Pretty cool photo. Coming from Davis/Monahans storage to a Boeing facility near Tinker AFB. This is an overpass in the OKC area. They're bigger than you think they are.
Tinker AFB
@Team_Tinker
Damage Inc II B-52H 61-009 crosses the final bridge into Oklahoma City on its way to the @Boeing facility after a 1407 mile, 19 day journey. The historic move culminates in an Air Force led modernization, innovation project that will keep the BUFF flying into the 2050s. #af75
The U.S. Air Force partially disassembled Damage Inc. II before it undertook its cross-country roadtrip. Boeing engineers will use the bomber as they map out the future of the B-52H Stratofortress, now in its 60th year of service.
While the bomber won't be rejoining the active fleet, it's primed and in place for its new, two-prong mission: "serving as an integration model to test how well new technologies and current and future modifications will integrate with B-52 aircraft," and "supporting structural integrity research for the B-52H Aircraft Structural Integrity Program, or ASIP," according to a January 22 press release from the 72nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs office at Tinker Air Force Base.
The Air Force maintains a fleet of 76 B-52H heavy strategic bombers. The big, lumbering, eight-engine bombers—built between 1961 and 1964—are still in service as both conventional and nuclear bombers, and have served in most major U.S. military conflicts since the end of the Cold War.
This particular bomber, tail code 61-0009, was built in 1961. During its active duty career, it served with the 96th Bomb Squadron, Barksdale Air Force Base. The bomber still has a map of Louisiana painted behind the cockpit.
The Air Force retired 61-0009 sometime in the 2000s, sending it to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Generation Group (AMARG) at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. Commonly known as "The Boneyard," AMARG is a near-final resting place for U.S. military aircraft, where the planes sit out the rest of their lives before being broken up or, if they are lucky, returned to service.
61-0009 is getting a little of both. The big plane was towed to the Pima Air & Space Museum, where the wings and horizontal stabilizer were removed from the fuselage. The fuselage was then trucked across the Southwest and Midwest over a course of 19 days to the new Boeing Hi Bay facility located at the Boeing Campus in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. There, the fuselage and left wing will be reunited. According to Scramble, the right wing and stabilizer will go to McFarland Research and Development in Wichita, Kansas, “to support structural integrity research for the B-52H Aircraft Structural Integrity Programme."
The B-52 is a Boeing jet, and in September 2021, the Air Force picked Rolls-Royce to upgrade the old plane with new engines, meaning the airframes could fly on for another 20 to 30 years if necessary. There is a realistic chance that at least some B-52s will fly for 100 years—the first planes ever to do so. Boeing required a fuselage and reassembled wing to study as it supports the big bomber into the 2030s...and beyond.
Tinker AFB
@Team_Tinker
Damage Inc II B-52H 61-009 crosses the final bridge into Oklahoma City on its way to the @Boeing facility after a 1407 mile, 19 day journey. The historic move culminates in an Air Force led modernization, innovation project that will keep the BUFF flying into the 2050s. #af75
- B-52H bomber, nicknamed "Damage Inc. II," made a 1,400-mile cross-country trip on the back of a truck.
- The jet won't rejoin the active fleet, but will serve as an "integration model" to test out new technologies for active duty B-52s.
The U.S. Air Force partially disassembled Damage Inc. II before it undertook its cross-country roadtrip. Boeing engineers will use the bomber as they map out the future of the B-52H Stratofortress, now in its 60th year of service.
While the bomber won't be rejoining the active fleet, it's primed and in place for its new, two-prong mission: "serving as an integration model to test how well new technologies and current and future modifications will integrate with B-52 aircraft," and "supporting structural integrity research for the B-52H Aircraft Structural Integrity Program, or ASIP," according to a January 22 press release from the 72nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs office at Tinker Air Force Base.
The Air Force maintains a fleet of 76 B-52H heavy strategic bombers. The big, lumbering, eight-engine bombers—built between 1961 and 1964—are still in service as both conventional and nuclear bombers, and have served in most major U.S. military conflicts since the end of the Cold War.
This particular bomber, tail code 61-0009, was built in 1961. During its active duty career, it served with the 96th Bomb Squadron, Barksdale Air Force Base. The bomber still has a map of Louisiana painted behind the cockpit.
The Air Force retired 61-0009 sometime in the 2000s, sending it to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Generation Group (AMARG) at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. Commonly known as "The Boneyard," AMARG is a near-final resting place for U.S. military aircraft, where the planes sit out the rest of their lives before being broken up or, if they are lucky, returned to service.
61-0009 is getting a little of both. The big plane was towed to the Pima Air & Space Museum, where the wings and horizontal stabilizer were removed from the fuselage. The fuselage was then trucked across the Southwest and Midwest over a course of 19 days to the new Boeing Hi Bay facility located at the Boeing Campus in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. There, the fuselage and left wing will be reunited. According to Scramble, the right wing and stabilizer will go to McFarland Research and Development in Wichita, Kansas, “to support structural integrity research for the B-52H Aircraft Structural Integrity Programme."
The B-52 is a Boeing jet, and in September 2021, the Air Force picked Rolls-Royce to upgrade the old plane with new engines, meaning the airframes could fly on for another 20 to 30 years if necessary. There is a realistic chance that at least some B-52s will fly for 100 years—the first planes ever to do so. Boeing required a fuselage and reassembled wing to study as it supports the big bomber into the 2030s...and beyond.
