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B52 Bomber
The B-52A first flew
in August 1954 and the B model entered service
in 1955. A total of 744 B-52s were built with
the last, a B-52H, delivered in October 1962.
Only the H model is still in the Air Force
inventory and is assigned to Air Combat Command
and the Air Force Reserves. The oldest B-52
still flying was a B-52B S/N 52-008 that was
built in 1955, though it also has the fewest
flight hours of any surviving B-52. It was
operated by NASA's Dryden Flight Research
Center and was used for drop tests of various
research aircraft until its retirement on
December 17, 2004. On July 30, 2001, Dryden
received a B-52H that is expected to fully
replace the older B-model aircraft by the
end of 2004. A B-52B S/N 52-005 is currently
on display at the Wings Over the Rockies Air
& Space Museum, Denver, CO, www.wingsmuseum.org
The first of 102 B-52H's
was delivered to Strategic Air Command in
May 1961. The H model can carry up to 20 air
launched cruise missiles. In addition, it
can carry the conventional cruise missile
that was launched in several contingencies
during the 1990s, starting with Operation
Desert Storm and culminating with Operation
Allied Force in the spring of 1999.
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