A Hard Day's Night
Cold war B-52s flew an icy northern route on alert for a Soviet missile strike.
- By Bill Robinson
- Air & Space magazine, September 2006
Cold war B-52s flew an icy northern route on alert for a Soviet missile strike. NASM (SI NEG. #00129297)
FOUR DECADES AGO ON A MID-WINTER MORNING AT LARSON AIR FORCE BASE in Washington state, a cold war routine was being played out by Strategic Air Command B-52D bombers and crews of the 768th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy). Crews were at the end of five days on ground alert, living together in the “mole hole,” within sprinting distance of their aircraft. It was “changeover” morning, with fresh crews relieving those coming off alert.
My crew and one other 768th crew had a mission to fly before going home for a two-day break, then five days of flying before our next ground alert tour. I was a young first lieutenant who, at the moment, was strapped into the navigator’s seat aboard a B-52D, call sign Ranger 42. It was January 5, 1966, and a 27-hour workday was just getting started.
In 1961, SAC announced that nuclear-armed B-52s were conducting airborne alert missions. Code-named “Chrome Dome,” these flights were a part of SAC’s nuclear alert posture for seven years. B-52 units rotated on flying routes over the Arctic and Mediterranean. The idea was to reduce retaliatory response time in the event of a missile attack. To that end, several two-ship formations of armed B-52s were airborne around the clock within striking distance of the Soviet Union.
Most Larson crews flew an Arctic route, and though it was a complex, challenging, and exhausting mission, we considered it routine. On this morning, waiting for takeoff clearance with engines idling, Ranger 42 sat just off the runway and behind Ranger 41, the other 768th B-52 making up our flight of two. Each aircraft carried two 9,000-pound B53 nuclear bombs. Secured in each cockpit was a sealed metal box containing the top-secret “go codes,” charts, and target data necessary for the execution of a retaliatory nuclear strike.
One minute after Ranger 41 lifted off the runway, Ranger 42 was rolling. As the pilot slowly advanced the power on the eight J57 jet engines, he made his customary takeoff announcement: “Everybody grab a throttle and run forward.” A mile and a half later, we broke ground in the distinctive nose-low B-52 climbout attitude, bumping our way through a patch of the leader’s wake turbulence, then fell into two-mile trail formation.
Over Pennsylvania, the flight took up an east-northeast heading for our rendezvous with a pair of KC-135 tankers in the “Black Goat” refueling area off Newfoundland. Each bomber would take on about 12,500 gallons, enough to carry us over the pole and down to our next refueling, over central Alaska.
At 60 degrees north latitude, south of Cape Dyer and the Arctic Circle, it was time to “go into grid”—an air navigation technique used in polar regions where the unreliability of the magnetic compass and the acute convergence of geographic lines of longitude (meridians) close to the pole rule out steering by conventional methods.
On normal polar charts, the convergence of meridians close to the pole causes one degree of change in true course for each meridian passed. This change occurs more rapidly the closer the aircraft comes to the pole. The practical effect of this is that in order to fly a straight course, the aircraft would have to be placed in a constant turn—not good.
Related topics: Air Force Jet Aircraft B-52 Stratofortress Military Aviators Cold War Era
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Comments (14)
that picture is DEFINITELY NOT TWO B-52's!!!
the lager one is, the smaller one is NOT.
prolly an EB-66
Posted by Karlaz Fredrick on July 21,2008 | 08:04 PM
It's actually a B-52 being refueled by a KC-135A...seems consistant with the story.
Posted by Jeff Sterling on August 18,2008 | 02:30 AM
Well, no one ever said that the photo was of "two B-52's." It is a KC-135 and a B-52 ready to hook-up or already taking on fuel, which I have done 100's of times.
Posted by Bob on August 19,2008 | 10:05 AM
I know I'm a little late commenting but just came across this great photo. Definitely looks like a KC-135 & B-52D. I was a jet engine mechanic working on both planes out of McCoy AFB, Orlando. Spent lots of time at Kadena in Okinawa and Anderson in Guam. ('66-'70). FYI; both aircraft used the same engine a J57-59w on the KC-135 (4) and a J57-29w on the B-52 (8). The 'w' was for water injection used as takeoff thrust augmentation before the advent of the turbofan engine. Pilots will tell you lots of stories about running out of water before getting those "heavys" off the ground. Only 2 minutes of water on board. Hope this adds to the story.
Posted by John McQuade on June 18,2009 | 09:02 PM
That brings back many memories-I started as a BUFF nav [G model, Blytheville AFB, Ar], then by a miracle, I got into tankers. While in the BUFF, my crew was within three weeks or so of our first 24 hour mission before the program was cancelled! We would have orbited off the coast of Spain.
Grid and celestial-what a combo. Never could get the astrotracker to find stars as well as the EWO did!
Posted by DON FISK on August 17,2009 | 10:44 PM
I liked the comment of Don Fist, Buff Nav. I was an EWO. Had to go thru nav school prior to EWO school. I did not care for navigation and was relieved to be selected for EWO school. However, I loved to shot the stars using the D1 sextant. Wish I had one with the mount from an aircraft to play with in my old age.
