B-52D Question

[Jim MacDonald]

I'm trying to help a friend do some research on B-52D 56-0589 this is what I found on a quick search.

B-52D 56-0589 4-23-72 Landed at Danang and later flown to U-Tapao. Approximately 400 outer surface holes due to SAM. 20,000 manhours. Placed back in commission 1-9-73. Currently located at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio, according to Boeing. Contradicting this information, authors Dorr & Peacock, in an appendix, state that 56-0589 was "ultimately disposed to ground instruction at Sheppard, Texas." My friend has the tail serial #. He recently purchased this from a scrap dealer near Davis-Mothan.


Is there anyone that has more info on this A/C. I'm looking for any squadron assignments before, during & after the war. The particulars on the mission that it was on when it was damaged by the SAM(s?) & if possible crew names for that mission.

My area of interest is WWII Naval Aviation, so I have no sources for Vietnam warbirds & any recent squadrons.

Thanks,

Mac

[Don Martin]

Hi Mac,
I don't know about your B-52, but in 1978 the B-52 a Sheppard AFB, was B-52F 57-0071(at least that the number in my tech school graduation picture!). She was also a Viet Nam vet covered in patches as I remember. They flew her down from Chanute AFB when the USAF transfered the Aircraft Maintenance(More Then Two Engines) to Sheppard AFB in late 77 or early 78. I know that several "Red X"(grounds the aircraft) discrepencies were down graded and she flew with her landing gear pinned down. Good luck with the "D" model hunt!
Don

[Jim MacDonald]

Thanks Don. I'm going to need it.

Mac

[DBenoit]

Hi Mac,

A website that was helpful for researching a B-52 crash in Vermont was

http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/b ... 52-11.html.

-Darren

[Jim MacDonald]

Thanks for the info, Darren.

Mac

[Don Martin]

Hey Mac,
I was talking with The Lurker the other day about B-52s and I remembered that there is , I think a D-model at the Orlando Airport, FLA. I don't know for sure, but, I remember it was a Tall Tail and painted in Viet Nam Camo(black Bottom). Anyone else!?!
Don

[RickH]

Orlando used to be an AFB. The 52 that is there was a gate guard during the field's military days. When the city took over the B-52 stayed. It's still therre. I saw it Dec 2005.

[Swiss Mustangs]

Orlando used to be an AFB. The 52 that is there was a gate guard during the field's military days. When the city took over the B-52 stayed. It's still therre. I saw it Dec 2005.

this is 56-00687

Martin

[Jim MacDonald]

Thanks for the help, guys.

Mac

[Don Martin]

You know, they've cut so many up that I wonder how many of the pre-H-model 52s are left?


I forgot about the Stratofortress Association! Try these guys!

http://www.stratofortress.org/info.html

[David Verploegh]

Hello, brothers and any sisters here. I just registered, so please be gentle. I'm old. It's been 46 years since my last combat mission - 1/1/73, just for one month of combat pay and tax break! Just before that date, our B-52D crew flew five Linebacker II missions during "The Eleven Days of Christmas" (great book!) - an exciting time in my young life. I was the crew's Navigator.

I became more and more proud of my three DFC's (two for Valor) and eight Air Medals (165 combat missions) over the years, but the loss of friends during those exciting years and since has become more painful. If it is of interest to anyone, we were a Select Crew, S-13 from Robins AFB, GA - usually in the lead bomber in our three-ship cells. AC - Captain John Alward, CP - Captain Robert Davis, RN - Captain David Muenier, EW - Captain Arthur Flores, Gunner - A1C Steven Dring and myself were the kids who went off to war. Muenier, the only one on the crew with prematurely grey hair, would call the pilots "Wally" and "The Beaver". At age 27, I'd had four ARC LIGHT deployments. Many we flew with had more.

