B-52s return from the Boneyard

‘Wise Guy’ flies again

A BUFF nicknamed “Wise Guy” this week became the second B-52 Stratofortress ever to be returned to service from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the airplane cemetery known as the “Boneyard.”

Another BUFF nicknamed “Ghost Rider” was the first to come back from the dead.

The bomber was was selected to replace another B-52 that was damaged in a fire, said Maj. Phillip Ventura, spokesman for the 2nd Bomb Wing.

On Jan. 28, 2014, an oxygen leak caused a fire on a B-52H, which was undergoing routine maintenance, Ventura said in an email Thursday to Air Force Times. Although the plane was not destroyed, repairing the damage was deemed to be too costly.

Global Strike Command decided the most cost effective option was to replace the damaged bomber with another B-52H in storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

After “Ghost Rider” was selected to replace the damaged B-52H, crews from the 2nd and 307th Bomb Wings spent 70 days at Davis-Monthan making the plane able to fly to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, he said.

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