Rockwell International B-1A/B; Aerofax Minigraph 24

Arlington, TX: Aerofax, Inc, 1986. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Trade paperback. Very good. The format is approximately 8.5 inches by 11 inches. 40 pages. Illustrated covers. Illustrations (some in color). The Aerofax Minigraph series provides a concise design and development history of each aircraft type, together with it's service history. A large number of b+w photos are featured, plus some color photos and a 4-page fold-out of line drawings. Don Logan joined the USAF in August of 1969. He was trained as an F-4E Weapon Systems Officer (WSO), and stationed at Korat RTAFB in Thailand. He flew 133 combat missions over North and South Vietnam, and Laos before being shot down over North Vietnam on July 5 1972. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with twelve oak leaf clusters, and the Purple Heart. He spent nine months as a POW in Hanoi North Vietnam, being released in the last group to leave Hanoi on March 29, 1973. He left the Air Force at the end of February 1977, and in March of 1977, I went to work for North American Aircraft Division of Rockwell International, in Los Angeles, as a Flight Manual writer on the B-1A program. I was later made Editor of the Flight Manuals for B-1A #3 and B-1A #4. In October of 1978, I started my employment at Boeing in Wichita, Kansas as a Flight Manual/Weapon Delivery manual writer on the B-52 OAS/CMI (Offensive Avionics System/Cruise Missile Integration) program. He was made the Lead Editor of the Flight and Weapon Delivery manuals to be written by Boeing (OSO and DSO Flight Manuals, and all aircrew weapon delivery manuals). He is the author of multiple books on USAF subjects. Jay Miller was with Aerofax, Inc. The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It has been nicknamed the "Bone" (from "B-One"). It is one of the Air Force's three strategic bombers, along with the B-2 Spirit and the B-52 Stratofortress, as of 2024. Its 75,000-pound payload is the heaviest of any U.S. bomber. The B-1 was first envisioned in the 1960s as a bomber that would combine the Mach 2 speed of the B-58 Hustler with the range and payload of the B-52, ultimately replacing both. After a long series of studies, Rockwell International (B-1 division later acquired by Boeing) won the design contest for what emerged as the B-1A. Prototypes of this version could fly Mach 2.2 at high altitude and long distances at Mach 0.85 at very low altitudes. The program was canceled in 1977 due to its high cost, the introduction of the AGM-86 cruise missile that flew the same basic speed and distance, and early work on the B-2 stealth bomber. The program was restarted in 1981, largely as an interim measure due to delays in the B-2 stealth bomber program. The B-1A design was altered, reducing top speed to Mach 1.25 at high altitude, increasing low-altitude speed to Mach 0.96, extensively improving electronic components, and upgrading the airframe to carry more fuel and weapons. Dubbed the B-1B, deliveries of the new variant began in 1985; the plane formally entered service with Strategic Air Command (SAC) as a nuclear bomber the following year. By 1988, all 100 aircraft had been delivered. With the disestablishment of SAC and its reassignment to the Air Combat Command in 1992, the B-1B's nuclear capabilities were disabled and it was outfitted for conventional bombing. It first served in combat during Operation Desert Fox in 1998 and again during the NATO action in Kosovo the following year. The B-1B has supported U.S. and NATO military forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. As of 2021 the Air Force has 45 B-1Bs. The Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider is to begin replacing the B-1B after 2025; all B-1s are planned to be retired by 2036. B-1A No. 1 was disassembled and used for radar testing at the Rome Air Development Center in the former Griffiss Air Force Base, New York. B-1As No. 2 and No. 4 were then modified to include B-1B systems. The first B-1B was completed and began flight testing in March 1983. The first production B-1B was rolled out on 4 September 1984 and first flew on 18 October 1984. The 100th and final B-1B was delivered on 2 May 1988; before the last B-1B was delivered, the USAF had determined that the aircraft was vulnerable to Soviet air defenses. In 1996, Rockwell International sold most of its space and defense operations to Boeing, which continues as the primary contractor for the B-1 as of 2024.