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At the local Air Force Base, Tinker AFB, they do a lot of aircraft refurbishment. Of course they have access to the Air Force budget, and lots of resources. Back in the "good ol days" Tinker allowed our local Porsche club region to use one of the ramps to run our autocross. They would let us use the restrooms in one of the hangars where they had a B-52 stripped to a bare tub. Every bit of it was checked for corrosion, and refurbished to better than new. As I remember that last new B-52 was built in 1963. All of them in service are older than the pilots flying them. Some B-52s were flown by three generations of a family. Imagine flying the very same airplane yout grandfather flew.
Tinker keep them flying and much updated from the originals. It really is astonishing to see a very large airplane taken apart 100% and completely refurbished and updated.
The B-52 may well be in active duty front line weapon for the US Military 100 years after the first ones flew.
It is astonishing what private citizens funded with their own sweat and hard work can do to keep a cool aircraft like the XP-82 flying.
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Glen
49 Year member of the Porsche Club of America
1985 911 Carrera; 2017 Macan
1986 El Camino with Fuel Injected 350 Crate Engine
My Motto: I will never be too old to have a happy childhood!
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