CD72097 & CD72098: New B-52 sheets

[Trooper111]

B-52d 55-0677 "City of Fort Worth"

[Trooper111]

B-52d 56-0591 "Tommy's Tigator"

[Trooper111]

B-52b 53-0394 "City of El Paso"

[KursadA]

Thanks for the "tall tail" photos, Trooper! Many of these ("City of El Paso", "City of Fort Worth" etc.) are already drawn and will be depicted in the B-52A/F sheet that is in the works right now. Once I get back from vacation, my first priority is to ship the P-3 Orion sheet and then I will work on the A/F sheet.

 

I am glad you liked the B-52G/H sheet - I received many overwhelmingly positive e-mails about these, which motivate me greatly. These are selling briskly - I wish we did not have the missing insert issue with the 1/144 sheet but the initial release otherwise went really well. Thanks!

[Dutch]

@Drifterdon

Brother Don,

I recently laid in another Revell 1/144 G & H and upped my order from two to three sheets.

 

@KursadA

Kursad, You sure know how to stimulate the economy.  LOL!  I can't wait for the tall tail BUFFs, plus one more full color SAC SIOP sheet of G/Hs please to go along with the KC-135 A/E/R sheets you already released.

 

Kind regards, 

Dutch 

Edited June 29, 2023 by Dutch

[Trooper111]

I'll look on another hard drive for more unique tall tail pics later on.

It's tough looking thru the 1000's of pictures (mosttly G&H's) and deciding if these are "cool enough" that everyone would like the picture I choose.

I am limited on Tall tail pics, so Tommy's tigator, which was important because of its use in the atomic testing/dropping of nuclear bombs on the atolls before being used as a low level (below 500') full speed test bed to test structure capability... in which one run too many was attempted and it disintegrated onto a sheer mountain face killing all the Boeing employees that were testing it.

 

I hope no one here thinks that only my pictures are important and should be used.

As Gator52 can attest because he has the verson 1 copy of a thumbdrive with lots-O-pictures on it... I see very few people contributing photographs...perhaps because they don't have them, perhaps not of the correct material...dunno.

I do, because B-52's are my thing...so I'll fill in the gaps if needed.

 

 

[Da SWO]

40 minutes ago, Trooper111 said:

I'll look on another hard drive for more unique tall tail pics later on.

It's tough looking thru the 1000's of pictures (mosttly G&H's) and deciding if these are "cool enough" that everyone would like the picture I choose.

I am limited on Tall tail pics, so Tommy's tigator, which was important because of its use in the atomic testing/dropping of nuclear bombs on the atolls before being used as a low level (below 500') full speed test bed to test structure capability... in which one run too many was attempted and it disintegrated onto a sheer mountain face killing all the Boeing employees that were testing it.

 

I hope no one here thinks that only my pictures are important and should be used.

As Gator52 can attest because he has the verson 1 copy of a thumbdrive with lots-O-pictures on it... I see very few people contributing photographs...perhaps because they don't have them, perhaps not of the correct material...dunno.

I do, because B-52's are my thing...so I'll fill in the gaps if needed.

 

 

Do you have any photos of the Guam, 43SW/BW planes. Circa 86 to 88?

[Drifterdon]

1 hour ago, Trooper111 said:

I hope no one here thinks that only my pictures are important and should be used.

As Gator52 can attest because he has the verson 1 copy of a thumbdrive with lots-O-pictures on it... I see very few people contributing photographs...perhaps because they don't have them, perhaps not of the correct material...dunno.

I do, because B-52's are my thing...so I'll fill in the gaps if needed.

 

 

I just don't have the pics and am relegated to what's on the interweb.   I most definitely appreciate all the pics you are contributing.  They are a treasure trove of goodness.

[Spruemeister]

Rock on Trooper!  The wealth of info that is tucked away in peoples collections does nobody any good until it gets pulled out and shared.  I shudder at the thought of all the picture history that disappears after people are gone and most of it gets tossed.  When I started collecting images, it was my way of preserving and sharing subjects that might otherwise never  be seen again.  I don't have a lot of B-52 material so I'm pretty much on the sideline for this.  Its a pretty good view from here. 

 

Rick L.

