B-2 Bomber Research Paper

“Never before had so much brain-power been focused on a single problem.”(Laurence qtd. in “Eyewitness”). Many inventions can be said to have changed the world, and the way it worked. Only a core few of these many inventions can be said to change air warfare, and few of those are as game-changing as the B-29 Superfortress by Boeing. The B-29 was the plane that dropped the atomic bombs in World War Two (“bomber”). The plane by Boeing was used most in World War Two as a strategic long-range bomber. This invention revolutionized the concept of war, and war is a factor in all life on planet earth. The B-29 bomber changed warfare by sparking the innovation of aircraft technology, saving lives, and allowing more power to be carried by the means

The after taking 25 years to develop the F22 Raptor from conception to operational certification the United States Air Force (USAF) produced the world’s first 5th Generation air superiority fighter. (site) This revolutionary fighter plane leveraged its very low observable stealth (VLO) and thrust-vectoring and digital fly by wire technology, to produce an extremely fast, agile and deadly air to air combatant. (GEO P 2) However, in 2009 Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, (SECDEF) convinced the President (POTUS) and Congress to truncate the F22 program, leaving the USAF with less than 187 operational F22 Raptors, this number was well short of the 381 the USAF estimated they needed to meet their mission requirements. (AWC 1/ site) Gates made his controversial decision based on three factors. This essay will explore these factors and explain how the 2009 U.S strategic environment, the overall cost of the F22 and Secretary Gates’ desire to change the Department of Defense (DOD) all lead to the decision to limit the production of the F22 Raptor at 187 aircraft.

Being the real first heavy bomber, the B-29 would start production six years after the B-17 won the USAAC competition. The head of Boeing Aircraft Co. on January 29, 1940, received a letter titled "U.S. Army, Airplane, Bombardment, Specification For". (The Boeing B-29) This would start production of the B-29. After thousands of hours of work, the plane took it maiden flight on September 21, 1942. The plane could carry a whopping 70 tons of cargo, the same amount of weight the Enola Gay carried on its way to Japan. It could fly at 400 miles per hour, almost 200 more miles per hour than its predecessor. The plane could also fly 4 thousand miles. (The Boeing B-29) The most famous B-29, the Enola Gay, dropped the bombs on Japan and forced them to raise the white flag and win the war against the Japanese. The plane was flown by Paul Tibblets and Robert Lewis. These planes helped win the war against the Axis powers and capture Berlin.

Because of the tight formations and gutsy flying by the B-17 crews they were able to put thousands of tons of bombs on target with great accuracy. The insight and information of the crews was a vital part in the military to create bigger and better equipment to help the war come to a close. While many of the crews were lost, the steel on target and the information provided saved thousands of lives. The average death toll of a B-17 pilot during World War II was eighty percent. To put that in perspective CPT. Morgan, the pilot of the Memphis Belle, said it like this, “You eat breakfast with 10 of your closest buddies, go on a mission, and only two would be at

On July 28, 1935, the first porotype of the B-17 or also known as the B-299 took off from Boeing Field in south Seattle on its first ever test flight (Boeing “B-17”). Seattle Times reporter Richard Smith dubbed the new plane, with its many .30 caliber machine-guns, the “Flying Fortress,” (qtd.in Boeing). A name that Boeing quickly adopted and trademarked for the gigantic bomber (Boeing “B-17”). The U.S. Army Air Corps designated the plane as the B-17. Boeing created the plane in response to the Army’s request for a large, multi-engine bomber. The B-17 financed entirely by Boeing, went from the design board to flight tests in less than a year. In Boeings description of the B-17 was a low-wing monoplane that combined aerodynamic features

1. Backers of the B-2 bomber have argued that it would be wasteful for Congress to stop their manufacture because so much has already been spent to develop the B-2. Advise Congress on how to deal with this argument.

