This has triggered some special memories for me. I had the great good fortune to fly as a “extra” crew member on five separate B-52 missions during 1968-69. I was not a member of SAC but the 93rd Bomb Wing, 328th Bomb Squadron, Castle AFB provided my unit with B-52’s (F & G models) to conduct some special long-range reconnaissance missions. The first three were relatively short training missions, 4- 5 hours duration as I recall. Strapped into the EWO seat where my equipment was mounted, there wasn’t much to see. Missions 4 & 5 were LONG, #5 at 20+ hours.
Being low man in the pecking order, on the long flights the only time I had a “seat” was when I was on duty. Otherwise I had to find some dark corner to hide out in and try to get some rest. I recall wiggling myself under an equipment rack with about 18” overhead clearance to try to nap. Had to stuff my flight jacket under me to insulate myself from a hot bleed-air tube that passed under my shoulder. My legs hung down over the edge of the hatch to the lower deck where Nav & Bomb Nav lived. Could only last till my legs went to sleep. The only place to stand upright was downstairs in front of the honey bucket.
Experienced several air-to-air refuelings, some during the day, some at night and I have some great pictures to prove it. The most memorable was somewhere just south of the Aleutians at around 0100 in pitch black night. 25,000 feet. No visibility up or down. I was off duty and could take a kneeling position aft of the IP seat with a view out the windshield. The air was perfectly smooth with no sensation of motion even though I could see 225 knots showing on the airspeed indicator. We crawled up under the tanker which was lit up on it’s under side by its own spot lights to make it easy to see. The boomer had the boom hung down out in front of our windshield. It had a ring of colored marker lights showing around the valve. I can clearly remember seeing that ring of lights creeping closer and closer to the windshield till I almost felt I had to duck. It finally went up overhead and clunked into our receptacle to start the fuel flow. The whole experience of locating the tanker, approach, refueling and departure took the better part of an hour as I recall. The experience that night is without qualification the most spectacular thing I have ever witnessed in an airplane. I’m still awe-struck.
This is the condensed version, I could go on. Thanks for letting me share. I feel better now.
Jack
SSGT USAF
1964-1970
Topic: B52 Stratofortress Quick Dispatch (Read 2095 times)