both were invaluable in Vietnam. But the real take-away from this video is about maintenance: if you replace the parts in your car prospectively, as the Air Force has done with these planes, you will never have to buy a new one until the parts are no longer made. I bought a 1997 Ford Expedition new and maintained it the Air Force way. It still runs like new, and I haven't had a car payment in 22 years.

It’s not obsolete. It’s just an incredibly adaptable design that has allowed the Air Force to consistently add/replace various parts and instruments, thus allowing the aircraft to last for a very long time, and with more upgrades in the works, including a recent engine replacement project, the aircraft will still continue to fly for hopefully another 25+ years. In short, not obsolete, just a design that can stand the test of time. Hints why I sometimes call it “The Brick”

In 2070, after first contact with the Vulcans, Warp nacelles were fit to the B-52 to facilitate defense operations from the Moon.

My dad was a B-52 pilot during Vietnam War and the plane has outlived him and may outlast me

From a US Air Force Vet. The B-52 bomber has never been obsolete! It is the biggest and most powerful bomber ever. And with its ability to carry various payloads long distances and continue to get major upgrades it will be in service for a very long time !

One of the coolest parts of the BUFF is that a man flew the same jet his grandfather, and father flew.

17:14 as an aircraft mechanic, that is a *massive* depot operation. You're effectively rebuilding the airplane from the ground up (the wings are pretty vital.)

I live in Louisiana and close to Barksdale AFB and couldn’t count how many B52 I’ve seen fly over but it’s still one hell of a sight everytime.

yeah thats the thing with grandpa buff, he can drop anything. the moment someone says: the enemy is that way, he just destoys "that way".

It should be noted that the airframes of bombers like the B-52 don't age anywhere as rapidly as the airframes of commercial passenger jets. Airline companies try to keep their jets flying in the air as much as possible because a parked jet is a jet that isn't making money for the airline. The B-52's, on the other hand, spend many more hours parked on the ground and only fly for training missions and combat.

It seems that the USSR's greatest defense against Operation Chrome Dome was the B-52.

1:19 you can hear him try to hold his laugh in

"Giant Flying Dump Trucks" is the greatest description of a heavy bomber I have ever heard. Nicely done.

I flew the B-52 in the early 70's. I didn't think then, nor do I think now, that it was a particularly dangerous aircraft to fly (outside of combat missions, of course). We did have equipment problems, though. We had a fire in the forward equipment bay (the radar dish). And I remember a fire in a cable bundle on a new equipment installation. Had a bird strike on the front window due to low level flight. It was my impression that most of the accidents with the aircraft were due to "crew error".

I think people often confuse old with obsolete. If something still does the job it is far from obsolete

Great video and very informative. I also enjoyed reading the comments from all the vets that flew or were around them. Good peak into history.

To be fair, the vertical stabilizer didn't just fall off... the B52 lost its vertical stabilizer when it hit clear-air turbulence. Thst lasted for 9 seconds. Too much stress for most any airframe. AND 1:41 that crash was due to a pilot intentionally crashing the plane. You can find that story on KZfaq

The B52 is capable of flying much higher than 50,000', but the official ceiling is listed there because the USAF regulations state that if you are flying above 50,000', you need a pressure suit (those space suit things you see U2 and SR71 crews wear). I've heard more than one ex-B52 crewmember hint that they would fly higher, but in that "wink and a nudge" kind of way.

The B-52 was a "standoff missile carrier" over 50 years ago. It was clear, even then, that attempting to penetrate enemy anti-aircraft missile and artillery systems was problematic. So the way the B-52 is being used today, as a long ranged missile carrier, is nothing new.

@1:40 that footage is actually not from an airframe mishap but a pilot that wanted to fly it like it was a fighter and had a very hazardous attitude. Happened at Fairchild AFB during an airshow.

As habitual line crosser states, the buff is eternal. Long live Grandpa Buff.

If the bomber outlasts just about every competing bomber… is it really obsolete?

Brings back memories as a refueler in the Air Force during the 80’s while at Castle AFB. Took me 2 hrs to fully refill a single BUFF. Close to 40000 gallons of JP4. If I was in good terms with the pump house operator who supplies fuel from the storage tanks, he’d go against tech orders and switch to two pumps to increase fuel supply volume to my hose cart and refill of a BUFF would take 1 hour. Remember those freezing winter temperatures on the flightline as I worked nights. Wind howling. Standing in front of the diesel APU exhaust just to stay warm during refueling. Great conversations bullshitting on our mics with the crew chief and ops working the tank controls in the cockpit during the long hours. Now I’m closing in on 60 and would not trade those memories of my enlistment for anything.