The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was a single-engine, single-seat, metal fighter plane and ground-attack aircraft that was made by the Americans. The P-40 Warhawk fighters first flew in 1938 and caught the attention of the United States Army Air Corps, who placed the largest fighter plane order it had ever made for fighters for a count of 524 at a cost of US$13 million. This was the earliest serious fighter in WWII and did its job until better fighters came out. It was known as a safe and secure aircraft that was able to fly pilots back home after being shot up in action. Many variants of this plane were later created. In addition, the shark teeth graphics were a big feature on this plane.

The “bikko”, as the Japanese have nicknamed America’s most powerful aircraft, drops B-29 bombs on Tokyo. The residents of Tokyo race for shelter. These American aircrafts

of the disease was in line of duty. Knowing that Oswald was messing around with that KGB agent for information it was safe to say that’s what they meant by in line of duty (Marrs 106).

b. The availability of the P-51B since winter 1943 provides us with an escort fighter capable of for full escort to and from industrial centers deep inside the Third Reich, in addition to greatly increasing the potential duration of air cover missions for

Advanced Technologies. Lockheed Martin is bringing decades of experience of developing cutting edge technologically advanced systems to the marketplace. Through their legendary Skunkworks program, they have developed the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter, U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane and the SR-71 Blackbird. These are craft were operational long before the public even knew of their existence. The SR-71 developed in the 1960s still holds many speed and altitude records. The F-35 takes this experience and incorporates it. It is a fully stealth aircraft that uses advanced geometrical shape and electronic methods to remain undetectable. Each F-35 is fully linked to all other aircraft, being able to “see” what they see. The pilot wears an advanced helmet that allows them to see “through” the aircraft using 6 infrared cameras mounted around the aircraft, virtually eliminating any blind spots.

In today’s digital age, development of new technology and weapons are at an alarming rate, hence arises the need to stay ahead of advancements in order to properly defend the nation, as well as coalition forces and allies. In this period of warfare, the number one threat comes in the form of air breathing and ballistic missiles. During World War II, this threat was present, but was not thought to be prevalent.

If I were serving in the 918 Bomber Group I would prefer to serve under General Savage. Even though he seemed to appear as an uncaring leader, he knew how to keep the men focused on the mission and work as a team. Colonel Davenport was so concerned about each of the individuals that the group, as a whole, started to suffer. General Savage motivated the group as a whole not singling out one individual over another and therefore making the group stronger and making a group that everyone was proud to be and others wanted to be a part of. This was evidenced by the scene where soldiers from the ground crew were stowing away in the planes just to be able to be part of the bombing runs. When Colonel Davenport was in charge, soldiers were trying

Towards the end of the War the airplane becomes a practical device of war being able to carry weapons. Anthony Fokker and Louis Bleriot create the most successful of early modern biplanes known as the D-VII and D-VIII. Biplanes are eventually taken over by the monoplane, or one wing. This new design allowed for faster flight and better visibility for the pilot. Air-cooled engines lead the way for commercial aircraft, and Boeing introduces the first modern airliner the 247. Airplanes are effected the greatest by supply and demand of war. New styles of war begun to emerge so did new and improved types of aircraft. The population of the U.S. also begun to grow which leads to the modern most sophisticated commercial airliner the 777. Most aircraft improvements are found in the military and intelligence field. The most high tech aircraft known today for such things as spying are the SR-71 Blackbird, and the U-2 Spy plane. The most complicated and best aircraft performance is still held by the space shuttle and probably always will be. The last 200 years have seen incredible changes in aircraft from the man with wings to heavier than air flying machines that can travel at supersonic speeds.

The B-58 itself showed to the world that the possibility of a civilian SST was at least worthy of accurate investigation and capital investments. Although the large bomber implemented the supersonic efficient area-ruling design first introduced by Whitcomb (mid 1950s [1]) and therefore it could deliver a nuclear payload cruising at Mach 2 for about two hours, the light and thin wings, designed for high altitude flight and inefficient close to the ground at subsonic speed, highlighted a new set of primary technical challenges to be addressed by a commercial SST: the realization satisfactory structural design, the optimization of the wing aerodynamics for subsonic flow, and related to the last point, the improvement of takeoff and landing performance. A deadly crash at 1961 Paris air show summed up all the concerns about safety issues related to a not optimal overall design [4].