At the base of the Oklahoma City Aviation Logistics Complex, scheduled maintenance of two B-52H Stratofortress bombers, which were previously mothballed in the Arizona Desert for seven and ten years, began. This is reported on the website of the Tinker Air Base of the US Air Force.
The first of the planes - Ghost Rider ("Ghost Rider") - returned to service in 2015, the second-Wise Guy ("Wise Guy") - "resurrected" only at the end of last year. The process of restoring it after ten years in the landfill took more than two years and formally ended on December 30 last year. It is noted that the greatest difficulties for the team of technicians arose when recreating the electrical wiring according to the original scheme.
When Wise Guy finally returns to service, he will join Ghost Rider in the 5th Bombardment Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. Thus, the number of B-52 veterans in the US Air Force will grow to 76 aircraft.
Recall that these bombers were produced in 1950-1960, a total of 744 units were produced. The combat load in the armament compartment is 31.5 tons, the range is over seven thousand kilometers, the maximum speed is 957 kilometers per hour.
Alexey Ivanov