In answers to the questions I've seen here, our crew was callsign LILAC TWO on B-52D 56-589 on April 23, 1972, bombing the Dragon's Jaw bridge area in North Vietnam when we were hit hard by a SAM just prior to the target. We were able to get the bombs at least NEAR the target but had to recover into DaNang AFB, just south of the DMZ, due to damage from 465 shrapnel holes throughout the airframe. Five engines were on fire, the gunner had to come forward due to loss of pressure in his little "green house" in the bomber's tail, we had no idea how much fuel was remaining, and The Beaver was busy until we landed trying to find equipment he controlled which was still working. Not much was. We were picked up by a KC-135 Tanker crew from U Tapao, Thailand, our home base, in the middle of the next morning, debriefed the following morning, and we were back on the flight schedule the next day. I don't know how many more missions BUFF 589 ever had after it was put back in the fleet in January, 1973 (all that time and 20,000 man hours - we broke her BAD). She was soon returned for a while to her home CONUS base, Blythville AFB, I think, was then transferred to Sheppard AFB, Texas for ground training in November, '73, and finally received her nose art of CITY OF BURKBURNETT (the town north of Sheppard) in 1991 to stand on static display until 2012 when maintenance became too expensive. She was replaced by a B-52G which also had an Arc Light/Linebacker history. I wish I had known. The Navy took all the pieces and I doubt if they respected her as I did.
https://www.sheppard.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/368066/city-of-burkburnett-b-52-static-display-replaced/

BFN, my old and new friends. If you've read this far, thanks! If anyone still wants to get in touch with me, and it shouldn't be too difficult until I strap myself in for my last mission, I can be reached with a reply to this post or email: drverploegh@gmail.com.

[Edward Sheetmetalhands]

Hello, brothers and any sisters here. I just registered, so please be gentle. I'm old. It's been 46 years since my last combat mission - 1/1/73, just for one month of combat pay and tax break! Just before that date, our B-52D crew flew five Linebacker II missions during "The Eleven Days of Christmas" (great book!) - an exciting time in my young life. I was the crew's Navigator.

I became more and more proud of my three DFC's (two for Valor) and eight Air Medals (165 combat missions) over the years, but the loss of friends during those exciting years and since has become more painful. If it is of interest to anyone, we were a Select Crew, S-13 from Robins AFB, GA - usually in the lead bomber in our three-ship cells. AC - Captain John Alward, CP - Captain Robert Davis, RN - Captain David Muenier, EW - Captain Arthur Flores, Gunner - A1C Steven Dring and myself were the kids who went off to war. Muenier, the only one on the crew with prematurely grey hair, would call the pilots "Wally" and "The Beaver". At age 27, I'd had four ARC LIGHT deployments. Many we flew with had more.

In answers to the questions I've seen here, our crew was callsign LILAC TWO on B-52D 56-589 on April 23, 1972, bombing the Dragon's Jaw bridge area in North Vietnam when we were hit hard by a SAM just prior to the target. We were able to get the bombs at least NEAR the target but had to recover into DaNang AFB, just south of the DMZ, due to damage from 465 shrapnel holes throughout the airframe. Five engines were on fire, the gunner had to come forward due to loss of pressure in his little "green house" in the bomber's tail, we had no idea how much fuel was remaining, and The Beaver was busy until we landed trying to find equipment he controlled which was still working. Not much was. We were picked up by a KC-135 Tanker crew from U Tapao, Thailand, our home base, in the middle of the next morning, debriefed the following morning, and we were back on the flight schedule the next day. I don't know how many more missions BUFF 589 ever had after it was put back in the fleet in January, 1973 (all that time and 20,000 man hours - we broke her BAD). She was soon returned for a while to her home CONUS base, Blythville AFB, I think, was then transferred to Sheppard AFB, Texas for ground training in November, '73, and finally received her nose art of CITY OF BURKBURNETT (the town north of Sheppard) in 1991 to stand on static display until 2012 when maintenance became too expensive. She was replaced by a B-52G which also had an Arc Light/Linebacker history. I wish I had known. The Navy took all the pieces and I doubt if they respected her as I did.
https://www.sheppard.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/368066/city-of-burkburnett-b-52-static-display-replaced/

BFN, my old and new friends. If you've read this far, thanks! If anyone still wants to get in touch with me, and it shouldn't be too difficult until I strap myself in for my last mission, I can be reached with a reply to this post or email: drverploegh@gmail.com.

Thank you for your fascinating post! How many engines were still running when 56-589 landed? Three? Were any fuel tanks punctured?

Did you recall anything about 55-0094? It is on display at the Kansas Aviation Museum.