[Trooper111]

4 hours ago, Da SWO said:

Do you have any photos of the Guam, 43SW/BW planes. Circa 86 to 88?

I have all my photos arranged by tail numbers between G's & H's.

So if you have a particular tail number, lmk and I'll have a starting point to look.

[Gator52]

Trooper, thanks for all the photos...how about 60-0052 at Fairchild circa 1993-94?  I've seen one low-res photo of her in 92 BW flagship markings, would love to see more-

Also, here’s some tall-tail inspiration with Jimmy Stewart:

 

 

 

Chris

Edited June 30, 2023 by Gator52

[Trooper111]

As we all age in life, we often poder the thought, Or at least I do... and I would go back into the AF from the beginning if necessary, just to get yo be back on BUFF's  if possible.

The blood, sweat and tears that were given to any particular aircraft, to watch it leave and return many hours later instilled a sense of pride that today's youth will just not understand... they are too busy with X-box controllers or one of today's cush lifestyles rather than being at the yip of the spear and putting all you got into completing one job or one mission.... so I give you all photographs from an era gone by in hopes that you too reminisce a bit as well....have a good day.

[Dutch]

Trooper,

Having grown up ~12 miles north of the runway of a SAC base in the sixties and seventies, I remember seeing B-47Es, KC-97Gs, B-52Ds, KC-135A/E/Rs and FB-111As all the time, besides the local ANG C-97As, C-124Cs, C-130As and transient aircraft.  I was not then, nor am I now a very good photographer, so your photos are extremely welcome and appreciated.  

Kind regards,

Dutch

[JohnEB]

Neat.

I have a soft spot for the old SAC.

I was born at a bade, a MATS base, not SAC, where factory fresh B-52s and KC-135s were accepted by the AF.

 

My dad managed to stay out of SAC, but my first assignment as a new O-1 was with the 416thEN at Griffiss in 1981. I was sent there to do public affairs work on conjunction with the unit being the first equipped with the AGM-86B ALCM.

 

I then went to Fairchild with the ATC Survival School, but I was the fill-in PAO for the host SAC unit when their went TDY. So, I kept my hand in SAC stuff with their B-52Gs and 135As. Got to fly in both.

 

Years later I returned to bombers with the ACC's 7th BMW at Dyess with their B-1Bs. No tankers, but there was an AMC unit with C-130Hs. Interesting change from the SAC days. A big difference was the B-1s did not have a nuclear mission by that time which made everyone's life a lot simpler. 

 

I was the PAO for the B-1s combat debut when they hit Republican Guard facilities in Iraq during the Clinton administration. We were getting real time updates half a world away, and could only announce it after they were clear of Iraq airspace. We held a late night media conference for the rather shocked media...this being a couple of years before the Iraq war.

So, that's my (remote) war story.

 

Anyway, it's good to see "the old days" when SAC was considered the "real Air Force".

 

 

[Drifterdon]

When I was in the old saying “there is the SAC way and then the rest of the Air Force.”

[Trooper111]

On 6/29/2023 at 8:58 PM, Gator52 said:

Trooper, thanks for all the photos...how about 60-0052 at Fairchild circa 1993-94?  I've seen one low-res photo of her in 92 BW flagship markings, would love to see more-

Also, here’s some tall-tail inspiration with Jimmy Stewart:

 

 

 

Chris

Chris  Sir,

 

 Looking thru my drive, I only found one picture of 0052 in Fairchild Markings: Enclosed

[Gator52]

Thanks for checking, that's a good shot...don't see many photos of FC jets with the short-lived blue stripe.

 

Chris

[jbryan911]

On 6/28/2023 at 1:19 PM, Drifterdon said:

I'd say the G and H's are pretty well covered.   We need to give Kursad some tall tail BUFF inspiration.   

Personally I'd love to see the B-52F (0149) that B Gen Jimmy Stewart was on when he flew his mission into SEA then had the inflight emergency when the flaps split on landing. 

ref.  JIMMY STEWART’S VIETNAM BOMBING MISSION – Soldier of Fortune Magazine (sofmag.com)

Jimmy Stewart Goes to Vietnam (historynet.com)

Jimmy Stewart over Vietnam - Flight Journal

Me too! I'd like to see Diamond Lil' as well. MiG killer.