The idea that the enginges require the use of protective kit is so bad ass, could you imagine how awesome it would be to start one of those up!

My grandpa was a B-52 captain for a while, first in the ‘Nam, and then was part of Operation Chrome Dome, he definitely swore by these things

"The B-52 Stratofortress was truly a 'F•CKER' " *I'M DYING AT THIS PART 😂*

The fact that the engineers that work on her are by now almost dead while their creation is still here as a proof of their amazing work. Congratulations to every people that make her, queen of the sky alongside Concorde

I swear the Air Force gives their aircraft the most funny nicknames ever

Apparently when the last of them retire they will have been in service for almost if not 100 years a a phenomenal achievement for keeping them around for so long

Long as the B-52 can carry modern stand off cruise missiles, she will never be "obsolete".

Something worth mentioning is that the buff was extremely instrumental in the space program and the overall development of air launched systems. The X-15 rode on a B-52 to great success and without the B-52, we probably would have never made it to the moon.

This is kinda the paradox to the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” cuz they’re constantly fixing it and now it’s the best thing flying.

I love how even in cyberpunk they are joking about it still flying

It's an amazing warbird. One terrifying factoid: its wings "flap". It was a marvel of technology in the early 50s, and its intercontinental range was the key factor that converted the hydrogen bomb from a crazy science project into a weapon of war (much like what the B-29 had done with the original fission weapons). However, it was still the early 1950s and they were still working with riveted aluminum and EARLY turbojets. The engineering required to get under the weight targets while still hitting durability requirements (see video) was astonishing, but it lead to compromises. One result of that is that the wing structure could not be all that rigid- making one as stiff as a B-2 or B-1 or B-21 would've required advanced composites and titanium alloys that were still decades away. So they built wings designed to flex a bit. It is apparently very disconcerting to people who aren't familiar with the aircraft, but one of those things that you just get used to.

Have a soft spot for BUFFs. Back in the early 80’s as an USAF AutoTrack Radar Specialist, 1CEVG, we had many electronic war games and radar bomb scoring runs with these big critters. It was an awesome site to see these huge planes flying sometimes what looked like treetop level. So low at time the tracking radar would break full auto lock going through the trees. ECM capability of these things couldn’t be fully utilized during training runs due to the havoc they would create on civilian electronic equipment. It was sad seeing them being chopped up after the service they performed for so long. Thanks so much for this video! Long live the BUFF!

4:05 did he said yuba city California what a coincidence that just so happens to be the city I was living right next to

I worked on the G models for a couple of years in the early 80's. I hated having to deal with wiring problems as the wiring had been TCTO'd to death (Time Compliance Technical Order, AKA modifications) and the wiring going into connectors was brittle and difficult to work with.

Kind of reminds me of my little crew vehicle in Kerbal Space Program. It was truly awful, but I needed it, so I kept using it, until I figured out all the problems, and now it's the design I'm most proud of, and that I trust the most.

“I’ve failed over and over again. And that is why I succeed.” - Michael Jordan Also, definitely BUFF. At least, that is what I thought after minute 2.

The first 52 i remember was 1962. Tben a 52 flying at about 500 ft caused the bus I was on to drift on the highway in Kansas in 80. As a young Army 2lt it startled me. Still does now.

Wow, I never knew the B-52 had so many early 'teething pains'. I had only ever considered their successful Vietnam/post-Vietnam/current use.

Back in the mid-1970's I was in Air Force air defense radar and sometimes we would have B-52's show up to practice being intercepted by our F-101B's and F-106's. The first thing they did was call us up on frequency about an hour beforehand and give us an ECM request, a list of all the frequencies they wanted to use against our interceptors. We would then call our local ATC Region Control Center and pass on the request. They would check to see if it would harm any essential ATC radar systems in the area and get back to us with what they had approved. We would then call up the B-52 and pass it on to them. No way could the B-52 use all the electronic warfare resources they had because it would electronically blind radar sites everywhere around us. It really was an amazing airplane and keeps getting better.

