International Air Power Review - Volume 9

On Fri, 14 Nov 2003 17:29:59 +0000, Ken Duffey

Mine hasn't come yet. B-52J? "J"??

My thoughts exactly. What 'J'? Otherwise I tend to agree with Ken. No need to open the wallet for this one.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

That's depressing. WAPJ was really great (WoF good too), but it seems that IAPR is running out of steam with some of their recent publications. Perhaps not surprising in that there are only so many planes to talk about, and only so much information available to the company. I think they could certainly make better use of experiences, comments, and stories from actual aircrews (and even from maintenance folks). That would fill up a couple of pages and provide another interesting aspect to the technical facts that they present. What was it like flying the Badger? Compared to other bombers? How credible of a threat did they believe they posed to U.S. carrier groups? What was their probable survivability? Any interesting emergencies, test flights, or funny incidents? Sure, this isn't pure, hard aviation journalism, but it would certainly help freshen up old factual material by providing entertaining anecdotal and circumstantial information.

Tony

Ummm! I think B-52J was the designation given to a one off bird modified from another suffix for some special test work. May not have been a completely official Air Force designator. Memory at 65 isn't what it used to be.

Bill Shuey

I certainly think there's plenty of material they could cover as far as aircraft of the past. When was the last time you saw a first-class article on the B-18 Bolo or Fiat Br.20 or B-45 Tornado? As for current aircraft, it does seem a bit boring. Can't say I was real excited on that issue with the F-14 as Focus aircraft. I'm sure something current has been neglected. Helicopters? Transports? Not as sexy as fighters, but still important.

I should have written it as 'B-52J' - inside speech marks - as it is in IAPR.

It is the proposed B-52H re-engined with four Rolls-Royce RB-211's

They provide a Boeing illustration of what it might have looked like.

I wondered. I've always seen it as B-52RE, well, what few times I have seen it. No worse than F/A-18 or F/A-22. What about B-52I? Oh yeah, that's Dale Brown's Megafortress. :)

I would definitely enjoy more articles on "past" aircraft. I remember towards the end of WAPJ's run that I was getting rather bored with the series, but I looked forward to each and every issue of WoF. I have to admit, when I get each issue of IAPR, I first read the articles on WW2 aircraft, since the current focus aircraft has already been done many times.

Sean

Helicopters?

Agree. I was very disappointed that WoF went down the tubes. Was it for lack of support? A corporate decision?

Cheers,

Doc H

Sounds reasonable and my memory was never what it used to be. ;)

Bill Banaszak, MFE

I think there was an article in Air International on the BR.20 and the ONLY article I've ever seen on the B-45 was in an Air Progress Special. As for the B-18, it might get mentioned in DC-3 articles but that's it. Since I had a plastic toy B-45 when I was a kid I've always had an interest in that one.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

WoFs outnumber WAPJs 3-1 in my library and they were bought as opposed to being 'handed down' the WAPJs. I can't imagine someone buying them, reading them and discarding them thereafter.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

According to the IAPR B-52J was a Boeing proposed re-engining with RR turbofans to increase range save gas you know all that stuff. 10 years ago it may have been financially viable. Too short a life left in the planes to recoup the investment. Never went passed the drawing board.

I can't recall the reasoning behind why they dropped WAPJ and WoF and started IAPR. I DO recall that Airtime Publishing did give some excuse or another.

I checked the mail today and I, too, am disappointed with IAPR #9.

FWIW, would anybody else out there like to see some coverage of Japanese WW2 aircraft?

Sean

I'd like to see coverage of any aircraft that you don't see covered much in magazines or books. No more articles on Bf 109, FW190, P-51,P-47, B-17, Spitfire, Hurricane, Mosquito, Zero.

Me! Me! That's one heck of a gap in WWII coverage, at least in English. I remember Gernot saying there was a considerable amount of info available in Japanese only. I've seen some coverage in Koku-fan but it's all in Japanese too.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

I share that view.

Doc H

Nope. The "Megafortress" is designated EB-52.