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Wings Over The Rockies Air & Space Museum
This is a rare Douglas B-18A Bolo. It was an attempt by Douglas to build
a bomber aircraft based on the successful DC-2 and DC-3 airliners. It was
nearly obsolete as a bomber when it was built. The Bolo was used mostly as
a patrol aircraft along the east coast hunting for German submarines. It
was retired before the war ended. Some Bolos were used for cargo after the
war. There are only 5 Bolos on display, and one airframe that was recovered
from a crash site that is being rebuilt in Hawaii.
This giant Boeing B-52B Stratofortress is on display outdoors in front of
the museum display hangar. This early B-52 was delivered as a RB-52
recon aircraft, but it was converted to the standard B-52B configuration.
It was eventually sent to Lowry to be used as a training aircraft for
ground operations.
The Martin B-57 is based on the British-built English Electric Canberra.
The aircraft was converted from metric to standard measurements and
fasteners before Martin put it into production. While it was acquired as
a medium bomber, it found use in high altitude work. Follow-on versions
had extra-large wings that allowed it to fly above 60,000 feet. This
aircraft is an EB-57E electronic countermeasure platform used in air
defense training.
The F-111 was designed to be the common fighter aircraft that would serve
both the Air Force and Navy. In reality, it grew too large and failed in
both roles. It was recast as a strike aircraft, eventually found a role
as the FB-111A strategic bomber for SAC. Affectionately referred to as the
Aardvark due to its long nose, the F-111 pioneered many technologies that
were the mainstay on the next generation of fighters and bombers.
The USAF has been working for decades to build and operate the ultimate jet bomber. They thought they had it with the B-70, but that program was canceled after only two prototypes were built. The next attempt was the B-1 bomber, which was a supersonic bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons to the Soviet Union. Four prototypes of the B-1 were built, but the program was canceled in 1977 when President Carter decided that cruise missiles would serve the same role far cheaper, at least until stealth aircraft could be deployed. The B-1 was revived as the B-1B in 1981 was part of a huge military buildup in the 1980s. This B-1A was used as a ground handling trainer. It is currently painted in B-1B colors.
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Authored by John A. Weeks III, Copyright © 1996—2016, all rights reserved. For further information, contact: john@johnweeks.com
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