It was mid 1968, we were making our way back to LZ Birmingham, a fire support base with about five or six 105mm artillery batteries stuck out on top of this hill, along side Highway 547, a dirt road that led up the center of the Au Shau valley. We, 3/5th Cav, originally based out of Bear Cat down in the Delta, we were put on an LST to Danang, where we transferred to several LSU;s to get in the shallow harbor at Phu Bai and after TET68 subsided down south, we were shipped north to be Op Con to any one of a bunch of other units in the Hue area as Tet68 was still raging up here. Can't have us down south lounging about getting a sun tan. Up here we worked for 1st and 3rd Marine, 101 Airborne, 1st Air Cav, and some Vietnamese units. Seldom did a day pass that we did not get shot at. Anybody that needed some Armor for a few days for one of their missions, essentially we were Rent a Tank or I guess more accurately Rent a Calvary. Seldom did we ever go anywhere by ourselves but today we had to make a run into "town", meaning Camp Evens. It was getting late to be out here by ourselves, and we had just crossed the pontoon bridge across the Perfume River and nearby there was a CB base camp (they built and maintained the pontoon bridge) where we pulled in for the night and some hot food. On other occasions we have made pit stops at a few other CB base camps as well as Marine Base camps, hot food is always a good idea when you can get it. Nice to chat up with some other people. In our line of work while on dismount missions we will find weapons caches and we are supposed to turn all that stuff in just like good little soldiers but we also know that there are people that like souvenirs and it is our job to supply them since we have so much of that crap. After dinner we do some bargaining and I had some old Chinese SKS rifles that I did not turn in so I traded the CBs for a brand new GMC 6-71 supercharger, still in the box. It was a spare replacement for one of their graders that had Detroit Diesel in it. ... they were never going to need it,they hoped. I got rid of some old SKS rifles from my inventory of trading goods. I hatched a plan of how to get this home to put on my race car. This was 1968 and this was as good a supercharger as any that was on race cars at the moment back home... and I had one now, a brand new one still in the box. Only two obstacles, get me home and get the supercharger home. A challenge for a different day. The new 6-71 supercharger was still sealed in the silver bag inside the red white and blue Detroit Diesel box and I tucked it away up in the front of the ACAV sitting on top of the stacks and stacks of ammo both 50cal and 7.62 M60 ammo that filled the bottom of the ACAV. We had so much weight in her that the torsion bar suspension was just about out of travel. Our TO&E is 10,000 rounds for every gun we have on board. The enemy plan is to over run us when we run out of ammo. That is a very big job that they had tried on many occasions, and never with success i might add. Although I will admit there were a couple of times...... Sorry for the acronyms .. ACAV is Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle, basically a highly modified M113. After dinner we set our our watch schedule and I drew mid watch, the worst one, where you get two hours of sleep, get up for two hours of watch, then get to sleep two more hours before we had to get on the move again. With a full belly and a new supercharger to sleep next to I laid down at about 11pm hoping to get a bit of extra sleep before I had to get up at 2am. I was awakened for my watch and the night as black as the inside of a cow, there was no moon tonight. . No one else was awake on our ACAV but even if we are inside a CB Base camp we always kept one man away at all times. It was about two thirty in the morning, it began with the ground starting to tremor, something you felt more than I heard it. Yes it was a WTF moment. I am not new in country, I am a seasoned soldier, I have seen a lot of shit... but WTF is this? A few seconds later as the horizon began to light up It took a moment before I realized that what I first thought was a sun rise it was happening in the north not the east. Unless dogs and cats are now sleeping together, this does not happen, it was then I realized what I was witnessing was a Arc Light B52 event in the Au Shau valley. With dozens of B52s each dropping 70,000 pounds of bombs it is a spectacle few have ever seen, and those that do see often do no survive it. The crescendo of the ground vibrating increased as the light got brighter and brighter holding that for a few minutes (I did not look at my watch) then both the light and the ground shaking subsided and the impenetrable dark of the night fell back over me. It was like it never happened, I has no one to share this with, everybody else spelt through it. I never saw it before and never saw it again and speaking to others in country not many did get to see it. Awesome does not even come close to the description. It was the night I saw the sun rise in the north..... if you are unaware of the B52 Arc LIght events google can be your friend. Now the story about the new supercharger... well that is a different story. I will write it up if you let me know you are interested.
