B-52 Bomber Crew Rations

[Stef]

Hello,
my grandfather, a WWI veteran (Verdun) when he was asked about the most dangerous things he went through, used to answer: mosquito bites in Africa and fly a De Havilland Comet

[biscuits brown]

Yep Stef with square windows, the whole thing could just implode at any time if the metal fatigue had started on the window corners.
They didnt even know about metal fatigue at the time, so its a shame. With round windows shes been flying for 50 years without a crash. A lovely plane, and way bigger than it looks. A Nimrod flew over me at less than a 1000 feet in the 80s.

[biscuits brown]

BB,

Fascinating. The Shackleton looks more like a modified B-24 for ASW duty. I can't imagine anybody having a heater/stove for hot food on that! But now that I see the NIMROD aircraft it's feasible to think that somebody might have a hot plate in a small galley to get something warm for a long flight. The thought of US P-3A Orion aircraft come to mind doing the same duty over the Pacific. Long flights do get a bit boring.

Oh and BB, Did anybody in the MoD ever think of the idea of self heating meals back then much like the US.

Just found out the Shackleton MR3 DID have a proper galley, sleeping bunks and larger fuselage. It was for 18 -20 hr ASW patrols, so it was much heavier than earlier shackletons. It needed JATO rockets to take off.

This schematic of the crew galley and sleeping quarters of a Nimrod MR2 has recently been declassified though..

Nimrod R1139

IPA = India Pale Ale. A gold coloured beer, between 4 - 6%

[Treesuit]

BB,

That's too funny, You really have to love that English humor.

[dirtbag]

On a side note, many moons ago I was stationed in Maine, at a Naval Air base. The planes, P3's, would make 'Training' flights to Pt. Mugu Naval Air station, in California.
It just so happened that on the west-bound leg, the Bomb bay was full of live lobsters, and on the return leg, it was full of Coors beer (unavailable on the east coast at the time)...
Both sold for a very nice profit!
Lotsa money, made on Government time!!!
Later on, Air Force guys did the same thing between Guam and Thailand, but a different cargo...
Drugs

[Treesuit]

Dirtbag,

I wonder if your talking Heroin there???? That's the first thing that comes to mind out of Thailand.

[dirtbag]

That, and hash and the infamous 'Thai sticks'...
whatever sold.
IIRC, there was a big stink when the story broke, lots of officers went to prison.
I was in Bangkok on R&R in 1970, drugs everywhere!
Great beer, though (Singha)
IIRC (And I may not, clearly), that beer was 7% alcohol...
2 Liter bottles...
Oh, My, aching, head!
Good Times!

[biscuits brown]

Very atmospheric story db. I assume they ended up in Leavenworth. From the severity of US military sentencing Ive heard of, some may be still there.

Ive never had Singha, but you can get it in Thai restaurants here I would be sure. This is what it looks like now. Has it changed much?

Singha beer

[dirtbag]

No, the label looks the same, much bigger bottle then, though!
Really good when ice cold, sorta like horse p*ss when warm.
Export beer is often a different formula then the original. I've noticed that with some of the Japanese and Phillipine beer I've tried here.
Or it could just be the change in atmosphere, Dark, smokey bar, strippers, etc
1 bottle was great, 2 was crawling around like a dog...
Like I said, good times!!!
Great place, Thailand! Wonderful people!

[biscuits brown]

Or it could just be the change in atmosphere, Dark, smokey bar, strippers, etc
1 bottle was great, 2 was crawling around like a dog...
Like I said, good times!!!
Great place, Thailand! Wonderful people!

thats the kind of atmosphere I was meanin db