Just been to an interesting lecture by Rolls Royce on Flight Testing. The speaker mentioned that the B52 is likely to be the first aircraft with a service life of 100 years.
The floor is open.
Graham
Plan A is always more effective when the problem you are working on understands that Plan B will involve the use of dynamite
Well, in spite of trying for years the USAF have not found a replacement that does the job as well for a manageable price.
There are also a fair number of KC-135s fast approaching their half century....not far behind the B-52s.
Given that the USAF presumably have a good stock of many spares, (having broken up several hundred early B52 models at Davis-Monthan)...the main requirement is for supply of spares not covered by the Reclaim program.
If that can be achieved I suppose there is no real limit to how long they can keep flying - they are not doing large numbers of hours per year.
The speaker mentioned that the B52 is likely to be the first aircraft with a service life of 100 years.
The floor is open.
Graham
Really, the prototype first flew in 1952, so the type would have to be in service for another 43 years to meet that centenery, the current H models were built in 1961-62 so they will have to be around for another 52 years.
Damn, I won't even be alive to prove the speaker wrong!
I believe it is due to be retired in 2040. It is a tremendous aircraft, especially given that it was designed in the 1940s (that's probably where the hundred years thing comes from), you would think the sheer size and thus airframe flexing etc would have seen it retired along time ago.
Long live the BUFF!
2040 is the date I heard a few years ago. The hundred years refers to the type and not any particular airframe which will be a bit of a "Triggers Broom" when retired. The Ion Pulse engines will not be original (Whoops I let the cat out of the bag).
One big problem for 2040 is the lack of fuel depending on which doomsday theory you believe.
No Amount Of Evidence Will Ever Persuade An Idiot (probably not Mark Twain)
The limiting factor on most airframes is fatigue life. That, in turn, is directly affected by the way that the aircraft is operated.
Like civilian aircraft, the usual B52 flight envelope (I assume) is a simple take-off, climb, level cruise, descend and land with no real hard manoeuvrings. The original fatigue life, as defined by Boeing, has probably been revised a number of times through the use of real-time data obtained from retrofitted on-board operational load measurement equipment.
Yes, it could probably go to a 100 year life but by that time it would be un-manned and remotely controlled as a UAV. But, I suspect that weapons development will be so advanced in 20 years time that anything flying aerodynamically can be brought down at a whim!
What price the ballistic version of the DC-3/C-47?
The limiting factor on most airframes is fatigue life. That, in turn, is directly affected by the way that the aircraft is operated.
Like civilian aircraft, the usual B52 flight envelope (I assume) is a simple take-off, climb, level cruise, descend and land with no real hard manoeuvrings.
You might want to do a search under 'B-52 low-level'! Why they can barrel that baby in so low, its jet exhaust frying chickens in a barnyard!*
The footage of the B-52 on low-level test, that loses all of its tail fin and still makes a fairly normal landing is particularly impressive!
I've seen it somewhere that the B-52 was one of the first designs where aeroelasticity of the wing structure was a major consideration.
Whilst the B52 may be capable of treetop level missions - I really doubt whether those are much of a likelihood nowadays when most missions would (I guess) involve " stand-off" weapons released miles away from the target and guided in, or the Vietnam style carpet bombing from 40,000ft.
So I would agree with Peter's assesment of the "usual " flight envelope.
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