Weekend Warriors: Birth of the B-52

A Boeing engineering team takes an idea born out of the darkest days of World War II and creates a whole new aircraft during a weekend cram session in a Dayton, Ohio, hotel room.

[@okhan5087]

Good story. The B-52, U-2, and TU-95 are all military planes with incredible longevity.

[@okhan5087]

ARMOR PIERCER It is, although it is still used after almost 60 years

[@xero925]

Very interesting. I love these historic aviation stories.

[@michaelklein2537]

Nice nice nice

[@carsnbikes914]

Truly one of the best airplanes ever c;

[@keysontrains538]

+Tropy Odayaka Yes, it's the one of the only "Big" bombers we have left. :P

[@dareoism]

Wow...great story. Shows you there's brilliant minds in this world who can change the world for the better

[@LEJapproach]

+BrotherMouzone Not quite sure if the B-52 changed the world for the better ;-) but with respect to the "brilliant minds" you're right of course!

[@jafarcold]

hee Rx rrrrrrrrt

[@ronaldjones4341]

Pleasesendmeanupdate

[@Cal-zk4nc]

We Americans had it good bombing everyone lol I don't think Viet Cong thought it was for the better after operation rolling thunder

[@adelaternate8470]

u

[@jonathanb1987]

Research and design was done in a weekend. Nowadays it takes years and the jets still don't do what they were promised like cost less than originally told. (I'm looking at you F-35)

[@flamma6096]

it takes most modern jet fighters and upwards of twenty years to produce, look at many of the world's primary jet fighters. Idiot

[@flamma6096]

Also the f35 is an amazing aircraft stop giving in to baseless lies and claims of the aircraft it's amazing ask yourself why twelve country's already ordered dozens of not hundreds of it was not extremely capable?

[@jonathanb1987]

Drifter Knight​ If the F-35 was so amazing it would be doing everything it was designed to do. The VTOL doesn't work as advertised for one and two it costs more than it was supposed to. There is no reason it needs to take 20 years to develop a new aircraft period. 20 years of development only increases the price of each aircraft.

[@googaagoogaa12345678]

another great video I've seen the BUFF on display at my nearby air base actually looks quite ominous

[@zachreed2186]

Did they even talk about the b47 stratojet My favorite

[@uzairislam1982]

good I'm used to bongs now

[@AliM-he8lh]

skunk works this is exactly what they did a innovative team in isolation works on new projects

[@HarryTheOwlcat]

+Ali Munawar You mean Phantom Works?

[@43Magicman]

AMAZING!

[@i.hunter3627]

I thought the B52 was an upgrade of the B47 which was the original 8 jet engine bomber.

[@StephenMortimer]

Could you do apiece on the ONE single original item still on on the B52 (if there is one)

[@dogestandam4536]

Boeing your the only type of plane I would want to fly on the only airbus I would like to fly on is the a380 but your still the best!

[@muratoztutan4308]

B 52 ıs very excellent aırcraft .stıll usıng now .bıg power for amerıca

[@GavinTheFifer]

Imagine If Messerschmitt Had A Channel Like This Lol.

[@stark7412]

boeing....b o e i n g

[@droomagon]

not to mention those engines eats fuel like crazy, the newest commercial jet engine is alot more fuel efficient than those on the B-52

[@robindudley9313]

International Momma Again.Bridegroom.International President.

[@johngarvey4378]

I feel bad for the pilots of this plane, shooting off those jets must be child's lay

[@julianmiranda7816]

wow i thought this plane was made in the 1960s for the Vietnam war

[@Kneedragon1962]

It is quite interesting to revise where the best and most durable ideas come from. Some of them come from a lifetime of hard work and endless revision. Others come from the hurried revision of something that had major flaws. (Avro Lancaster.) Some just come from the rapid design of something that is badly needed. (P-51.) Some come about through a major update and upgrade of something that is already successful. (Beech Queenair -> Kingair.)

[@TheYoyozo]

I always like to have my best ideas early in a project. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. :)

[@Kneedragon1962]

TheYoyozo Yeah, it's nice when that happens. These days, I'll settle for a good idea any time I can find it...

[@claudiotorres4246]

h

[@ceciliohernandez9117]

+Kneedragon1962 v7deos., videos, chistoso

[@Ravekx]

Boing is years behind Airbus

[@joshmccorquodale9082]

+Alex Santos I'm sorry, gotta disagree with you :)

[@travischilders1]

+Alex Santos seriously, we throw away better stuff better than airrust can imagine. The A380 is a joke and the world knows it. And don't go there with the 787, we're making history, and Air rust will benefit from our technology.

[@Kneedragon1962]

+Alex Santos Which would explain why a fan of Airbis carnt spill Boeing. Thunk ewe fer yer inpoot.

[@LEJapproach]

+Alex Santos And how so?

