US Air Force | Northrop B-2A Spirit "Spirit of Freedom"
KFFO (Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) - 23 AUG 2010
USAF Northrop B-2A Spirit on display at the National Museum of the US Air Force. This airframe has never been flown, but is one of two aircraft constructed without engines for fatigue testing. On the second of those test aircraft (the B-2 on display at the museum), engineers attached computer-controlled, hydraulically driven plates along the airframe to simulate all flying conditions. They calculated that the structure would reach 150 percent of the design specifications, but the wing withstood stresses over 161 percent before it finally cracked.
Early production B-2s also underwent extensive environmental testing. In 1993 the Spirit of Ohio (S/N 82-1070) endured more than 1,000 hours of extensive temperature testing at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. It withstood temperatures ranging from -65 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, rain and high humidity. To verify the test results outside the laboratory, the Spirit of Ohio deployed to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, in March 1996 for further cold climate testing. To signify these tests, the technicians painted the "Fire and Ice" artwork on the nose landing gear panel and signed it. Presented to the museum in 1999, that nose panel was installed on the museum's B-2 during restoration.
This aircraft is painted as ""Spirit of Freedom", which is fictitious. As stated above, the nose panel from 82-1070, "Spirit of Ohio" is on this aircraft with the "Fire and Ice" artwork. The red lighting seen here is different from lighting seen in the past.
US Air Force | Northrop B-2A Spirit "Spirit of Freedom"
KFFO (Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) - 23 AUG 2010
USAF Northrop B-2A Spirit on display at the National Museum of the US Air Force. This airframe has never been flown, but is one of two aircraft constructed without engines for fatigue testing. On the second of those test aircraft (the B-2 on display at the museum), engineers attached computer-controlled, hydraulically driven plates along the airframe to simulate all flying conditions. They calculated that the structure would reach 150 percent of the design specifications, but the wing withstood stresses over 161 percent before it finally cracked.
Early production B-2s also underwent extensive environmental testing. In 1993 the Spirit of Ohio (S/N 82-1070) endured more than 1,000 hours of extensive temperature testing at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. It withstood temperatures ranging from -65 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, rain and high humidity. To verify the test results outside the laboratory, the Spirit of Ohio deployed to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, in March 1996 for further cold climate testing. To signify these tests, the technicians painted the "Fire and Ice" artwork on the nose landing gear panel and signed it. Presented to the museum in 1999, that nose panel was installed on the museum's B-2 during restoration.
This aircraft is painted as ""Spirit of Freedom", which is fictitious. As stated above, the nose panel from 82-1070, "Spirit of Ohio" is on this aircraft with the "Fire and Ice" artwork. The red lighting seen here is different from lighting seen in the past.