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Old 15th Mar 2011, 09:37
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AWF118
 
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B36's, then B47's over Heston

If covered earlier in the thread, apologies but B36's were commonplace high over West London in the early post war years - tracking out over the radar monitoring system at the old Heston Airport, Middlesex, operated by the 23rd detachment of the USAF's 3903rd Radar Bomb Scoring Squadron SAC. They were later supplemented, then largely replaced, by B47s. In 1956, the unit moved across to the old Fairey Aviation factory in Hayes, Middlesex. I imagine that many, if not all, of them flew non-stop round trips from the States, culminating in a mock nuclear drop on "Moscow", "Kiev" or wherever - but actually London. How many of them were carrying live nukes? Sends a cold chill down what's left of my old spine.
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