BOEING B-52 STRATOFORTRESS

Titles: Boeing B-52 Stratofortress No’s 1 to 3

The first B-52 first flew in 1954, and the type has been in continuous service since. Current projections see the aircraft remaining in service until 2040, a remarkable career of nearly 90 years.

It had a remarkable beginning. The original XB-52 design as selected by the USAAF in 1946 was a six-engined straight winged propeller driven heavy bomber. In 1948, Boeing’s Chief Engineer Ed Wells and his team were in Dayton, Ohio when the USAF told them they now wanted a more modern jet-powered aircraft. Over the following weekend, in a Dayton hotel room, the team designed a new eight-engined swept-wing jet bomber, made a scale model out of balsa wood and prepared a 33 page report.

An initial run of 13 B-52A’s was approved. The production version was the B-52B with more weight and larger engines. Originally designed as a high-altitude nuclear bomber, the aircraft has been modified for low-level flight, carriage of cruise missiles, etc. Later versions of the B-52 had increasing power, range and capability. The last version, the only one left in service, was the B-52H with turbofan engines. A total of 744 B-52s were built in Seattle and Wichita between 1952 and 1962.

We offer three titles covering the later variants of the aircraft. Each title is US$9.95. The files have been scanned from the original manuals and retain any colour pages unless otherwise stated.