Trip to the National Museum of the US Air Force

**T Bolt** · 06-28-2012 01:29 PM

It’s been quite a while since I’ve updated this thread not because I’ve run out of pictures but because of the lack of free time I’ve had lately. Today I had some time on my hands and thought I’d at least try to finish up the aircraft in the “Modern” hangers.

Boeing B-1B Lancer

The B-1B is a much improved version of the B-1A which was canceled in the late 1970s It has variable sweep wings, caries a crew of 4, has a top speed of mach 1.2, and has 3 internal weapon bays that can carry up to 84 Mk-82 general purpose bombs. The B-1B entered service in 1985 and first flew a combat mission in Iraq in 1998.

**T Bolt** · 06-28-2012 01:55 PM

During flight testing of the Northrop XB-35 and XB-49 flying wings back in the late 1940s it was found that their radar signature was much smaller than it should have been for planes of their size. In the 1980s when development of “stealth” aircraft was underway Northrop used the flying wing concept along with composite materials and special coatings to create the B-2 stealth bomber. It even has the same 172 foot wingspan as the B-35s and B-49s. The B-2 has a crew of 2 and fly’s at high sub-sonic speeds.

The B-2 on display is one of two built without engines to be used for structural testing. The wing withstood 161% of the max design loading before breaking. In one of my pictures you can see the crude gusset plate that was used to repair the wing with so it could be displayed.