It's worth noting that the KC-135 that did so much of that in flight refueling is only 4 years younger than the B-52, and is only now being replaced, which will take many more years.

Great video! You explained everything so clearly.

3:53 this is why you dont deprive the hard working troops of sleep. Absolute insane how they function and no wonder no one wants to enlist and feels bitter.

B-52 should be thought of more as a flying missile frigate than a bomber.

In the Museum of Flight in Seattle, the Boeing exhibit includes a silver 14-inch balsa model of what is unmistakably a Stratofortress. It was built in a Dayton hotel room one weekend in 1948 as part of a Boeing technical proposal for an eight-jet-engine bomber. The Air Force liked what it saw and the result was the B-52. Best visual-aid bang for the buck ever.

The amount of accidental nuke crashes/drops is insane

Why you beep the first BUFF when you say it, but the second one on 1:59 u didn´t xD... I just repeated it twice bec I thought I misunderstood it...

I like how you just gave up the censuring 2 minutes in.

Absolutely love this plane. I was born on Barksdale AFB, my dad was on BUFF crews for 11 years. We moved away for a decade or so, then moved back so he could work with Global Strike. I’ll always have a soft spot for the BUFF. I sure miss hearing them fly around.

The department of defense loves this plane so much they would rather adapt the plane to the new modern bombs than build more new types of bombers. Long live BUFF

Excellently researched and professionally presented.

Seeing a B52 in real life causes a combination of feelings of majesty at its size and design and also astonishment at the amount of crap that comes out of its engines

I don't know why but I laughed so hard at 2:00 . Something about how you censored F***** twice in the video beforehand made it totally unexpected when you just said the full name 🤣

Former B52 crew chief out of Barksdale AFB. I sure do miss that old boy. Crawling from the front to the back was always quite an adventure. The tail gunner is no longer an option but that was pretty cool. While refueling on the ground you could listen to everything in the air. Military and commercial.

You're such a great history teller, be proud!

There are stories of 4 generations of families serving on the B-52, great grandparents, grandparents, parents, and now children

I love how he blured the word "fu**er" everything except one😂😂

Truly a plane of a legacy, history rolled into one bird. In my years of Air Force career, I was pleased to have met many legacy people, like General Stewart, the father of sac. The many grandsons granddaughter of the first flight.. to the designer of the B2. B52, B22. Notice I put the b2 before the b52.. cause he designed built the b2 first .. inside truth and fact .. I started my career in the icbm moved to the b52 and saw the first b2 .. absolutely a wonder of my life . Buff .. ooh served in 91 in support and ground desert storm . Watched as she did her job very well . I salute u and too those that serve her now .

17:00 Woo! Let's Go Thunder!

What's interesting, years back someone like Discovery Channel, Nat Geo, or one of them ranked the B-52 as the #1 bomber of all time because of its modularity (aka they could easily gut the interior and upgrade it). Also, from what I recall, I thought only 2 bombers were in the air at any given time

I was a in first grader when my dad was stationed at a SAC base. I can still feel and hear those B-52's taking off 60 years ago. It is unbelievable that they will out live me.

3:48 wow that was close

It’s so fun to watch a video of a plane I’ve worked on. I wish I could remember which plane I welded on because that almost never happens on the flightline

We were really hard on the B-52s road hard and put up wet. Every time one took off it wouldn’t land for almost 30 hours and they did that for years. In a very harsh environment. If it doesn’t fall apart when you kick the tire it’s a miracle.

I was in the Air Force from 1979 - 1983. Stationed at Mather AFB it was mainly an ATC base ( air training command ) with a SAC wing located at the base. Which meant there were B52's taking off and landing there all day long. What I remember most about them is that they were without a doubt one of the loudest and I mean loudest planes I have ever heard taking off as well as landing. The fact that they've been around this long even though they've had their problems means at some point there doing something right. Very right. I tip my cap off to these noisy fu....rs.

imagine using a 100 year old plane , damn that's gonna be cool in the 2050's

She's still an amazing BOne Rd I spent many hours on it still makes me smile

The B52 will outlive us all. Personally love the family story of Capt David Welsh. Grandfather flew the BUFF in Vietnam, his dad flew it in in the 80s. At this rate if he has a son, he'll get a chance.

