For 30 seconds the four giant engines roared, blasting clouds of dust into the cold desert air. Then the snow-white aircraft sped down the runway and made a graceful ascent to 10,000 ft. over Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. When it landed 90 minutes later, its first flight test was considered nearly perfect. "It equaled our predictions in every way," said Pilot Charles Bock.

The B-1 is designed to replace the venerable B-52, which has been the U.S. Air Force's mainstay long-range bomber for nearly 20 years. Two-thirds the size of the B-52, the new 400,000-lb. aircraft carries twice the payload and takes off in half the runway space that the B-52 needs, and it flies faster at high altitudes, reaching twice the speed of sound. With greater maneuverability and retractable wings, it is designed to zoom in under enemy radar scans and attack at treetop level while still flying at nearly supersonic speed.

But B-1's future is somewhat clouded. Critics continue to question the strategic usefulness of manned bombers in the missile age. The Air Force insists that bombers will still be needed. The price of having a winged option, however, is immense. Four years ago the estimated price per aircraft was $45.6 million; the figure is now $76 million and may rise to $100 million before the B-1 could become operational in 1981. After two more prototypes are built and further tests are completed by 1976, Congress will have to decide whether to take the advice of the Air Force and build 241 more B-1s.

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