[jbryan911]

Diamond Lil as she currently sits. They had to lop off 30' off the wings as they found she still wanted to fly when the winds were right.

 

[Drifterdon]

12 hours ago, jbryan911 said:

Diamond Lil as she currently sits. They had to lop off 30' off the wings as they found she still wanted to fly when the winds were right.

 

'Lil is just 10 miles up the road from me.   I used to be stationed at the Academy years ago and would see her most every day I was on duty.  When did they whack the 30' off her wings?   The googlemaps view looks like they are still intact.

Edited July 4, 2023 by Drifterdon

[jbryan911]

11 hours ago, Drifterdon said:

'Lil is just 10 miles up the road from me.   I used to be stationed at the Academy years ago and would see her most every day I was on duty.  When did they whack the 30' off her wings?   The googlemaps view looks like they are still intact.

It's beautiful out there. My daughter is a Cadet, so we have been out several times over the past year. I'd love to volunteer at the WWII Aviation museum.

[Drifterdon]

2 hours ago, jbryan911 said:

It's beautiful out there. My daughter is a Cadet, so we have been out several times over the past year. I'd love to volunteer at the WWII Aviation museum.

The WWII aviation museum is amazing.   We did a couple of tours with our car club.  If my knees weren't so bad I'd volunteer there as well.  Best of luck to your daughter.   The Academy is very demanding. 

[Drifterdon]

So I'd like to add a little bit on this B-52 thread.  I would love for someone (hint hint Kursad), create a decal that represents the vent holes where the tailgun of the B-52H was located.   1/72 and 1/144.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Drifterdon

[peterburns]

Does anyone know where I can find a good 4 view drawing of the Desert Storm era B-52G?   All the drawings I find contradict each other to some degree or are missing different views.  Also, does anyone know if the second color on the bottom of the fuselage is the olive green color or is it gunship grey?

[Quixote74]

1 hour ago, peterburns said:

Does anyone know where I can find a good 4 view drawing of the Desert Storm era B-52G?   All the drawings I find contradict each other to some degree or are missing different views.  Also, does anyone know if the second color on the bottom of the fuselage is the olive green color or is it gunship grey?

The best (but not to say 100% accurate) 4-view line drawings I've seen are in Volume 31 of the Japanese monograph series Famous Airplanes of the World.  Unfortunately may be difficult or expensive to acquire, being a foreign language publication and long out of print (1991). It covers most of the major variants and includes a lot of high quality photography, much in color, so may still be worth the investment for you. I suspect you will never find a "fully accurate" set of drawings so using photo references is often the best way to settle discrepancies that creep in due to drafting errors.

 

Keep in mind that for modeling purposes the G and H airframes were nearly identical with exceptions of the tail gun/empennage (quad 50s on the G, Vulcan on the H before they were removed) and engines (J57s vs turbofan TF33s), plus the "strakelet" fairings on the ALCM-capable Gs only - so a set of good drawings for the H may still be quite useful for you. Of course both types also received numerous upgrades and changes over their long service - especially the Hs that are still going strong!

 

By "second color on the underside" I'm inferring that you mean the 3-color "Strategic" scheme worn from the late 80s until the bulk of the Gs' retirement in the early 90s.  This consisted of:

FS 36081 dark gray (aka 'Euro I' gray)

FS 34086 green

FS 36118 'gunship' gray

 

The upper surfacea were 36081 with a disruptive pattern of 34086, lowers were 36081 with a 36118 pattern.

 

Both 34086 and 36081 were prone to weathering into some rather strange hues, 34086 tending to end up brownish and 36081 edging toward a greenish shade (I suspect the latter may be a source of confusion for a posaible "green" color on the underside, as the 34086 stopped roughly in line with the top of the landing gear doors).

 

Unfortunately I couldn't find a pattern drawing for the B-52 Strategic scheme, so just be mindful that a lot of kit instructions get the colors and patterns very wrong (most notably Modelcollect in 1:72 and Revell's vintage 1:144). The inatructions for the Italeri reboxing of the AMT "ALCM G" may be a usable source.  I'm not sure if @KursadA has a B-52 reference page on the Caracal site, since they aren't linked from his home page menus, but I know the B-52 sheets for the Desert Storm era include reliable paint guides.