Posted on 08/07/2015 9:30:57 AM PDT by ImJustAnotherOkie
Getting rid of them? Replace with what? The BUFF is still the best at what it does. Other needs need addressing first. Besides he was wrong about the numbers too. Don’t get me wrong, I respect him, but he should back away with 6 or 7 others.
Those airplanes are about 60 years old now and each is several tons heavier with replacement wiring and stop-drill reinforcement plates all over the airframe. (They can't pull the original wiring out when they run new cables.) Way back in the 1980s crews were trying to sabotage them so they wouldn't have to risk their lives flying them.
Old airframes crack. To repair them one makes a "stop drill" hole where the crack stops. Then a plate is pop-riveted around the area to restore some portion of the original strength and rigidity.
Electrical cables also break or fray from vibration through time. New cables are laid in and connected in place of the old. The original cables often cannot be removed because they are laced into nooks and crannies of the airframe.
As a result, each B52 weighs several tons more than it is supposed to weigh, and is not a rigid as is should be. They are a hazard to the safety of their crews.
If they are still considered worthy of their mission, they should be manufactured anew.
Most successful airplane ever built IMHO!!!
I said he DIDN’T want to get rid of them. At least that is what i meant.
You are going round and round on something that is imaginary. Huckabee did not say we should get rid of B52s. He said we are not investing in the military but rather we are cutting it back during a very dangerous time in the world.
As a matter of principle the military should be constantly seeking to make better and better and better planes, bombs, guns, soldiers, etc.... There should never even be a pause.
Gotta love old Mike, he said there were 44 when there are 70+-. He also complained about how old they were. No doubt they are old but he just focused in on a solution where there wasn’t a problem. Like I said the F-35 is ripe for attack.
Sort of like the A-10, it’s still the best tool for the job.
Sort of like the focus on Sanctuary Cities. Why are there Sanctuary Cities? Because there is no border control. Nobody brought that cause and effect up and it is crucial to the debate.
The format also was an issue, but when you only get 10 minutes you have to be careful about what you say and not leave people like me thinking you don’t know what you are talking about and Mike left me thinking that.
Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little, pick pick pick, talk a lot, pick a little more.
Huckabee did great. Get over it.
Both Huckabee and Cruz are by far the best pure debaters. They are masterdebaters.
I’m glad they’re still around to do the jobs that don’t have to be done with a B1 or B2.
When the last B-1 and B-2’s are taken to the boneyard, the aircrew will hitch a ride home on B-52’s.
I wonder what's up with that?
For some weapons can’t be done.
Really ? I **FLEW** B-52s in the 1980s, and saw no “sabotage”. There has been ONE documented instance of intentional sabotage of a B-52, that was in 1978 at Warner-Robins, and was done by a Crew Chief, NOT an Aircrew Member...
The B52s are old and patch-work maze of repair. It is a wonderful design that should be rebuilt with new materials and techniques. The crews are exceptional people, and deserve the best equipment that can be provided.
And you stated, SPECIFICALLY, that **aircrews** sabotaged B-52s in the 80s.
Also, Eaker AFB was still Blytheville AFB, until 1988. So if he was there 1969-1971, he wouldn’t refer to it as “Eaker”. It was only called that for 4 years, until it was closed. . .
I don't recall him ever saying anything besides "Blytheville". To me that was always ambiguous because it was in proximity to the town. I Googled the airbase for my posting because I assumed that the town was not the Air Base. It seemed to be the case. There was no mention in that reference to give any suspicion of name changes.
SPECIFICALLY, that "aircrews"
I was in the Army, not the Air Force. If I screwed up your ever so confusing nomenclature, I profusely apologize. To my way of thinking, you have flight crews and ground crews. They are both in the Air Force, so that makes them air crews.
There is no indication of who did bust up the flight deck at his base. Ground crews don't fly in them, so it seems a first guess that they wouldn't feel the urge to ground them and also supply themselves with additional work.
Are you going to argue the point that B52s are well past their prime? Are you going to take issue with the notion that they are full of stop-drill plates and dead electrical wiring? Would you prefer that those guys who follow you keep flying them for another sixty years? Do you feel even a twinge of hope that THEY will wise up an replace them with something worthy of our men?
Do you just want to huff and puff at those who wish only the best for our guys and happen to know for a fact that B52s are ready for the scrap heap?
At my age, those times blur together with the 60s and 70s...
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