B-52 Emerges In Striking Retro Orange Paint Scheme

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B-52 Emerges In Striking Retro Orange Paint Scheme

Oklahoma aviation photographer Rob Stephens recently captured some great images of a

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with the tail number 61-0028 as it was leaving Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma bound for Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. But this was not your ordinary ‘BUFF.’

Instead of the typical gray paint scheme, the jet, nicknamed “Wolfpack,” sported DayGlo orange highlights on its forward fuselage, towards its wingtips, on its engine nacelles, and its vertical stabilizer. This striking paint scheme was done as a nod to the days when B-52A and B variants served as motherships for

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experimental hypersonic rocket plane that the U.S. Air Force and NASA used for research purposes during the 1960s, among other mothership testing, Stephens told us.

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The B-52H Stratofortress “Wolfpack” leaves Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma with a retro paint scheme honoring the days when earlier variants were motherships for the X-15 experimental rocket plane. (Redhome Aviation) REDHOME MEDIA CO

The B-52 “arrived at Tinker in early 2024 for Programmed Depot Maintenance (PDM) at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center,” said Stephens, whose

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page features some stunning aircraft photos,

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.

Tinker is where the 76th Aircraft Maintenance Group paint shop

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“before the 565th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron performed detailed inspections and repairs to the 1960s-era bomber,” Stephens explained.

After the PDM was completed, the B-52 “was flown on Aug. 26 by the 10th Flight Test Squadron, 413th Test Group, Air Force Reserve Command on a functional check flight lacking most of her paint,” according to the photographer.

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The 10th Flight Test Squadron conducted a functional check flight on Wolfpack in August. (Redhome Aviation) REDHOME MEDIA CO

PDM

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and opportunities for important upgrades and modifications.

As of 2021, each one of the service’s 76 B-52s was typically scheduled to undergo the months-long PDM process

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. This scheduling is, of course, staggered to keep a certain number of ******** on active duty at any one time.

Early indications of Wolfpack’s new paint scheme “was her DayGlo orange rudder on her test flight, before the 76th AMXG repainted the aircraft in the standard gray with the DayGlo orange highlights” you see in the photo.

The airframe was first flown with the new paint on Sept. 30 as “Lobo49” and “returned to the 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Barksdale, where she will receive her ‘OT’ and ‘49 TES’ tail markings, as well as an arrow on the tail and ‘U.S Air Force’ on her forward fuselage,” Stephens added.

The aircraft was painted to replicate NB-52A 52-0003, he said. That aircraft, along with NB-52B 52-0008, completed the X-15 missions starting in 1959.

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High-altitude contrails frame the B-52 mothership as it carries the X-15 aloft for a research flight on 13 April 1960 on Air Force Maj. Robert M. White’s first X-15 flight. (NASA)

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into the history of the Stratofortress, the first of three B-52A variants flew in August 1954 and were used exclusively for tests. The most famous of the test BUFFs was also a former B-52A, the NB-52A being permanently converted as a mothership for the X-15. It continued in this unique role until 1969.”

Stephens told us that the paint scheme on the BUFF “most closely resembles that of 52-0003 from 1959 with the X-15 mounted on the reinforced right pylon.”

As it sits now, this B-52 with the boldest of heritage schemes will serve as the 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron’s jet, doing very important work that will help allow the B-52 to remain relevant for decades to come, which is seen as critical to the service’s future bomber roadmap. You can learn all about the B-52’s future upgrades in our feature video below:

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We’ve reached out to both Tinker AFB and Barksdale AFB to find out more details about this aircraft. However, the next time you see a B-52 wearing DayGlo orange highlights, now you will know why.

Contact the author: *****@*****.tld

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