When that plane came off the assembly line, NONE of the structures in the background had been built..
I wonder how many parts from other B52s are melded into that one airframe to keep it flying for 40+ years? Lots, I’d wager.
That’s a great fact.
Guys I worked with (we’re all long retired) were wrenching on B-52s when they were young AF guys in the early 60s.
I have always been curious about how much ORIGINAL metal is still on those birds.
Scary fact, the pilot probably hadn’t been born when that plane first flew.
Heck the pilots parents might not have been born.
Hell, a lot of FReepers hadn’t been built either. LOL! P.S. I’m not one of them. My manufacture date was ‘47. Keel laid in late ‘46.
I noted to someone the other day, while I was explaining the sad state of our aircraft, that some of the airplanes still in service are being flown by pilots that are easily grandsons of pilots who flew some of the same airplanes.
Even more amazing, there are some B52 pilots whose father and grandfather flew the same airframe they currently pilot.