B-52 at War

Description

A giddy airborne Slim Pickens might have introduced the world at large to the B-52 Stratofortress in 1964's "Dr Strangelove" - but by then the B-52 had already been central to the USAF's strategic bomber force for a decade. And, more than forty years later, the legendary aircraft is still in service - and no less critical to the Air force's fleet. This book gives readers a close-up look at a long-range heavy bomber like no other. Aviation writer Nicholas Veronico tells the full story of the B-52, from it's original Cold War design to the latest technical updates.This richly illustrated volume details the technology that allows the B-52 to fly at high subsonic speeds at altitudes up to 50, 000 feet, delivering nuclear or conventional precision-guided munitions with precise navigational capability. It takes readers inside the design and building of an aircraft that - with its capacity to launch a wide array of weapons, from gravity bombs and cluster bombs to precision guided JDAMs - can be expected to serve the US Air Force for decades to come.

Nicholas A Veronico is president of the Northern California Chapter of the American Aviation Historical Society. His many books include F4U Corsair: The Combat, Development, and Racing History of the Corsair; Giant Charge Planes; Military Aircraft Boneyards; and Blue Angels: Sixty Years of Aerial Excellence. He has served as editor for Pacific Flyer Aviation newspaper, In Flight USA, and Airliners: The World's Airline Magazine