The kicker. He wasn’t talking to him they were using gestures and writing in the sand to communicate because the Vietnamese guy was deaf…from the bombs they dropped. Powerful stuff. That was a great special.
The use of Turbo-Jets on the B-52 meant they could fly so high and so fast that MiG-15s (remember the B-52 first flew in 1952) would not be able to have any significant overtake. Speed was the defense, similar to the B-29 vs the Zeros. Soviets did not have the ability to design a reliable jet engine yet, the MiG-15 used a copied British Nene.
Awesome! My dad ran a remote transmitter site on Guam then. He sent mission updates to the Buffs. He said they were so heavy they would drop off the end of the cliff and you would see them climbing several miles out to see. He passed recently. This video meant a lot. Thanks Capt.
15:41 The jet engines available to the Soviet's at the time didn't have the fuel efficiency necessary to meet the desired range capability, which is why they went with turboprops. Fun fact: the Bear isn't that much slower than the BUFF - at altitude it can cruise at 700km/h to the BUFF's 800km/h. Pretty respectable for a prop job!
Similar story Cap. During the build up to Gulf War 1, I was at Riyadh air base. Standing outside the maintenance hanger early morning, still frost on the hanger doors, I was waiting for an F16 to taxi out. When the engine started I began to feel nice and toastie warm, then I stepped to one side and felt a little cooler. I did this before the exhaust got too warm for comfort, but I didn't have any residue on me from the burnt fuel. I agree about the smell of burnt aviation fuel. I used to love the smell from helicopter exhausts as I refuelled them. The Wessex was best, sitting on the wheel/tyre (whilst refuelling at the front) with the exhaust right next to ones head. Great video.
Costello: “Hey Abbott, are you going to tell me what city we are going to make the run on?” Abbott: “Phuk Gno.” . . . . . Costello: “You’re a a real jerk Abbott.”
"If the pilot's good, I mean if he's reeeally sharp, he can barrel that thing in so low, oh it's a sight to see. You wouldn't expect it with a big ol' plane like a '52, but varrrooom! The jet exhaust... frying chickens in the barnyard!"
Yeah, the B-52 might not roll as fast as some fighters but it can roll faster than you'd expect (truthfully, most jet airliners can actually). The roll-rate produced here seemed to probably be full aileron deflection and applied as fast as possible (throw the yoke to one side).
“Well, I've been to one world fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing I ever heard come over a set of earphones. You sure you got today's codes?”
My father did his last two (out of 4) combat tours in SE Asia as a B-52 pilot. The first, based out of U-Tapao, Thailand, and the second from Guam, both in the early 70s. He participated in many Arc Light missions, as well as Linebacker II.
This old man would be more than a little happy if he heard there was a B-52 of any varient of it coming to DCS as a full aircraft module. Won't get my hopes up tho.
Great scenario. Nicely done. I was surprised the B-52's didn't do more damage. Seems your one run at the control tower complex likely did more to shut down the airport than the B-52 strike. Nice channel.
Fun fact for Cap. When performing a B52 bomb run on an airfield, you plan the strike to cross the runway at a 15-30 degree angle, ensuring that at least some of the bombs strike the runway and/or taxiway, especially with a 3-bomber cell flying in offset formation.. If aiming down the runway, all the bombs may land in the grass parallel to the runway.
After serving 8 years working on H models(the model shown in game) and multiple deployments to Guam, it is really cool to see them there and Guam again. Something I will likely never do again as long as I live.
My father flew these kind of missons from Guam, where I was Born. One issue though, they never flew a mission like your portraying, they alawys flew at 30-35,000 feet. The only time my Father knows of B-52's flying low level missions was during the seige at Ka San and that was at 1,000 feet. The B--52's used in your mission were the B-52D's. These B-52's carrired 6 500Lbs bombs on MER's : Multiple Ejector racks, under each wing as well as 108 500Lbs bombs in the Bomb Bay. They flew in three ship cells and the cells would drop thier payloads at the same time. Each cell was 5-7 miles apart. Another thing to remember was that at that time Hanoi was the most heaviest defended city in the world. The F-4's would have flown Mig Caps How ever all that being said it was a really asweome raid.
