First the only thing I really had issue was the part about a B-52 hitting the Empire state building. It was a B-25 in 28, 1945 some 10 years before the B-52 first flew. (http://www.withthecommand.com/2002-Jan/NY-empireplane.html ), The B-52A first flew in 1954, and the B model entered service in 1955. A total of 744 B-52s were built with the last, a B-52H, delivered in October 1962. Only the H model is still in the Air Force inventory and is assigned to Air Combat Command and the Air Force Reserves. (this issues was addresed on the website)
The first of 102 B-52H's was delivered to Strategic Air Command in May 1961. The H model can carry up to 20 air launched cruise missiles. In addition, it can carry the conventional cruise missile that was launched in several contingencies during the 1990s, starting with Operation Desert Storm and culminating with Operation Allied Force.
General Characteristics
Primary Function: Heavy bomber
Contractor: Boeing Military Airplane Co.
Power plant: Eight Pratt & Whitney engines TF33-P-3/103 turbofan
Thrust: Each engine up to 17,000 pounds
Length: 159 feet, 4 inches (48.5 meters)
Height: 40 feet, 8 inches (12.4 meters)
Wingspan: 185 feet (56.4 meters
Speed: 650 miles per hour (Mach 0.86)
Ceiling: 50,000 feet (15,151.5 meters
Weight: Approximately 185,000 pounds empty (83,250 kilograms)
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 488,000 pounds (219,600 kilograms
Range: Unrefueled 8,800 miles (7,652 nautical miles)
Armament: Approximately 70,000 pounds (31,500 kilograms) mixed ordnance -- bombs, mines and missiles. (Modified to carry air-launched cruise missiles)
Crew: Five (aircraft commander, pilot, radar navigator, navigator and electronic warfare officer
Accommodations: Six ejection seats
Unit Cost: $53.4 million (fiscal 98 constant dollars)
Date Deployed: February 1955
Inventory: Active force, 85; ANG, 0; Reserve, 9
While I would agree that it may not have been a cruise missile that hit the pentagon but a AGM-86C Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missile could have easly made the hole, it was not a Boeing 757.
But you can’t say that is was not a Cruise Missile based solely on the fact that they are 2” in diameter. It’s the warhead that does the damage. A 2x2 block of c4 will make the same hole.
Check this link
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/agm-86c.htmThis would explain the small plain people saw and the small engine and C-130 that was reported in the sky (although I am not sure this could be launched from a C-130. Take note to the contractor.
Primary Function: Air-to-ground strategic cruise missile
Contractor: Boeing Defense & Space GroupAerojet - CALCM warhead
Guidance Contractors: Litton Guidance & Control, Rockwell Collins Avionics, and Interstate Electronics Corp.
Power Plant: Williams International Corp. F-107-WR-101 turbofan engine
Thrust: 600 pounds
Length: 20 feet, 9 inches
Weight: 3,250 pounds
Diameter: 24.5 inches
Wingspan: 12 feet
Range: Nominal: 600nm Specific: Classified
Speed: Nominal: High Subsonic Specific: Classified
Guidance System: Litton Inertial Navigation Element integrated with an onboard Global Positioning System
VARIANTS
AGM-86CBlock 0 AGM-86CBlock I AGM-86CBlock IA AGM-86DBlock II
Warhead: 1,500-lb AFX-760Blast Fragmentation Warhead 3,000-lb PBXN-111Blast Fragmentation Warhead Penetrating Warhead
Initial Operational Capability:
Jun 1986 Jul 1996 Jul 2000 mid-2002
Full Operational Capability:
Jun 1993 Nov 1999 2001 2003
Total Production:
105 295 163 130 - 195
Deliveries [as of 15 Apr 99]
105 200 0 0
Combat Expenditure:
39 + 13 + 50 40 + 60
Current Inventory:
? 0 ~100 0 0
Unit Cost: $ 150,000 conversion cost$ 600,000 contract price per unit$1,500,000 [$FY90, based on GAO Desert Storm estimate]$1,875,000 [$FY99, based on GAO Desert Storm estimate]