Air Force secret plane......

[flipper35]

Those are the oldest type: I guarantee there are no U2s from 1955 still out there in active service.

[flipper35]

In June 2018 a KC-135 was the oldest aircraft in inventory. It has since been retired I believe.

https://www.airforcemag.com/the-oldest-jet-in-the-air-force-refueling-bombers-on-the-frontline-in-the-pacific/

The airmen are flying KC-135R, tail number 57-1419, the oldest Stratotanker—and the oldest aircraft—currently in the Air Force’s fleet. The Block 40 variant of the refueler still doesn’t have modernized avionics unlike the rest of the fleet, but its mission capable rate is high, which is “pretty impressive,” given the operations tempo and environment in Guam, said Lt. Col. Nelson Perron, commander of the 506th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron.

The registration number is 57-1419 and it was manufactured and accepted into Air Force Service in 1957.

[flipper35]

The youngest B-52s still in active service are about 57 years old.

These are the “H” models, the last of which were delivered to the Air Force in 1962 – compare this to the fact that almost 40% of men and women serving in the Air Force are less than 26 years old.

https://www.uso.org/stories/2391-10-need-to-know-facts-about-the-b-52-bomber

[GH85Carrera]

The KC-135 replacement is starting to filter into the service. The KC-135 will be gone in a few years. There is still no replacement for the B-52 even on the drawing board. Yea, they have all been disassembled, restored, and massive upgrades, but the air-frame is the same.

Just think how few 57 year old cars are on the road and in regular service. The U2 has no replacement that we will know about anytime soon.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by flipper35

Those are the oldest type: I guarantee there are no U2s from 1955 still out there in active service.

military service

NASA uses them as do others (air sampling runs)

[fred cook]

What about the Lockheed C130 cargo plane? Lockheed got the contract to build them in 1951 with the first batch delivered in 1956. That would be 64 years of service!

[RNajarian]

Originally Posted by fred cook

What about the Lockheed C130 cargo plane? Lockheed got the contract to build them in 1951 with the first batch delivered in 1956. That would be 64 years of service!

Those would be the “A” models. Those were sold off to other countries years ago and I doubt if any are still flying.

The Current C130 inventory are “E”, “H”, and “J” models. Our “J” models were built in the 2000s.

The B-52s in service were built in the 50’s and 60’s.

HOWEVER, the C130 does have the longest aircraft production run in the US inventory.

[wdfifteen]

Not entirely on topic but:
When I was working on advance composites for the AF we kept getting these composite panels to evaluate. They said they were access panels for C-130s. It seemed odd to us that they wouldn't just send us flat panels for this purpose, but we were just a bunch of lab engineers so what would we know.
Ten years later - as usual - the entire lab went down to see the arrival of a new plane for the Air Force Museum. The new plane on that day was the F-117. Damned if the "C-17" panel we had been testing wasn't a wheel house door for the F-117.

[RWebb]

I guess we need to rephrase the question as what airframe is the oldest in current military service, and then 2nd question is what airframe design...

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by RWebb

military service

NASA uses them as do others (air sampling runs)

Yes, they use current model U2/TR1 aircraft. Not the ones built in the 50s.

A Corvette C7 compared to a C1.

[flipper35]

In regards to the BUFF, someone on here posted a photoshopped picture of a B2 with a B52 in the background. The caption was B52 does touch and goes during the B2 retirement ceremony.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Used to laugh about B52 recurrent training... “oh no... the dreaded seven-engine approach!”

[GH85Carrera]

And all the pilots of the B-52 are not ashamed or mad at the nickname BUFF.

Big
Ugly
Fat
Fu**er

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/how-b-52-bomber-got-nickname-buff-69796

“We know from talking to many prisoners and defectors, that enemy troops fear B-52s, tactical air, artillery, and armor..in that order.” This impression was confirmed by the Minister of Justice for the Viet Cong, Truong Nhu Tang, who dramatically explained in his 1985 book A Viet Cong Memoir, the experience of being caught in the middle of a B-52 Arc Light mission “It Seemed, as I strained to press myself into the bunker floor, that I had been caught in the Apocalypse […] the terror was complete. One lost control of bodily functions as the mind screamed incomprehensible orders to get out.”

[RWebb]

what was the last use in war/conflict?

[KNS]

^^ B-52s were used in the Gulf Wars and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In 2016 they were used against ISIS targets.

They've also been making their presence known in the South China Sea lately.

[RWebb]

No, I mean which is the latest mission - A'stan?

flyby's don't count (kinetics only)

[flipper35]

Someone dropped a MOP in a cave not too long ago. Couple years?