Boeing B-52HB (High Bypass turbofans) of Operation Limelight, Vietnam 1975The Boeing B-52 is one of the most famous cold war jet bombers.
Less well known are some of the concepts that came from the Stratofortress.
Perhaps the least known of these is the B-52HB, a one-off that briefly served with the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Air Command.
The Boeing B-52HB was powered by four high-bypass G.E. (General Eclectic) BFE X5200s of 52k lbs. thrust each.
These engines were the largest of their day and required more spacious wheel bays and under-wing sponsons for the longer landing gear.
The new bomber also featured a larger rudder which provided better directional control in the horizontal axis, a necessity due to those high-powered, high-bypass power plants.
Officially known as the YB-52VHBTF (Very High Bypass Turbo Fans), this was shortened to B-52HB for administrative purposes, the fact that VHBTF brings to mind an Australian civil registration not withstanding. The aircraft completed flight tests and had been sent for a service trial, becoming an almost organic part of an existing SAC bomb wing even though surprisingly little compostable material was used in the plane's construction.
By April, 1975 it was performing as a pathfinder when the commie North invaded South Vietnam in violation of the Paris Peace Accords. This would not stand and SAC planned to stop the invasion in its tracks with pin-point bomb raids in Operation Limelight.
As dawn broke, the B=52HB lead the SAC bomber fleet, given the mission to take out a vital North Vietnamese command & control facility.
The U.S. Navy was busy clearing a path with carrier-based A-4s eliminating enemy radar and air defenses. The crew of the B-52HB had every reason to feel confident as their aircraft gained altitude.
Refueling not far from weather ship Tango Delta, the Boeing B-52HB stradled the Pacific, headed into harm's way.
The bomber gained altitude 75 clicks from the enemy coast and was in an ideal attack attitude as it reached the aiming point.
The B-52HB released its payload with precision and the enemy installation was obliterated. Unfortunately, as the aircraft headed back to friendly airspace, things began to unravel fast.
At the very moment the bulk of SAC's following attack was set to strike, President Ford fell while leaving Air Force One.
He accidentally leveled his Air Force liaison officer who dropped the Football which sent out an unauthorized Pause order as it careened off the air stairs.
This turned off SAC's attack and allowed the North Vietnamese to flood south into Saigon which would fall in a matter of days.
The B-52HB wouldn't remain in service much longer. The larger fuselage wheel bays limited bomb load and electronic counter-measures making the aircraft less than optimal for most SAC missions.
It was ignominiously retired and recycled into Hamilton-Beach
Butter Up! popcorn makers.
Nothing remains of this high-powered brute today except this overly-optimistic manufacturer's desk-top model which was found in an abandoned Boeing branch office outside of Federal Way, Washington.
Still the Boeing B-52HB was majestic in its own way, even if the so-called "experts" refuse to believe it and think the story is just gas-lighting, undeserving of the lime light.
Brian da Basher