Boeing B-52 Stratofortress

The Museum’s B-52G Stratofortress was built in Wichita, Kansas and delivered to the United States Air Force on September 23, 1960. In February 1963, the airplane was transferred to the Air Force’s 397th Bombardment Wing at Dow Air Force Base in Bangor, Maine. On May 16, 1964, the City of Bangor was given honorary ownership of the aircraft and the B-52 was Christened the “City of Bangor” by Miss Bangor of 1964 (Sherryllee Kay Jones), who ceremoniously broke a bottle of champagne over the nose of the airplane. When Dow Air Force Base closed down in 1968, the B-52 was transferred to the 2nd Bombardment Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. In May 1972, with the Vietnam War continuing in earnest, the Museum’s B-52 was sent to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam as a part of “Operation Bullet Shot” (the buildup of forces in southeast Asia to combat the North Vietnamese). Here it participated in bombing raids over Vietnam. After the war, the B-52 was stationed at a number of bases, including in Texas, California, North Dakota, and Washington State. In 1991, with the build-up of tensions surrounding Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the Museum’s B-52 was again put into action, flying 14 combat missions during the conflict. In November 1991, the airplane was retired and sent to the Air Force’s Aircraft Storage & Disposition Center (AMARG) at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona where it was cut into five pieces to satisfy terms of disarmament agreements between the United States and the Soviet Union. Fortunately, the airplane’s cockpit was saved when the Southern Utah Aviation Museum retrieved the piece and began restoration of the cockpit for display at their museum. When the museum ceased operations, the cockpit was then sold to Doug Scroggins of Scroggins Aviation Mockup & Effects of Las Vegas, Nevada. Scroggins Aviation subsequently loaned the B-52 to the Tillamook Air Museum in September 2021.