Built in 1955 as the eighth Boeing B-52, with the c/n 16498 and US military serial 52-0008, ‘008’ became famous as the main carrier aircraft for the X-15 program at Edwards AFB. She was later the ‘mother ship’ for various other test programs including Lifting Body aircraft, HiMAT and the Pegasus rocket system.
<p>Her many carrier missions are marked down the Starboard side of the fuselage and this is the third section, with detailed markings for the F-15 SRV, SRB/DTV, Firebee, DAST and F-111 capsule test flights.
By the time she was retired on 17th December 2004, she had become the only non’H’ model B-52 flying and a bit of a celebrity. She immediately became part of the AFFTC (Air Force Flight Test Center) Museum and has now been placed on display at the North Gate to Edwards AFB, CA, USA.
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29-6-2016.
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/65001151@N03">Alan Wilson</a> from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, UK
CC BY-SA 2.0
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ajw1970/28011109256/">NB-52B 'Balls 8'  Mission markings #3</a>