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prototype XB-52 took to the air for the first time on April 15, l952. The
B-52G, which was planned initially as the final version of the airplane
pending arrival of the B-70, brought along a host of major improvements,
and was the biggest single advance of any model. The airframe was substantially
redesigned to save weight and to make it safer; integral wing-tanks greatly
increased fuel capacity; the tail gunner was relocated in the crew compartment,
thus saving considerable weight; the fin was shortened; and provision was
made for launching ECM decoys and standoff missiles. The decoy was a small
jet plane known as the Quail, designed to have a radar signature similar
to that of the bomber to confuse missile radar. 193 of the B-52Gs were
built, the last airplane in 1960. The B-52G was actually less a bomber
than the first stage of a missile. There were a total of 744 B-52s built;
the last plane, a B-52H, rolled out of the Wichita plant in June, 1962.
This last version was powered by eight 17,000-lb thrust Pratt & Whitney
TF33-P-3 turbofans, giving it a maximum speed at optimum altitude of 595
mph, with an incredible unrefuelled maximum range of 10,000 miles! Airplane
armament was one remotely-controlled 20-mm Vulcan cannon in tail turret,
plus up to 20 AGM-86 ALCMs and nuclear free fall bombs.
Though long since considered obsolete as a result of its unacceptable
vulnerability to surface-to-air missiles, the mighty B-52 has seen three
would-be successors (the XB-70, the B-1, and the B-2) fall by the wayside,
and remains one of the three legs of the U. S. nuclear triad (the other
two being land-launched missiles and sea-launched missiles). At this point
the B-52 has probably had the longest career of any front-line combat airplane. |
#B1610B3W or #AM023-AR
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#B7510B3W
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All airplane models are Hand Carved, Hand Painted
Mahogany and comes fully assembled with removable desk stand. |
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Dimensions: Wingspan, 22 1/4" -Length, 19"
-Scale, 1/100
B1610B3W (Euro scheme) - $129.95
B7510B3W (dk grey) - $129.95
More:
Dimensions: Wingspan, 19 1/2" -Length, 17" -Scale,
1/110
AM023-AR (Euro scheme) - $127.95
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