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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

B-2 Program Still Flying

A B-2 Spirit stealth bomber appeared in the skies above Palmdale this month as part of a commemoration marking the 25th anniversary of the aircraft’s first flight. About 3,000 people turned out on July 17 at the Northrop Grumman Corp. plant, where 21 of the bombers were built and where they return for maintenance and upgrades. Among the speakers at the ceremony were pilots who flew the aircraft in testing flights and in combat missions. Dave Mazur, vice president and B-2 program manager for Northrop’s aerospace systems division, described the anniversary event as a way to recognize the importance of the bat-wing-shaped jet to the U.S. military, the company and the Palmdale facility. “To a large degree, the reason Northrop Grumman is what it is today is when we won the B-2 contract,” said Mazur. Northrop, in Falls Church, Va., received the B-2 contract in 1981 and rolled out the 69-foot plane for its first public viewing in Palmdale in 1988. The first flight was July 17, 1989 with Northrop test pilot Bruce Hinds and U.S. Air Force Col. Richard Couch at the controls. Hinds was a speaker at the anniversary event. Spirit and its stealth technology had origins from the Cold War as a way to defeat the radars of the Soviet Union. This could be done with stealth aircraft whose “flying wing” profile was more difficult to detect with radar. Spirit, however, was not the first stealth aircraft for the U.S. military. That designation goes to the F-117 Nighthawk from Lockheed Martin. That aircraft was designed at Lockheed’s Skunk Works advanced development division when still located in Burbank. The F-117 was retired from service in 2008. Currently 19 B-2s are assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, and one stays at Edwards Air Force Base for testing of upgrades. In 2008, the program had its only crash when Spirit of Kansas was destroyed after take-off on Guam. The aircraft return to Palmdale for periodic upgrades and maintenance. Northrop has about 1,100 employees on the B-2 program out of its workforce of 3,000 in the Antelope Valley. Repairing and upgrading a plane takes about 13 months although Mazur said there are efforts to reduce that time. “The longer we have the B-2 the less time the warfighter has it,” Mazur said. Upgrades include improved fiber optics and communications equipment. The anniversary event was attended by Northrop employees, suppliers, elected officials and representatives of the Air Force. In addition to Hinds, other speakers included Air Force Brig. Gen. Steven L. Basham, co-pilot on the first B-2 combat mission over Kosovo in 1999, and Brig. Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander of the 509th Bomb Wing. The B-2 program has now been around long enough there are some Northrop employees on their second generation servicing the aircraft, Mazur said. There still remains time for a third generation to be involved considering the 20 Spirit aircraft in service are expected to keep flying until 2058. Charter Marketing Jet Edge International has added the polo season at the Bridgehampton Polo Club on Long Island as the latest high-profile event to which it is providing air charter service. The Van Nuys firm is the official private jet partner for the polo season that lasts until Aug. 23. Claudia Duran, vice president of marketing at Jet Edge, said the sponsorship fits in with the firm’s strategy to position itself as a luxury brand going after a clientele that can afford flying in large-cabin Gulfstream jets. Geographically, the partnership makes sense for the jets based in Los Angeles, Florida and New York, Duran said. “Between those three points there is a lot of transit to (Long Island),” she added. The Bridgehampton partnership follows on the heels of Jet Edge hooking up with Hollywood trade publication Variety in May to make its fleet available to attendees of the Cannes International Film Festival. Jet Edge was also a sponsor of a Cannes event produced by Variety, owned by Penske Media Corp. in Los Angeles. The partnership resulted in Variety elevating its brand and Jet Edge tapping into the Hollywood community, Duran said. There are discussions between the two companies to partner together for the Toronto Film Festival in September. Jet Edge Chief Executive Bill Papariella is taking part in a Variety event later in the year honoring Hollywood business managers, Duran said. Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or [email protected].

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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