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- The National Museum of the US Air Force has the world’s only permanent public exhibition of a B-2.
- B-2 planes are known for their stealth technology, long flight range, and nuclear capability.
- The plane exhibited at the museum features remnants of the ground-based testing it endured.
I never thought I’d get to see a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber in person.
The advanced warplanes, which cost around $2 billion each, can evade radar detection and drop tens of thousands of pounds of nuclear or conventional weapons. They were most recently deployed in Operation Midnight Hammer in June, dropping 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
All 19 of the US Air Force’s operational B-2 planes are housed at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where access is strictly limited.
However, there is one place in the world where a B-2 is on permanent public display: the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
I visited the museum in August to see the one-of-a-kind exhibit. Take a look.
The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is one of the most fearsome warplanes in the world.
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit entered development during the Cold War, and the first plane became operational in 1993. B-2s were used in Operation Allied Force in Serbia in 1999, as well as in Afghanistan and Iraq during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom in the early 2000s.
With advanced stealth technologies that make it extremely difficult to detect by radar, a capacity to deploy nuclear and conventional weapons, and an ability to refuel midair for flight times that can exceed 30 hours, the B-2 is one of the most powerful warplanes in the world, and it has a very long reach. No other country operates anything comparable to the combat power and capability of the B-2 bomber.
The National Museum of the US Air Force added a B-2 to its collection in 2003.
The aircraft was shipped to the National Museum of the US Air Force in pieces in seven separate shipments. Reassembling it took restoration staff three years.
At the 2003 dedication ceremony, then-museum director Charles D. Metcalf called it “one of the world’s largest jigsaw puzzles.”
With a wingspan of 172 feet, it’s one of the most prominent displays in the museum’s Cold War gallery.
Even with the wide-angle camera setting on my iPhone, I could barely capture the entire plane in frame.
The B-2 housed at the museum never flew — it was one of two that Northrop Grumman built for ground-based testing.
Northrop Grumman built two test planes with the exact same specifications as the operational B-2s but without engines or instruments.
A museum volunteer showed me metal patches on the aircraft, which were used to repair one of the wings after it snapped during fatigue testing.
Fatigue testing uses hydraulic plates to simulate flying conditions and test an aircraft’s durability.
“Whatever the maximum load is, the plane has to take 150% of that to pass the test,” he said. “This one actually passed, though, at 161%, but you can see where it failed.”
A nose landing gear panel featured artwork added by the service members who conducted temperature testing.
Technicians conducted over 1,000 hours of temperature testing at McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and found that the B-2 could withstand temperatures ranging from -65 degrees to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. To commemorate their work, the technicians painted a decorative “Fire & Ice” decal on the nose landing gear panel and signed their names.
Nose art was popular during World War II, when pilots and crew members would often personalize their planes with cartoons, pinups, or tallies of their missions. It’s not as common on bombers in active service today.
The plane’s exterior featured the emblem of the Air Combat Command.
Air Combat Command prepares and equips Air Force teams to provide fighter power, intelligence, cyber operations, and support for combat missions around the world.
The shield-shaped emblem shows a downward-facing sword with wings spread on either side.
Wording on one of the landing gear doors indicated the plane’s name: “Spirit of Freedom.”
The “509th” and “Follow us” reference the origins of the modern 509th Bomb Wing, which operates B-2 planes.
During World War II, the historic 509th Composite Group was responsible for deploying nuclear weapons. The B-29 Superfortress bombers that dropped the first atomic bombs on Japan were part of this unit.
Their motto was “Follow Us, Follow Us, as we usher in the Nuclear Age,” according to the US Air Force’s official website.
The 509th was instrumental in the formation of Strategic Air Command and continues to support US nuclear deterrence.
I found the B-2 to be one of the most memorable exhibits at the museum.
The National Museum of the US Air Force features around 350 planes and missiles over 19 acres of exhibit space — among which were an Air Force One used by eight US presidents, Titan and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles, and the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki — but seeing one of the world’s most advanced warplanes up close was a memorable experience.
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