A 60 year old bomber planned to fly another 30-40 years

[Sailor Steve]

Yep, I've been seeing them for as long as I can remember. I'm actually a couple of years older than the plane. I watched as it carried the X-15. I saw them bomb Vietnam. I saw them star in movies about the Cold War. Now it looks like they might outlive me.


One of my favorite BUFF stories involves a famous...no, legendary actor. Jimmy Stewart set his acting career aside and joined the Army Air Forces in World War 2, flying a full set of missions in B-17s. After the war he remained in the Air Force Reserve, and in the movie Strategic Air Command there's a scene in which he's being checked out in the B-36, which had a cockpit big enough to set up cameras in. In the scene the flight crew suddenly get up and go for coffee, leaving Stewart alone flying the plane. I watched that movie a couple of times before I found out the scene was real, and Stewart really was alone with the camera crew flying the huge bomber.

During the Vietnam War Brigadier General James Stewart went along for observation rides with the B-52 crews, and experienced at least one close call.
http://www.historynet.com/mr-stewart...to-vietnam.htm