B 52 and Napalm ? New Question

Ordinance load outs on a bomber are all set up for one run over one target.

Fighter bomber can be a little different story in today's wars, but not a B-52 in Vietnam.

I don't know if those aircraft ever dropped napalm, although I doubt it, but they would have dropped a LOT on one area.

While being taken back to  base camp, in a Huey, after an "extraction" from a recon mission we were told to look back and to the right. We could see continuous light flashes. We were told that we should be thankful we were not on the ground in that area because it was being bombed by B-52s. We could not here them (the B-52s) or see them. It was raining bombs and it was an unforgettable sight.

B-52 don't drop napalms. The B-52s usually do carpet bombings using regular bombs. Napalms were dropped by fighter jets/aircrafts like Phantoms, Skyraiders, etc... for low level bombings.

I'm sure a B-52 could drop napalm, but really don't see it ever being done for numerous reasons. In Vietnam, photos and film show the most common bomb types as 500 lb Mk.82s or 750 lb M-117s. 

Considering the standard operations of B-52s to minimize the vulnerability by flying at high altitudes and their top speeds in the combat zone, a napalm strike from 25,000 - 30,000 feet with the inherently less accurate and smaller blast effect of napalm cans just does not sound like a good use of resources.

rangerj

While being taken back to  base camp, in a Huey, after an "extraction" from a recon mission we were told to look back and to the right. We could see continuous light flashes. We were told that we should be thankful we were not on the ground in that area because it was being bombed by B-52s. We could not here them (the B-52s) or see them. It was raining bombs and it was an unforgettable sight.

 

Sounds like an Arc Light mission.

I believe it was only armed with the M117 750 pound bomb, or the Mk82 500 pound bomb. I'd personally like the USAF to have a bomb like the Soviet/Russian FAB-9000.

Thanks Guys I didn't think they would, but thought I'd ask. It's the Big Bad Beautiful kit

Got it. Frankly, any or no bombs on the old Monogram kit can be used to tell a story.

Look around for a Monogram F-105, that will give you a chance to use the napalm.

SEA models are under represented, go for it.

Or an F-100, or F-4B/F-4C down south, A-4, F-8, A-1, A-6, T-28, A-37, F-5, A-26, B-57... All of those commonly carried Napalm for sorties in the South.

Standard load on a 52 was 750 pounders under the wings and the bomb bay filled with 500 pounders.  The normal cell would be three bombers and how many tankers they needed.

Normally one to two would come back with hung bombs.

We had a briefing one day by some S.A.C. guy, for some reason, and they showed us a shot of three B-52s.  One was leading and had the other two somewhat behind but they seemed to be lined up with the lead's wing tip.  Then they showed a set of three mountains all filled with jungle.  There was supposed to be a enemy camp somewhere on the mountains.  The next shot had them completely devoid of trees and not much dirt left.  It seemed like a bit of overkill, but was very impressive.

Thanks guys

Stik I've been thinking about an A-1 Skyraider. not sure why I like it, maybe its the nickname Sandies

Hello!

If you like Skyraiders, here's something for you, from my website:

And another one - that I've built myself - no napalm, but a real Sandy (SAR) loadout:

Good luck with your builds and haev a nice day

Paweł

I love the bottom pic of the Sandie. I see the rockets but not sure what are the other armaments. Can you ID them for me?

With pleasure!

Let's move from the centerline outside - there's a 300 galon Aero 1a drop tank on the centerline. Next, on the left pylon there's a SUU-11A/A 7,62mm Minigun pod in case the wing mounted 20mm guns jammed (happened often), and a 150 galon drop tank on the right side. Next pylon is a LAU-61/A 19 shot FFAR (Folding Fin Aerial Rocket) pod - a variant of the LAU-3, with a shoot-away front cover. Next two are AN-M47 white phosphorous bombs - they could be used as smoke bombs if dropped safe, or as fire bomps when dropped live. Next pylon is again a LAU-61/A, and the final two are SUU-14/A sub-munition dispensers that carried explosive or tear gas "bomblets", often used to incapacitate foes surrounding the downed pilot, often together with said pilot, just before extraction.

You can read more here: http://www.vietnam.net.pl/A1moden.htm and here: http://www.vietnam.net.pl/A1en.htm

I'm glad you liked my model, hope I could help you with my info - thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Really cool builds Pawel. they are great. Thanks. On the sides below the cockpit, is that exhaust staining? 

I watched a show about FACs a couple of days ago. They told about how the Sandies could stay up on station for hours. Great show

Thanks a lot, greentracker98!

Yes, it's the exhaust staining. A Skyraider without it is probably inoperational or else there's something wrong with it. I heard those big radial engines leaked oil all of the time and also let a lot of unburned fuel out - that leaves you with nice, black stains right there.

Good luck with your builds and have a nice day

Paweł

The Hasegawa 1/72 scale aircraft weapons set #1 has 6 M117 750 pound bombs. 

rangerj

While being taken back to  base camp, in a Huey, after an "extraction" from a recon mission we were told to look back and to the right. We could see continuous light flashes. We were told that we should be thankful we were not on the ground in that area because it was being bombed by B-52s. We could not here them (the B-52s) or see them. It was raining bombs and it was an unforgettable sight.

 

seasick wrote the following post 3 days ago:

You'll like the aircraft weapons set #1. There are also a good number of Mk82 500 pound bombs. I bought the set a while back and have used the bombs in it on several builds. I put four snakeye on my CF-104, four M117 on my F-100C. Nice to be able to alter a payload to fit your mood. 

New Question. Would the 52's use different bombs under the wing? I still don't have enough 117 bombs to fill up the under wing racks. There were only 6 in the weapons set.

Thanks

greentracker98

New Question. Would the 52's use different bombs under the wing? I still don't have enough 117 bombs to fill up the under wing racks. There were only 6 in the weapons set.

Thanks

 

The bombs on the wing racks would all be of the same type. There would be no mixing of Mk.82s and M-117s. All of one type or the other. Each had different ballistic properties (at least according to Jack Broughton's book "Thud Ridge") and that would throw off the computers by mixing them.

And there would be the grave possibility that they would start running into each other.

Thanks guys

Hmm, Are the bombs in the Big Bad Beautiful kit MK 117s? They look almost the same as the MK 117s in the Hasagawa weapon kit? Would that because of the different manufacturer?

The B-52 kit comes with M-117 (not Mk.117) 750 lb bombs, same as in the Hasegawa weapons set. These are essentially a WWII/Korean War era bomb with a more aerodynamic conical tail in place of the WWII style box fins

B-52's also carried the Mk.82 (part of the Mk.80 series) 500 lb Low Drag bombs which were far more "aerodynamic" and caused less drag when carried externally for the carrying aircraft

The Hasegawa weapons set should include this type as well.

Just curious, but have you tried contacting Revell to see if you can get a replacement set of the kit bombs?

Stik

No, My thunking went to "It's been out of production since god knows when" then I didn't even think to ask Revell. LOL

Hasagawa is calling them MK 117s

Thanks I'll do that, but I'm not holding my breath. I also need to find a windshield for it. It was broken when I got it. I did however find an AM windshield, Maybe I can find that website again.

asking now lol

Glue the windshield together, sand it smooth and paint it black. There's nothing to see inside- the flight deck is completely innaccurate.