Heck,
The B-52s are going on 60 and still going strong. I've heard that there are a bunch of 50 year old airframes still in service. Best book ever written about the B-52s was Flight of the Old Dog.
Space Fighter?<br>
<br>
Ever hear of the Sänger designed Raumgleiter (Space Glider) Silbervogel (Silver Bird)?<br>
<br>
Nazi scientists were working on a space bomber towards the end of the war. This was basically a manned rocket that could strike anywhere in the world without the possibility of interception. A wind tunnel model was made, and the most still exists today.<br>
<br>
There very little new under the sun.
I saw an exhibit of the German "Boost Bomber" which matches your description of the Sänger designed Raumgleiter (Space Glider) at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base about 20 years ago. The exhibit had the wind tunnel model and a nice write up of the project. The wind tunnel model was only about two feet long but it looked very sleek and modern. It had two small swept wings near the tail of the aircraft and looked like it was designed yesterday instead of about 1941 or 1942.
The “Boost Bomber” was to be launched like the space shuttle orbiter with external rocket packs into the stratosphere. It could then circle the globe and bomb strategic targets like dams, bridges, aircraft factories, the White House, etc. It would drop its bombs from high in orbit; continue to circle the earth and land in Germany. The Germans were also working on radio controlled glide bombs similar to today’s smart bombs. Of course, it was never put into production and no prototype was ever built.
The Germans did have advanced knowledge of aerodynamics and swept wing aircraft. Thank God they had a nut job in control who never allocated funding to pursue the project. He was more interested in a “flying tank.”
On a separate note, I love to watch the B-52’s in flight in the 1960’s movie Dr. Strangelove. The martial music sound track really gets your blood pumping as Major King Kong (Slim Pickens) flies his B-52 at ground level deep into the Soviet Union to bomb an ICBM base. His iconic moment in film, IMO, is his riding of the nuclear weapon from the bomb bay into the target waving his cowboy hat all the way down. There are dozens of great moments in that film.
The next-gen stealth aircraft is a low observable that is scheduled for debut in 2018, and will have the capability of launching nuclear payloads. NAVAIR (Pax River) is putting the job out for bid next year.
24str8, I believe what you saw was the first ever crash of a B-2 stealth. Over a billion dollars down the toilet.
Buz
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Trapshooters Forum
4.1M posts
85.5K members
Since 2005
A forum community dedicated to Trap shooting enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about targets, clays, hunting, gunsmithing, gear reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!