The nightmare for the people of Vietnam, as 30 B52 come over their heads so close they could almost touch them.. The Fear in that country at that time, just wow.
Tu-95 Bear has turboprops because they are cheaper to operate and simpler to produce. Back in the '50s the B-52 had 8 turbojets because larger ones were too expensive and unreliable. We're at the third engine change now but still 8 jet layout because of engineering costs deemed unnecessary.
I was with Nimitz in '97-'98 on Sacramento. Last I saw of Nimitz, she was off around the Cape of Good Hope en route Norfolk for refueling with Port Royal. Good cruise.
@@Firedad376Cool. After you guys left to the east, and we were off to Australia. I really did not notice because... Australia. And the talk was of you going around the Cape.
We had to high tail it home to meet the 180 day requirement that Admiral Boorda had set in place for deployments prior to 9-11. That cruise was wack from the time we left HONG Kong. We were supposed to be a showboat cruise because she was 25 years between refueling but no ..Sadaam had to go and kick weapons inspectors out of Iraq. Meaning instead of 2 weeks in the gulf we spent 16.
Yes, our Buff's would go tdy to Guam for Arc Light and Bullet Shot. I was an officer at Pease, AFB, Portsmouth, NH, from 1969 to 1973, not a flight crew member, though I have flown in KC-135's, tankers, still there with the NH ANG. I was first a Personnel Officer, and later as a Captain, I was the 509th Squadron Section Commander. Actually, after the Buff's left Pease, in December 1970, the Wing Commander flew in the replacement FB-111, which in it's hardened shelter, I got to look in the cockpit. 😊
I would like to see night operations in fighters or bombers. I really enjoyed the helo op you guys did at night. How about air to air or air to ground jet ops?
I would have wanted to be one of the ground pounders getting that strike as their air cover. It was said when the buffs went in the VC and NVA regulars got the hell out of the area to avoid becoming mists.
Ex B-52 tail gunner here (back when they had tail guns). I flew night one of desert storm and it was a low altitude mission. The first two nights were low, maybe third night also, then we flew high altitude for the rest of the war.
That was pretty epic. Thanks for that. We (dad was USAF) were actually stationed at Anderson from '69-71. I'm just old enough to remember the Buffs going in and out of the base (dad says my first word was 'jet'...mom disagrees), along with the C-5 and C-141 on occasion. Later in life, I met a Buff pilot that used to fly the BlackBox missions. He had some tales to tell. Those were very stressful and the burnout was really high.
The answer to why the Bear had turboprops and not turbojets is due to Soviet engine technology being lacking at the time. Their jet engines just weren't as powerful. So they came up with the compromise of a contra-rotating turboprop.
From 1995 to 2003 I was a maintainer stationed at Minot AFB, ND. I still remember the sounds an smells fro the BUFF's early morning engine runs coming to my room. My other memory is the sights and sounds from the first straight into Afghanistan leaving the base. What a beautiful night sight.
too bad you couldn't get the SEA cammo scheme on those Buffs. Still cool. I was a kid living on Guam in 1968/69. Those guys were noisy and took off at all hours disturbing my youthful sleep.
You guys should have seen the last day of bombing north vietnam. I was a crew chief on the F4s and that last day we put eveything in the sky that could fly. My bird had no weapons recticle. It flew anyway. The pilot made his own site recticle on the wind screen.
You know what, Cap-I, for one, would love to see you try and record a less cinematic video where everyone flies with realistic spacing, without wingtip to wingtip formation flying, etc. I think it might even be a more fun experience for you guys to do some of the more difficult missions that way since you’d probably fight more effectively when the formation, the relative distances, etc. would be more conducive to supporting one another and having a good SA (when you fly in a tight formation and then scatter at the last moment, there’s a period when you don’t really know where your wingmen are and things can get hectic really quickly). And no AI mid-air collisions messing up the mission would be a nice bonus…
@@grimreapers Nice 😀 Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy the usual shenanigans, the obligatory “Get another one”, etc. but seeing the BUFFs crash into each other made me realize that a less cinematic video would be a nice thing to watch every once in a while.
