![]() ![]() (Photo via Tillamook Air Museum Collection) The B-52 bearing the City of Bangor name at Dow AFB in the 1960s. On May 16th, 1964, the city of Bangor, Maine received honorary ‘ownership’ of the airplane, with 59-2579 christened as City of Bangor by Sheryllee Kay Jones, ‘Miss Bangor’ at the time, who broke a bottle of champagne on the bomber’s nose. In February 1963, the airplane joined the Air Force’s 397th Bombardment Wing at Dow AFB in Bangor, Maine. And with the ongoing re-engining process, that role is likely to continue into the 2040s!īoeing constructed the museum’s B-52G at their factory in Wichita, Kansas and delivered it to the United States Air Force on September 23rd, 1960. The B-52 became a veritable poster child for the US Air Force’s Strategic Air Command, which the bomber outlasted and, almost inconceivably, the Stratofortress remains a primary weapon in the present day U.S. The B-52, developed as a Cold War strategic bomber, has served the United States in the nuclear deterrent role and as a conventional, heavy bomber since the type entered operational service with the 330th Bombardment Squadron at Castle Air Force Base (AFB) in June, 1955. Furthermore, the museum will soon allow visitors access inside the ‘offensive’ (below deck) stations, also in the nose. The museum plans to formally unveil their prize on April 1st, 2023, although visitors can already gain a view inside the cockpit via a set of external stairs on the starboard side. The forward fuselage of Boeing B-52G Stratofortress 59-2579 is approaching the end of a roughly 18 month restoration effort at the Tillamook Air Museum in Tillamook, Oregon. ![]()
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