That’s because of the era it was designed it. It is from the dawn of the jet age. Jet engines weren’t very powerful yet and they believed they had to have very thin and very swept wings to get the speeds they wanted. It was before thrust reversers so it uses drogue chutes. Its wings are too thin to support the weight of the craft so the main landing gear are in the fuselage and the wings droop so much they have the wheels on the wing tips. They were too afraid to have the weight of the plane and payload rotate on take off to the rear wheels so the flaps are so aggressive it actually takes off with a nose down attitude. The front wheels are the last to leave the pavement and the first to touch it. It’s just a really strange design because they were still learning about jet design.
The aircraft is also permanently at takeoff attitude on the ground, the front landing gear is significantly longer than the rear. Also, both sets of main gear rotate, so it can crab down the runway, this is for landing in crosswinds.
It’s still kinda janky looking tbh. Like someone put a commercial airliner in MS Paint and just stretched everything away from where the wings meet the fuselage.
Wait what the hell is a Stratofortress? i only know that as the stratovarius song.
(I’m not allowed to view the article for some reason, access denied)
It’s a flying fortress that flies in the stratosphere. Duh.
Image from the article
What a wildly disproportionate-looking aircraft
That’s because of the era it was designed it. It is from the dawn of the jet age. Jet engines weren’t very powerful yet and they believed they had to have very thin and very swept wings to get the speeds they wanted. It was before thrust reversers so it uses drogue chutes. Its wings are too thin to support the weight of the craft so the main landing gear are in the fuselage and the wings droop so much they have the wheels on the wing tips. They were too afraid to have the weight of the plane and payload rotate on take off to the rear wheels so the flaps are so aggressive it actually takes off with a nose down attitude. The front wheels are the last to leave the pavement and the first to touch it. It’s just a really strange design because they were still learning about jet design.
The aircraft is also permanently at takeoff attitude on the ground, the front landing gear is significantly longer than the rear. Also, both sets of main gear rotate, so it can crab down the runway, this is for landing in crosswinds.
Yeah, weird plane.
To be fair that’s an upward angle on a plane taking off, with the flaps fully extended for maximum lift.
This is what a B-52 looks like when in a regular flight configuration.
It’s still kinda janky looking tbh. Like someone put a commercial airliner in MS Paint and just stretched everything away from where the wings meet the fuselage.
Bombers tend to look like that, they have a very small fuselage compared to a passenger aircraft. Very compact cargo.
Yo mama
There is a reason it has the nickname BUFF.
Big Ugly Fat Fuck.
But GOD can they fly!
…well not this one, not anymore. But usually.
It’s because the cargo they’re built to carry is very dense, hence the very slim fuselage.
How the hell have you not heard of the B-52 stratofortress?
One of today’s lucky 10,000?
not noncredibledefense
I realise that, but it’s a very famous aircraft type.
I thought the Stratofortress was just ten times bigger than a 747, and I worked in loading them shits topside and I ran the k[loader and oh!
The important points are: do not loiter in front of or behind of giant demonic turbines
Lol Jack Parsons was a roll sma-t shit
https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/compare-aircraft-results.php?aircraft1=19&aircraft2=247
Edited. Possibly the badass name “Stratofortress” was subsumed