Bowman - Stratofortress: The Story of the B-52

B-52H-150-BW 60-0045 Cherokee Strip II of the 917th Wing, AFRes at Barksdale AFB (Author)

First published in Great Britain in 2005 and reprinted in 2012 by
Pen & Sword Aviation
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Pen & Sword Books Ltd
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Copyright Martin W. Bowman, 2005, 2012

Colour Profiles Dave Windle 2005, 2012

ISBN 978 1 84884 860 3

ISBN 9781848845169 (epub)
ISBN 9781844681310 (prc)

The right of Martin W. Bowman to be identified as Author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Technical Sergeant Shawn M. Bohannon, 2nd Bomb Wing historian; Denis J. Calvert; Tony Cassanova; Roger Chesneau; DAVA; Peter E. Davies; Jessica D Aurizio, 917th Wing, Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs; Larry Goldstein; Lieutenant Colonel Larry Genghis Hahn; Lieutenant Jesse Hildebrand, USAF; Lieutenant Jim Ivie, 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs; MSgt. Michael A. Kaplan USAF, Base Multimedia Manager, Burksdale AFB. Colonel Bruce Kintner; Mick Jennings; Sam Kemp, Imperial War Museum Duxford; Pete Kuehl; Lieutenant Colonel Steve Kirkpatrick; Technical Sergeant Barbara Lavigne, 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs; Steve Mendham; Frank B. Mormillo; Bob Ogden; Ivan L. McKinney; Paul Richardson; Penny Riches; H. D. Buck Rigg, historian, Barksdale Air force Base; Rockwell International; Graham and Anne Simons of GMS; Jerry Scutts; Andy Stulpa; Anthony Thornborough; Tracey Woods, Imperial War Museum Duxford.

B-52H-135-BW 60-0003, the third production B-52H, which was used to captive-carry the GAM-87A Skybolt ALBM which was later cancelled in 1962. On 17 March 1969, now assigned to the 379th Bomb Wing, 60-0003 lost four engines shortly after take-off from Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan. Aircraft commander Major Robert M. Winn, a command pilot with fifteen years of crew duty in SAC, landed the B-52 safely. During SAC duty 60-0003 was Mohawk Valley II of the 416th Bomb Wing, Master Blaster of the 7th Bomb Wing and Sheer Destruction of the 5th Bomb Wing (USAF)

Forward starboard main undercarriage bogie. The quadricycle landing gear on the B-52 consists of four wheels in front and four in the rear, which are retracted into the fuselage after take-off. The front wheels are steerable for taxiing and take-off and both front and rear can be canted on final approach to accommodate a crosswind (Author)

2nd Lieutenant Torri White and Technical Sergeant Albertus Burt Alexander, who is holding a 40lb PCU-10P parachute harness, during egress training the day before the flight in B-52H-150-BW 60-0045 Cherokee Strip II Call sign Scalp 95, of the 93rd Bomb Squadron, 917th Wing, Air Force Reserve, Barksdale AFB (Author)

Bossier City, Shreveport, Louisiana, 0630 hrs October 2003

Oh it's early and just like an old Hollywood movie it is raining stair rods outside my motel window. Gene Kelly would definitely not venture outside in this, and even Tom Hanks and Paul Newman's famous shooting-in-the-rain sequence in Road To Perdition does not compare. According to the Barksdale Base Guide for new arrivals the majority of rainfall is of convective and air mass types (showery and brief) except during the winter when nearly continuous frontal rains may persist for a few days. Extremes of precipitation occur in all seasons. It looks as if this is one of those extremes. Still, I thought, the monsoon from Texas should not cause any problems for an afternoon flight on the jump seat of B-52H 60-0045 Cherokee Strip II of the 93rd Bomb Squadron, 917th Wing, Air Force Reserve Command at Barksdale Air Force Base (AFB).

As a key air combat command base, Barksdale has a pivotal role in providing a large part of the USA's deterrent force. The Mighty Eighth Air Force of Second World War fame is headquartered at the base, which is home to the 2nd Bomb Wing and associated units, and to the Air Force Reserve's (AFRes) 917th Wing. In December 1993 when the wing accepted the first of eight B-52Hs, it became the first unit in AFRes history to acquire a strategic mission.

Emerging from the cotton fields of north-western Louisiana in the early 1930s, Barksdale AFB, roughly 180 miles east of Dallas and 312 miles north-west of New Orleans, has grown into a major source of revenue and employment for the Ark-La-Tex (Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas) region. It currently provides employment for almost 9,000 military and civilian employees, including approximately 1,600 AFRes personnel. It was on 5 December 1928 that Shreveport was selected as the location of a new 22,000 acre airfield, the world's largest at the time. It was to be named in honour of 1st Lieutenant Eugene Hoy Barksdale, USAAC who lost his life on 11 August 1926 while flight testing an observation-type aeroplane over McCook Field, in Dayton, Ohio. Beginning in 1931 about 150 men and 350 mules were used to grade the new landing field and more than 1,400 acres of cotton land were ploughed under and planted in Bermuda grass. The dedication of Barksdale Field was held on 2 February 1933. Large, roomy accommodation, laid out in an aesthetically pleasing manner in the 1930s in French Colonial Revival style more in keeping with the ambience of Acadian Louisiana, are still in use today. Now 20,000 acres are used for recreation and as a game preserve.

A visit to 93rd Bomb Squadron headquarters revealed that our B-52H was off on an early-morning mission. If it was still raining when it returned the follow-on mission would have to be cancelled; when a runway is wet regulations require that the pilots deploy their 44 ft nylon brake chute (there is no reverse thrust available on the T33 engines) to alleviate wear and tear on the hydraulic, segmented rotor-type disc brakes fitted to each of the eight main wheels. After a brake chute is used it has to be replaced and all eight engines have to be shut down while it is fitted. Unlike the tall-tailed B-52s, on the H the brake chute is stowed above the rear fuselage and this requires a tall working platform and several ground crew. This takes hours and so the flight will be off. It was like a cruel joke from