[@Kneedragon1962]

***** I do not believe they are, but I can see how that impression forms. Boeing and Airbus have very distinct approaches to automation, and the pilot - flight control interface. Boeing has fly by wire and it does protect your butt, however, it can be overridden, and you don't have to try too hard to do so. Airbus mostly will override the pilots. I am of the opinion that I prefer the Boeing system, but I can see good arguments for both. The Air France flight came down because the pilots knew something was wrong, but they didn't quite know what. But the plane that lost both engines and came down in the Hudson, would have stalled at about 200ft without the AIrbus auto pilot override. Yes the pilot did a great job, but the FlyByWire also did its job. And the Asian 777 that came down short and hard at KSFO, had the auto throttles not hooked in the way the crew expected. Neither approach to the automation issue is foolproof. Fools are so resourceful...

[@librandancer]

Nice story. Great plane. I have a question: Why does the B-52 have sets of twin engines?

[@HarryTheOwlcat]

+librandancer I think it has to do with it yielding such low thrust engines. From wikipedia: "Boeing later suggested re-engining the B-52H fleet with the Rolls-Royce RB211 535E-4 engine. This would involve replacing the eight Pratt & Whitney TF33s (total thrust 8 × 17,000 lb) with four RB211s (total thrust 4 × 37,400 lb)..." When the thrust of each engine is doubled, they halve the amount of engines.

[@Capt_Frost]

1) That is what they had back then, and it works. So, no change. 2) If one engine goes out, you still have seven left.

[@stingraycors_t6455]

and that aviation history started with the Right Brothers.

[@kgd1423]

B-52 stratisfortress served in Vietnam

[@nickbreen287]

And CAD was nowhere to be seen.

[@GavinTheFifer]

Imagine If Messerschmitt Had A Channel Like This Lol.

[@MrBioniclefan1]

yeah

[@lordrevan773]

don't worry cj they just weekend soldiers

[@hipperambo4318]

I saw one by the Orlando international airport

[@MostafaMansoori]

Very cool!

[@kraspy7425]

For a sec I thought it was a peace keeper

[@masonkim6104]

my dad works at Boeing ;) =) =)

[@JP-dh1xv]

And for years later they kept building and the world kept on watching in regret as more destruction occurs.

[@m00nch11d]

if it is not Boeing then it is not going

[@corbinaalderts5597]

It feels good to live in Dayton since not only was the Wright Flyers tested here but also where the BUFF had been created.

[@robertcollings29]

looks like a B-47 stratojet

[@monaismail9825]

Fisher Wallace stimulater

[@jonathanlizzi3282]

Escalera al cielo

[@krystianhinz4575]

that was nice, i've been to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio and they had a B-52 there. let me just say that it is ridiculously huge aircraft and a beautiful one if i may add but it's not as pretty as the good ol B-17

[@MrBioniclefan1]

yeah its not a pretty plane like the old B-17 Flying Fortress.

[@JenniferNg0529]

The canopy/cockpit windows looks different between the balsa wood model (there's a bump and longer) and the real aircraft (is like a conventional aircraft). Why is that? Cost, practicality, safety???

[@Kneedragon1962]

+Jennifer Ng I am perhaps not the best person to answer. As far as I understand, the original concept included a bubble canopy like fighters had. That presented some minor engineering challenges, like pressurisation of the crew compartment, and where to put all the switches and gages and stuff. It looked impressive but there was no real reason a bomber needed that kind of visibility, so they went back to the kind of cockpit airliners used. Also, on the original (very small) balsa model, when they added the swept wing, they had to move the centre section way forward to get the kind of centre of gravity it should have, but when they did the actual calculations, the real aircraft needed the wing and centre section much further back. That changes the "look" a fair bit from the model. That is possibly what you mean by "longer". The length of the fuselage is actually the same. The whole wing and all the engines are mounted rather further back than on the model.

[@JenniferNg0529]

I think the balsa wood model looks much better than the final design. It's more futuristic with the bubble canopy.

[@Kneedragon1962]

***** There were several 1950s bombers that ended up looking like that.

[@Capt_Frost]

The reason it has the bump is because, origionaly, the plane had a tandem seating arrangement. (The pilot sat immediately behind the co-pilot, and vice-versa)

[@AidanCarberry]

+Jennifer Ng the change was for the better

[@dead8046]

Cargoplane!

[@electrostaticionengines4579]

Nice video, THANKS

[@mamasheriff2966]

very

[@truebluekooper9864]

I seen one of these a few days ago flying over my place in sc

[@brandonellenorfilms786]

I always want to be a airplane pilot ever since I been on a airplane

[@stephenwilliams2295]

H 1 B supporters

[@pneuner750]

I had the privilege to work on D, G, H model!

[@lordzanthartehallen8963]

Song name?

[@Sammakko7]

First

[@pra3t0rian]

Nice little vid.

[@hardeepsgt]

Chu chu tv

[@bhagavathin9980]

b

[@NOVA-hj3hs]

the B-52 the big beauty of the skies

[@kenknudson3643]

My favorite bomber of all time.

[@22adaynoway92]

Watch. 22ah

[@22adaynoway92]

Watch. 22adaynoway

[@nancyanngrippo9146]

Uz

[@Sammakko7]

Do about B17G

[@yang870602]

good production!

[@dogestandam4536]

1st

[@metric85]

B-52, Best Bomber!

[@lisagarza2010]

doljer

[@salliebaggett7340]

+Lisa Garza

[@itsjonathanku6074]

I totally agree with you!

[@Cediehiidytttdvjudgoodaaron]

wuz up