<P> The long rifle was the great weapon of its day...today this B - 52 is the long rifle of the air age . </P> <P> The B - 52B was followed by progressively improved bomber and reconnaissance variants, culminating in the B - 52G and turbofan B - 52H . To allow rapid delivery, production lines were set up both at its main Seattle factory and at Boeing's Wichita facility . More than 5,000 companies were involved in the massive production effort, with 41% of the airframe being built by subcontractors . The prototypes and all B - 52A, B and C models (90 aircraft) were built at Seattle . Testing of aircraft built at Seattle caused problems due to jet noise, which led to the establishment of curfews for engine tests . Aircraft were ferried 150 miles (240 km) east on their maiden flights to Larson Air Force Base near Moses Lake, where they were fully tested . </P> <P> As production of the B - 47 came to an end, the Wichita factory was phased in for B - 52D production, with Seattle responsible for 101 D - models and Wichita 69 . Both plants continued to build the B - 52E, with 42 built at Seattle and 58 at Wichita, and the B - 52F (44 from Seattle and 45 from Wichita). For the B - 52G, it was decided in 1957 to transfer all production to Wichita, which freed up Seattle for other tasks (in particular the production of airliners). Production ended in 1962 with the B - 52H, with 742 aircraft built, plus the original two prototypes . </P> <P> A proposed variant of the B - 52H was the EB - 52H, which would have consisted of 16 modified and augmented B - 52H airframes with additional electronic jamming capabilities . This variant would have restored USAF airborne jamming capability that it lost on retiring the EF - 111 Raven . The program was canceled in 2005 following the removal of funds for the stand - off jammer . The program was revived in 2007, and cut again in early 2009 . </P>

When was the last b 52 bomber built