Turbo prop has always been considered to be the most efficient way to power flight. Where Jet engines provide faster, more responsive flight. Some commercial plane manufacturers are going back to props as the name of the game is "how much" over "how fast"
They're using the sound from the H mods with the TF 33s. The previous mods like the Gs I was stationed with were much harsher sounding. I probably wouldn't be near as deaf if we'd had the H mods.
6:15 the United States Military isn't the most powerful fighting force in the world because of sheer fighting force. Its in logistics, we can have troops on the ground anywhere in the world in 48 hours. Our armed forces are also one of or the largest logistical "companies" in the world.
As far as North Vietnamese farmers were concerned, I would not be too worried about them. I dont believe most of them had automatic rifles such as AKs in real life (though this game may be different). At worst, they can fire off three shots with their bolt action rifles before American jets scoot past them much faster than the animals Vietnamese farmers are used to hunting.
As far as I know, the Soviets used the contra-rotating turboprops on the Tu-95's because early turbojets were too fuel thirsty and they struggled with getting the range for intercontinental operation. Whereas early B-52's could go roughly 10000km, the early Tu-95's could top that with roughly 15000km of range due to using smaller turbine engines to power those massive props. I suppose the reason why they still use turboprops in even the latest versions of Tu-95 is that there isn't really a game changing advantage to replacing them with turbofans. With Turboprops the Tu-95 can still fly as fast and as high as most turbojet/fan powered bombers. Might just not be worth the money and hazzle.
This would be a cool scenario to do with "modern" aviation assets. F-16 for SEAD, F-111s (Su-24s) for targets of opportunity, F-15EXs for top cover, and B-1B for the main strike. The Russians went with the Turboprop because their turbojets/fans were less efficient than the western equivalents.
Ever wonder how this whole conflict would have transpired if the US would have launched an Operations Linebacker 2 campaign on Hanoi in 65 instead of Rolling Thunder
Imagine that being on the receiving end of an Arclight strike was the closest to feeling that whatever god was up there expressly hated you at that point in time to such a degree that no words were ever developed to express just how terrible it was that their wrath was going to be.
@2:00 15 miles NNW of Hanoi is Thud Ridge. Is that where the raid will take place if so there are some geographical challenges and I think war planners knew this going in so you really wouldn't want slow hvy bombers flying in at low alt near there.
jesus chhrist.. 30 b52 flyby.. wow. who needs cloud seeding with that lot cutting through the air.. Great re-enactment, again. Also you wouldnt wan to be on the receiving end of that payload. ouch.
@Grim Reapers Speaking of jet exhaust, i was working for a FBO through an airshow. I was marshalling out a MIG-15 (from about 20ft away), and got totally blasted with the exhaust. Lovely hot gravel and fumes, i'd do it again in a second haha
I wonder how that would have sounded in real life if instead of B-52s it had been an equal number of Tu-95s. I can imagine windows rattling and things falling off shelves. This does make me wonder about reenacting Linebacker II. Instead of using SAC's very flawed tactics come up with new ones of your own that would overwhelm Hanoi's defenses.
Through most of the design process, the B-52 had propeller-driven engines. Jet technology developed faster here than in the USSR, so the engines were replaced by jets on the B-52s, but not the Bears.
I heard a lecture by a BUFF pilot back when I was in college. He talked about several times when crews did emergency jettisons of their bomb loads right onto the beach and into the water after engine failures. He said the EOD guys earned ALL their money on those days.
So I found out there is a su-47 Berkut mod and I wanted to test it out in lots of simulations but my pc broke so I am unable to. Can you guys test the su-47 out in dogfights. That would be so cool to see you guys do it. Plus you guys usually go above and beyond in testing vehicles
Is there a reason no one ever does multi-crew missions flying a bomber? I always thought it would be a fun perspective to see. I've never really been able to find a group doing them. This isn't specific to the B-52 featured in this video, just in general.
Going back to my aircraft design lectures from university I can tell you that propellors are more fuel efficient than jet engines in an aircraft optimised for endurance. That's just how the maths works out. Given that the Bear was designed for maritime patrol I'd suggest that this is why its designers elected to use turboprops rather than jets.
