Posted on 09/22/2022 11:25:14 AM PDT by robowombat
1956 B-47 disappearance
1956 B-47 disappearance 10 March 1956 Summary Missing, status unknown Site Mediterranean Sea Aircraft type Boeing B-47E Stratojet Operator United States Air Force Registration 52-534 Flight origin MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, United States Destination Ben Guerir Air Base, Morocco Passengers 0 Crew 3 Fatalities Unknown Injuries Unknown Survivors Unknown The 1956 B-47 disappearance occurred on 10 March 1956 over the Mediterranean Sea.
Contents 1 Flight 2 Aftermath 3 See also 4 References Flight A Boeing B-47 Stratojet, call-sign Inkspot 59, (306th Bombardment Wing/369th Bomb Squadron) took off from MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, in the United States for a non-stop flight to Ben Guerir Air Base, Morocco,[1] and completed the first of two planned aerial refuelings without incident.[2]
After descending through solid cloud cover 90 miles southwest of Oran, to begin the second refueling at 14,000 feet (4,300 m), B-47E serial number 52-534,[1] ceased communication with the KC-97 tanker aircraft.[3]
The unarmed aircraft was transporting two different capsules of nuclear weapons material in carrying cases; a nuclear detonation was not possible.[4]
Aftermath
Location of Ben Guerir Air Base;Saïdia; Oran A French news agency reported that the plane had exploded in the air southeast of Saïdia, in French Morocco in the same general location of its last known position. After an exhaustive search, no remains of the device could be located, and the exact place of its disappearance was never established.[3][5]
The crew was declared dead:[6]
Captain Robert H. Hodgin, 31, aircraft commander Captain Gordon M. Insley, 32, observer 2nd Lt. Ronald L. Kurtz, 22, pilot
... and the B-17 had a paltry bomb load for a WW2 ‘heavy’ bomber. It wasn’t in the really same league with the B-24 or the Avro Lancaster. But it was sturdy and brought a lot of it’s crews back home.
But still an amazing plane. One of my favorites. Deep respect for the men that flew them.
A late friend was a boom operator on the KC-97. Served in a refueling detachment on Midway Island refueling B-47’s between the US and the Far East.
Got nailed one day by the Navy base commander (4-striper) for trapping albatrosses and stenciling the USAF “meatball” on the struggling bird’s wings with a rattle can of blue paint. Apparently the Navy ATC guys were mighty annoyed with the soaring birds “in the pattern” so to speak.
One of the legendary service pranks of all time. I’m sure they were looking for a crappier duty assignment than Midway for him. LOL! I guess Thule, Greenland was all booked?
Yes, based on the looks on the faces of the onlookers in a lot of the post-landing battle damage photos, the ruggedness of the B-17 amazed even the men who flew it.
Of course, when the incident below occurred many decades later, it helped the airplane had been designed and built by one of the world’s premier bomber manufacturers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_Airlines_Flight_243
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=boeing+737+hawaii+loss+of+cabin+roof&t=iphone&iax=images&ia=images
I had never heard of B-17 external bomb racks before. And no, the B-47 never bombed anything for real. But it did perform a mission where it penetrated the USSR near Murmansk, made it halfway to Moscow, got shot up by MiG 17s and made it back to England. It fired defensive shots with it’s 20mm tail stinger.
Well, yes. They were really looking for the two nuclear warhead “pits” or enriched plutonium bomb cores that with the bomber. They had to find the bomber first though.
The B-17s would only average 6-8 days between missions: The Memphis Belle was the first heavy bomber to survive just 25 missions. But it took over 6 months to do that.
Today’s A10 or A6 or F15EX can drop more bombs at longer ranges, flying 3 missions a day, and getting over 60% hits per bomb! The B17s were only getting 10% of their bombs within 1/2 mile of the target.
Good point, the aircraft was at least 4 years old.
Darn SS and Medicare should be updated for everyone who wants it.
A YouTuber named Lord Hardthrasher has an interesting channel where he analyses the WW2 strategic bombing campaigns. And he has some good ones on the falsehoods of Nazi technical superiority and how so much of their fear was shyt. Well worth checking out.
How much of their gear was shyt. Damm autocorrect.
Thank you! Will follow up.
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