NASA's Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress Mothership on Display |
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The Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress mothership 52-0008 has been placed on display outside the north gate of Edwards Air Force Base, off Highway 58 between Mojave and Boron. It is accessible to the public. There is a turn around just before the security post and a parking area adjacent to the NB-52B.
See the NB-52B in Google Earth.
The yellow NASA tail band was added to the vertical stabilizer when the NB-52B was loaned from the Air Force to NASA in 1976. The black walkway stripes appear only on the left side of the stabilizer because the tail can be folded over to the right. The pictures of the left side of the Stratofotress mothership were taken on the afternoon of March 14, 2008.
You can buy framed prints and greeting cardds of this photograph.
The Air Force Systems Command badge on the left side of the nose has faded badly.
The last four digits of the NB-52B's Air Force serial number, 0008, appear on each side of the nose.
The right side of the NB-52B is covered in badges, text, and mission marks. The pictures of the right side of the Stratofotress mothership were taken on the morning of February 20, 2010.
The most recent change to the appearance of the NB-52B is the text reading DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTER and NASA. It was added in the Summer of 2004, so it appeared on the NB-52B on only one launch mission. Aside from the addition of the mission marks, the markings of the NB-52B hadn't changed since 1976.
You can buy framed prints and greeting cardds of this photograph.
The NB-52B wears the old version of the Air Force Flight Test Center badge, which reads "AD INEXPLORATA" (Latin for "Toward the unknown") rather than saying "AIR FORCE FLIGHT TEST CENTER". The nose art depicting a B-52 throwing an X-15 was first painted on the NB-52B by C. A. May in September 1964.
It has been asserted that the Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress, carrying Air Force serial 52-0008, can lay claim to being the airplane that has seen and participated in more history than any other single airplane. For forty-five years, the NB-52B was a fixture at Edwards Air Force Base. While the NB-52B is most famous for launching the three North American X-15 rocket planes, it continued to serve in the role of launch platform for a multitude of programs until its final mission on November 16, 2004. It was the oldest flying B-52 by nearly ten years.The NB-52B launched the three X-15 hypersonic rocket planes.
It launched the Northrop HL-10, Northrop M2-F2/F3, Martin Marietta X-24A and Martin Marietta X-24B lifting bodies.
It simulated the steep, power off approach to landing used by the Space Shuttles.
It assisted in the collection of data about wake turbulence from large aircraft.
It served as an air-to-air gunnery target.
It launched 3/8-scale F-15 Remotely Piloted Research Vehicles (RPRV) and Spin Research Vehicles (SRV).
It launched a Ryan Firebee II drone and the Ryan Firebee based Drones for Aeroelastic Structures Testing (DAST).
It launched the Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology (HiMAT) RPRVs.
It dropped the 48,000-pound Space Shuttle Reusable Booster Drop Test Vehicle (SRB/DTV).
It released a simulated F-111 crew module from its bomb bay to evaluate new parachute recovery systems.
It was the first airplane to launch a satellite into orbit on the Orbital Sciences Pegasus booster.
It tested the drag chute used to decelerate space shuttle orbiters.
It tested pollution reducing fuel additives with a pair of jet engines mounted under its bomb bay.
It launched the X-38 Space Station Crew Return Vehicles.
It launched the X-43A Hyper-X Supersonic Combustion Ramjets.
The book is 200 pages long. It contains 246 color photographs, 89 black and white photographs, and 2 other illustrations.
You can preview the first several pages of the book.
Books are printed on demand by Lulu.com. When you order one, it is placed in your Lulu.com shopping cart. Lulu.com prints, packages, and ships the book direct to you.
Put a copy of the softcover edition of Balls Eight: History of the Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress Mothership in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $74.95.
Put a copy of the hardcover edition of Balls Eight: History of the Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress Mothership in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $79.95.
Revell has re-released Monogram's 1/72-scale Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress with X-15A-2 kit. You need this book to help you establish the appropriate paint scheme for any particular NB-52B mission that you want to model.
The book is 96 pages long.
You can preview the first several pages of the book.
Books are printed on demand by Lulu.com. When you order one, it is placed in your Lulu.com shopping cart. Lulu.com prints, packages, and ships the book direct to you.
Put a copy of the softcover edition of Painting Guide for the Boeing Stratofortress Motherships in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $44.95.
You can buy a 2020 calendar featuring photographs of the Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress Mothership that launched the X-15s in the 1960s and continued launching research vehicles until 2004.
It has been asserted that the Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress, carrying Air Force serial 52-0008, can lay claim to being the airplane that has seen and participated in more history than any other single airplane. This calendar features a dozen pictures of the NB-52B carrying some of the research vehicles that it launched over the years. Photo sources: Air Force, NASA, Richard Lockett, Brian Lockett:
North American X-15-1, 1960
North American X-15-3, 1963
North American X-15A-2, 1967
Northrop HL-10, 1969
Martin-Mariettta X-24A, 1970
Northrop M2-F3, 1972
Martin-Mariettta X-24B, 1973
Orbital Sciences Pegasus, 1989
Supersonic Supercruise, 1995
X-38 V-131R, 2000
X-43A Hyper-X, 2004
Put a copy of the Balls Eight: Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress Mothership: 2020 calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $14.95.
The X-Planes: X-1 to X-45: 3rd Edition by Jay Miller
Flying Without Wings : Nasa Lifting Bodies and the Birth of the Space Shuttle by Milton O. Thompson
Test Colors: The Aircraft of Muroc Army Airfield and Edwards Air Force Base by Rene Francillon
X-Planes at Edwards (Enthusiast Color Series) by Steve Pace
Edwards Air Force Base : Open House at the USAF Flight Test Center 1957-1966 : A Photo Chronicle of Aircraft Displayed (Schiffer Military History) by Robert D. Archer
Angle of Attack : Harrison Storms and the Race to the Moon by Mike Gray. The biography of Harrison Storms, who was instrumental in the development and operation of the X-15.
At the Edge of Space : The X-15 Flight Program by Milton O. Thompson. The story of test flying the X-15 from the point of view of the pilot.
Send a message to Brian.