Re: Wings Of Freedom NNG

Hi Ned,

I think that some of the other contributors have already touched on the answer. By the end of WWII, both the B-17 and the B-24 were technologically obsolete. They were 1930s designs. They were unpressurized, slow and lacking in useful load. Some examples soldiered on in support roles, but the B-29 was the bomber that took us into the cold war. The B-29 eventually morphed into the B-50, and along with the similar technology B-36, were the key components in our nuclear strategy into the 1950s. Unfortunately, even these airplanes quickly became obsolete as pure jets (like the MiG-15) became available to potential adversaries.

I have always found it interesting that the service lives of aircraft designs were so short in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and even early 70s. Airframes were relatively cheap (compared to today) and technology was changing rapidly. Nowadays, we expect designs to last 30 to 50 years, even if the individual airframes don't last that long. We spend 15 years just fielding a new design. The F-15s and F-16s that were just going into service when I graduated from college are still the back-bones of the Air Combat Command. The new F-35, which is just starting to come on line, has been in development for well over a decade, and is likely to be the last new fighter project that I live to see.

Fleet sizes aren't what they used to be either. We can't afford our own technology any more. We built 744 B-52s, 100 B-1s and just 21 B-2s.

/Kevin