# B-52 bombers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-bombers/624685 "2012-06-10T04:03:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-bombers/624685/81 "2012-09-16T17:15:53Z")
[http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/Buffs-Get-Boned-3-30-2012.asp](http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/Buffs-Get-Boned-3-30-2012.asp) An interesting article on the use of the B-52 and B1-B. The long loiter time for the B-52 means that 1 B-52 with a load of smart bombs can provide rapid response for the whole country of Afghanistan. I tend to think of the B-52 as a battery of artillery that can travel at 500 knots. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-bombers/624685/82 "2012-09-16T17:22:21Z")
> [@StrangerThanFiction](#): > > Cargo airlines still fly everything from Beech 18s to 747 classics every single day. Even the “mainline” cargo outfits fly a lot of old equipment - UPS landed their last DC-8 just two years ago, and FedEx still runs a bunch of old 72s. It’s easier to pick up cheap airplanes that the passenger airlines are dumping and just pay out the nose for fuel and maintenance than it is to budget for new whiz-bang good-smelling airplanes from the factory, and the boxes certainly don’t care one way or the other. I don’t understand why this should be. It’s not as if logistic companies are run by idiots (although one was run by a paedophile wasn’t it?) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-bombers/624685/83 "2012-09-16T17:22:55Z")
> [@StrangerThanFiction](#): > > You’re right, but cargo is a bit of a different animal, isn’t it? When was the last time you saw a DC-3 or a Convair 440 in mainline passenger service? Cargo airlines still fly everything from Beech 18s to 747 classics every single day. Even the “mainline” cargo outfits fly a lot of old equipment - UPS landed their last DC-8 just two years ago, and FedEx still runs a bunch of old 72s. It’s easier to pick up cheap airplanes that the passenger airlines are dumping and just pay out the nose for fuel and maintenance than it is to budget for new whiz-bang good-smelling airplanes from the factory, and the boxes certainly don’t care one way or the other. As **Raguleader** described, the USAF operates under a similar mentality, I think due mostly to the shortsightedness bred by the political environment here in the US. 727’s burn as much fuel as a 767. they’re real expensive to fly. They were originally designed to fly on 2 engines in cruise but that never made it through production. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-bombers/624685/84 "2012-09-16T17:29:01Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > I don’t understand why this should be. It’s not as if logistic companies are run by idiots (although one was run by a paedophile wasn’t it?) the 70 series DC-8 could pull 50 tons off the runway coast to coast. It was a great airplane but it’s just too old to keep up the maintenance on now. And the cost of overhauling an engine isn’t linear to it’s size. 4 engines cost more to overhaul than 2 larger engines of similar thrust. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-bombers/624685/85 "2012-09-16T17:31:52Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > [http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/Buffs-Get-Boned-3-30-2012.asp](http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/Buffs-Get-Boned-3-30-2012.asp) > > An interesting article on the use of the B-52 and B1-B. The long loiter time for the B-52 means that 1 B-52 with a load of smart bombs can provide rapid response for the whole country of Afghanistan. > > I tend to think of the B-52 as a battery of artillery that can travel at 500 knots. That’s exactly what it is, a high altitude stockpile of weapons that can be dropped and directed to a target. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-bombers/624685/86 "2012-09-16T20:33:17Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Had they removed the [CRM-114](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRM_114) for security? 😃 Damn thing was never reliable anyway… ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-bombers/624685/87 "2012-09-16T20:49:24Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > the 70 series DC-8 could pull 50 tons off the runway coast to coast. It was a great airplane but it’s just too old to keep up the maintenance on now. And the cost of overhauling an engine isn’t linear to it’s size. 4 engines cost more to overhaul than 2 larger engines of similar thrust. Yeah so why are logisitics companies using these obsolete aircraft if it would be cheaper to run newer ones? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-bombers/624685/88 "2012-09-16T21:18:57Z")
Capital cost. They can get old ones for a song (well, in the low hundred thousands), since nobody else wants them. New planes cost in the hundreds of \*millions \*of dollars. That makes up for a lot of higher operating costs. Plus, they’re available immediately, not after a few years’ wait. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-bombers/624685/89 "2012-09-16T22:26:45Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > Yeah so why are logisitics companies using these obsolete aircraft if it would be cheaper to run newer ones? 727’s and DC8’s were quite popular and made up the bulk of fleets at one time. You can’t just walk away from a fleet of them. It takes a chunk of money to replace a fleet. The only thing that made a lot of money in freight were envelopes and that segment of the market died with the introduction of cheap fax machines. So companies like Federal Express and UPS were the ones with a delivery network capable of delivering envelopes. That money bankrolled newer fleets of aircraft. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-52-bombers/624685.md?page=4)