Quick question Did the B52s ever drop napalm, or was that more for the lower flying aircraft.
I have to get an accessory kit because my B 52 was an open kit and a lot of the bombs are missing. The accessory kit has a couple of napalm cannisters, just wondering.
Thanks
Which B-52 kit do you have?
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.
You would need a lot of marshmallows. …
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.
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
[8-|] 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.