I love how incredibly old weapons like the B-52 and browning M2 are still very useful and nowhere near retirement in this modern day and age

That tail didn't fall off, it was shot off and the BUFF still brought its crew home.

I never flew the B52H model that's flying now. But I did fly the B52F model during flight training and upgraded to the B52G on Guam for VietNam bombing missions. B52Ds and B52Hs were also used for bombing missions. Then I went on SAC alert in the 70s after VietNam. In the three models I flew and all the hours I accumulated over the years, I had only one major problem with the B52G I was flying at the time, but it got us home. It is one fantastic aircraft (even though it didn't have ailerons).

No aircraft is 100% safe to operate and all carry inherent risks. The first half of this clip implies that the B-52 had a high accident/mishap rate, but compared to other aircraft in the US inventory over the years, the accident to flight hour ratio of the B-52 is not markedly higher than most

Over 90% of the B-52 fleet have been retired. The ones still in service were the latest model and have been majorly upgraded.

B.U.F.F. Gotta love it! I was on a ship in Guam in 1967 or 8, we were moored right under the flight path and I remember those monsters flying over us 24/7 as they took off with streams of black smoke pouring out of the engines, the sky lit with their landing lights on their way to Vietnam, one every 30 seconds (or so it seemed), non-stop. And stretching back behind them were a constant stream of others coming in to land and refuel/rearm. The total sight of so many huge bombers all in the sky at once was mesmerising at night. My wife and I went to the Atomic Museum in New Mexico, USA and I took her picture standing under one of the engines, she looks so tiny with the bulk of the aircraft filling the frame. What a machine!🇦🇺

They have one in a static display at the USS Alabama Museum in Mobile Bay. Several hundred people can have a nice picnic under the wings in the shade.

The B-52 is not obsolete. It has upgraded electronics for self-defense and stealth. New engines use less fuel and have more power. It will be around for many years.

Had the B-52 been a disaster for "the first few decades", it wouldn't have been in service after the first few decades. Very few designs are in use seventy years after their first use, and we're almost exclusively talking small arms, not highly sophisticated aircraft. The B-52 has been replaced by several more modern and more capable bombers - that somehow faded into oblivion because they couldn't deliver on their promises.

Imagine ejecting from a plane knowing you’ll hit the ground at the same time as the two nukes you just escaped from.

1:17 - I've never understood the nickname BUFF for the 52. The thing is skinny as a rail, proportionally much narrower for its length than most large planes. It was purposely done that way to increase capacity without increasing drag, for extended range. If you want a plane to live up to the name BUFF, try the C-5 which is half again as long as the B-52 and a LOT thicker through the fuselage.

famous engineering quote: if you keep fixing it you eventually run out of problems

3 of these passed over our house in cheltenham england so loud and amazing to see love military aircraft think it was same one doing circuits of some sort

Considering that the B-52 can carry 12 to 20 cruise missiles, I would describe it as anything but obsolete. The same applies to the Tu-95 Bear, an old aircraft but still useful as a carrier vehicle for cruise missiles.

One thing often overlooked is how NOISY those things were. Way back around 1963 our family drove to Dayton Ohio, my father was going to a conference there. Starting back, we stopped at a gas station just east of Wright-Patterson AFB. There was a B-52 refueling about 200 yards away with the engines running. It was so loud it was impossible to hear one another. I still remember the strained face of the gas station operator. Many years later I was able to walk around and under one at Offut, NE. "A plumbers worst nightmare" under there. The number of hydraulic lines, tees, and valves was astounding. A military analyst once told me the availability rate for the B-52 was secret but was around 45%.

The B52H Stratofortress is a beautiful bomber, I want it to remain operational for many more decades, and never need to be replaced from the b21 raider.

My grandpa worked on a lot of planes including the b52 he worked on it during operation chrome dome and a few years after OCD

According to my time working in aviation, a big reason the B-52 are kept is that they are entirely analog planes rather than digital, meaning that in the event of an EMP(Such as from a nuclear explosion), they would still be able to fly.

I was at Minot AFB '81-'84, KC-135As. Other side of the ramp was all B-52Hs, 1960/1 production. If you want to see something really impressive, see an entire bomb wing (5 Bomb Wing was 20 tankers, 15 bombers at the time) do a MITO (minimum interval take-off). We did one for Global Shield in 1983.