Boeing B-52 Stratofortress

what is it?

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American nuclear-capable subsonic jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since 1955 and was flown by NASA from 1959 to 2007.

🔎How to recognise it: 8 jet engines · high wing · 56.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,046 km/htop speed
• size 221.3 tmax take-off weight
• built 744made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 74 years ago, in 1952.
• 🏎️Top speed is 8.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 56.4 m: about 13 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 37 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🏔️Can fly 1.7× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1952-04-15

introduced

1955

status

still flying

number built

744

role

strategic heavy bomber

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Boeing

engines

8× Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-3/103 / JT3D

crew

5

length

48.5 m

wingspan

56.4 m

height

12.4 m

max take-off weight

221.3 t

top speed

1,046 km/h

cruise speed

819 km/h

range

—

ceiling

15,240 m

wings

high wing

ICAO code

B52

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.