Posted by Al Pringle on September 3,2009 | 12:55 PM
Don Fisk and Al Pringle got me to thinking. When I wrote this article, space requirements did not allow me to go into much detail concerning crew duties. In particular, the total reliance by the navigator upon the Electronic Warfare Officer’s (EWO) skills with the periscopic sextant, which was installed near his ejection seat, above the navigator's position. He had to locate, identify and shoot each celestial body, using azimuth and altitude information called up by the navigator over the intercom just prior to shot time. In SAC the celestial navigation pace was furious, so there were no do-overs on celestial shots - the EWO had to be on the correct star each and every time. So “Bless ‘em all” to all you “Beeps” and especially to our own EWO on S-13, Don Hamilton.
Posted by Bill Robinson on September 6,2009 | 08:24 PM
Good to read everyone's recollection of BUF/tanker operations. (--Anybody recall the mandate at U Tapao to discontinue the "BUF" references?)
I was a tanker nav for 3,000+ hours in the '135. Loved the celestial and grid challenges. The boom operator was my sextant "shooter." Some of those guys could do a whole nav leg, including pre-comps, on their own. Also did lots of work on Chrome Domes and Thule monitors.
I'm giving a presentation to my daughter's World Affairs H.S. class next week. I found this site 'cause I was looking for a photo of a D1 periscopic sextant. Anybody know where I can find one?
Posted by Herb Taylor on November 13,2009 | 02:15 PM
A comment on the EWO shooting cel; not sure when that took place because I as the nav took all my own shots, recorded and plotted them going back and forth between the flight decks. I am sure if I had asked the EWO to do it on my crew he would have said to go F... myself. Oh the memories.
Posted by Don Zindorf on September 4,2010 | 01:17 AM
Herb,
Re your comments,"The boom operator was my sextant "shooter."
So far as I know,I was the KC-135 Nav who started the "boom operator" shooting the sextant for us Navigators. I started teaching my boomer,SSgt Gayle Moreland,in early 1959 to use the sextant and learn the navigation stars(so he would know the stars in case I screwed up the computations--and we spent many hours out in our alert plane practicing) and by that fall,I began to let Gayle shoot some stars for me(I would shoot just behind him as a backup/crosscheck). By early 1960 he was regularly doing my shooting for me and my crew thought it was great. Finally my A/C and I touched base with our Stan Eval people there at Ellsworth AFB SD for their blessing. They evidently liked the idea and flew with us fairly quick on an unscheduled StanEval/Observation flight. Then the Wing CO was briefed and then off to SAC Hdqtrs for their blessing. After SAC gave it's blessing,it was off to the races(at least at Ellsworth) on teaching the boomers celestial shooting and the procedure quickly spread throughout SAC,I think. Anyway,the boomers were still doing the shooting when I left for pilot tng in Feb 62.
Jim Wilkes
Col USAF Ret'd
Posted by Jim Wilkes on October 6,2010 | 03:16 PM
I was very excited when I found this article written by Bill Robinson. Bill and I were classmates in Navigator Training at James Connally AFB back in 1962-3. I would very much like to obtain Bill's email address - or - possibly you could give Bill mine and he could contact me personally. Either way would suite me.
I only took an observation ride in a BUF while I was in instructor in EWO training at Mather AFB so I never experienced the joy(?) of a chrome-dome mission but it does make my heart go pitty-pat when I am reminded of grid and celestial navigation. Bill's explanation of both was terrific.
Regards,
Jack McIntyre. EDITORS' REPLY: We'll forward your message on to the writer.
Posted by Jack McIntyre on October 28,2010 | 01:36 PM
One interesting note: As far as I can determine, I was on the last crew to fly an armed airborn alert mission. In January 1968 my crew (I was the Navigator) flew three 23+ hour airborn alert missions, code named "Butterknife". (On Jan. 1,11 and 21.) We were perflighting our B-52H on the 21st when the crew received a message that we needed to take off as soon as possible and arrive on station prior to our scheduled time.
"Butterknife" missions basically consisted on flying to airspace over Thule AFB and spending 12 hours in a very large figure 8 pattern over Greenland and the Artic. The mission was shared by two bases, each being responsible for alternating 12 hour periods.
Several hours after takeoff, when we made radio contact with Thule, we realized that the previous B-52from Griffis AFB had crashed and an intensive search was in progress for the crew members still missing. However, that is another story.
We completed our 12 hour duty and were releived by a Griffis B-52G, which was unarmed. The Griffis crew said they had to unload their nuclear weapons prior to take off. From that time on, all airborn alert flights were unarmed until they were discontinued. I have never been able to confirm if a later armed flight was made. I would be interested to hear of other experiences.
Posted by Brad Sanders on May 21,2011 | 10:38 PM
Grid never bothered me. Just used my handy dandy plastic miracle ruler and plotted a 90 degree right line and used that for grid. How many of you remember how to shoot a celestial "H" shot? That was required when you were in a C-124 about 60-80 miles away from a Pacific line of t-storms at 8-9 thou feet. Two shots on two stars/planets approx 90 degrees apart with time compensation calculation gave you an "H" box and your approx position was in the center. I have a D-1 Periscopic sextant. No Flight Engineers Ash Tray unfortionally "the hole in the aircraft ceiling" That you stuck the FE:s head knocker into. Floyd
Posted by Floyd Hampton (Harlingen Class 61-03Dog) on November 13,2011 | 01:57 AM