A really Completely happy Birthday the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber immediately. On 17 July 1989, the B-2 Spirit took to the skies for the primary time. The flight took off from Palmdale Plant 42 and landed at Edwards Air Power Base. The bomber was flown by B-2 Take a look at Pilot Bruce Hinds and the B-2 Take a look at Power Commander Col. Richard Sofa. The primary flight was a bit over 2 hours. Your complete flight was flown with gear down.
Right here is the B-2 Spirit by the numbers:
Variety of years that the B-2 has been flying. The B-2 first took to the skies on 17 July 1989 for a check flight.
Complete program price per plane. This quantity consists of growth, testing, engineering, and manufacturing.
Max takeoff weight of the B-2 Spirit Bomber in kilos.
Complete variety of bombers constructed (20 energetic, 1 check).
The wingspan of the B-2 is 20 toes longer than the Boeing 767 passenger jet (172 toes (B-2) vs. 152 toes (767)).
The B-2’s fight ceiling.
A B-2 can carry a payload of 20 tons.
Complete variety of main incidents.
23 February 2008: B-2 Spirit of Kansas crashed at Guam as a result of condensation within the plane’s Port Transducer Unit inflicting the air information laptop to obtain incorrect airspeed info.
February 2010: B-2 Spirit of Washington suffered extreme hearth harm at Guam. It took over 2 years to restore the plane which is now again in service.
13-14 September 2021: B-2 Spirit of Georgia made an emergency touchdown at Whiteman AFB, veering off the runway as a result of worn touchdown gear springs and hydraulic microcracks that precipitated the gear to break down. Preliminary restore prices have been estimated at $10.1 million.
10 December 2022: A B-2 skilled an in-flight malfunction and made an emergency touchdown at Whiteman AFB. Nobody was injured, however a short hearth occurred. All B-2s have been grounded till Could 2023, when the grounding was lifted with out rationalization. In Could 2024, the Air Power introduced plans to retire the B-2, calling repairs uneconomical.
The yr the B-2 made its fight debut throughout Operation Allied Power. Two B-2s took off from Whiteman Air Power Base in Missouri, flew over 31 hours to Kosovo, struck a number of targets, after which rotated and flew straight residence. Though the B-2 flew lower than 1% of all missions through the first eight weeks, it was liable for taking out a staggering 33% of the targets.
Variety of Mk-82 bombs that may be carried internally by the B-2 bomber.
Estimated radar cross-section (RCS) of the B-2 Bomber in m^2. By comparability, a B-52 is estimated to have a RCS of 100 m^2.