I worked topside on 3 different carriers. Was flight deck crew for the Cats. Qualified Cat safety observer(takes the place of the shooter) when they use the bubble
I’ve been thinking of a WWII mission you could try where my could try to do it with aircraft from different eras since the actual mission & I came up with the Original Mission “Operation Catechism” the mission to sink the Turpitz it was carried out by Lancasters, you could try it with 60’s/70’s/80’s/90’s and 2020+ aircraft it would be a hard one as the ship was in a Fjord and covered by smoke screens and tons of Anti Aircraft & fighter aircraft. No Long range anti ship missiles just bombs laser guided n non laser guided.
Being able to see a reenactment of a real event or fictional is awe inspiring, please do more
Enjoy!
ruclips.net/p/PL3kOAM2N1YJfnWPVHJjt91bzFIeacRwhV
ruclips.net/p/PL3kOAM2N1YJc9GA2Le4JCZF2ZSTL8RabZ
ruclips.net/p/PL3kOAM2N1YJeRfhpk9-rfLiQ9etcjx7s7
ruclips.net/p/PL3kOAM2N1YJdlWYLGUjSo878LkGjYz5xE
Tonight: Simba flies the F-5, BUFFs are having a dance and Cap talks about sticky residue.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 Brilliant!
SPEED AND POWER!!!!
Tonight on top gun!!!
@@trev8591Thanks.
I can hear the music queuing 😂
It was mid 1968, we were making our way back to LZ Birmingham, a fire support base with about five or six 105mm artillery batteries stuck out on top of this hill, along side Highway 547, a dirt road that led up the center of the Au Shau valley. We, 3/5th Cav, originally based out of Bear Cat down in the Delta, we were put on an LST to Danang, where we transferred to several LSU;s to get in the shallow harbor at Phu Bai and after TET68 subsided down south, we were shipped north to be Op Con to any one of a bunch of other units in the Hue area as Tet68 was still raging up here. Can't have us down south lounging about getting a sun tan. Up here we worked for 1st and 3rd Marine, 101 Airborne, 1st Air Cav, and some Vietnamese units. Seldom did a day pass that we did not get shot at. Anybody that needed some Armor for a few days for one of their missions, essentially we were Rent a Tank or I guess more accurately Rent a Calvary. Seldom did we ever go anywhere by ourselves but today we had to make a run into "town", meaning Camp Evens. It was getting late to be out here by ourselves, and we had just crossed the pontoon bridge across the Perfume River and nearby there was a CB base camp (they built and maintained the pontoon bridge) where we pulled in for the night and some hot food. On other occasions we have made pit stops at a few other CB base camps as well as Marine Base camps, hot food is always a good idea when you can get it. Nice to chat up with some other people.
In our line of work while on dismount missions we will find weapons caches and we are supposed to turn all that stuff in just like good little soldiers but we also know that there are people that like souvenirs and it is our job to supply them since we have so much of that crap. After dinner we do some bargaining and I had some old Chinese SKS rifles that I did not turn in so I traded the CBs for a brand new GMC 6-71 supercharger, still in the box. It was a spare replacement for one of their graders that had Detroit Diesel in it. ... they were never going to need it,they hoped. I got rid of some old SKS rifles from my inventory of trading goods. I hatched a plan of how to get this home to put on my race car. This was 1968 and this was as good a supercharger as any that was on race cars at the moment back home... and I had one now, a brand new one still in the box. Only two obstacles, get me home and get the supercharger home. A challenge for a different day.
The new 6-71 supercharger was still sealed in the silver bag inside the red white and blue Detroit Diesel box and I tucked it away up in the front of the ACAV sitting on top of the stacks and stacks of ammo both 50cal and 7.62 M60 ammo that filled the bottom of the ACAV. We had so much weight in her that the torsion bar suspension was just about out of travel. Our TO&E is 10,000 rounds for every gun we have on board. The enemy plan is to over run us when we run out of ammo. That is a very big job that they had tried on many occasions, and never with success i might add. Although I will admit there were a couple of times...... Sorry for the acronyms .. ACAV is Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle, basically a highly modified M113.
After dinner we set our our watch schedule and I drew mid watch, the worst one, where you get two hours of sleep, get up for two hours of watch, then get to sleep two more hours before we had to get on the move again.
With a full belly and a new supercharger to sleep next to I laid down at about 11pm hoping to get a bit of extra sleep before I had to get up at 2am. I was awakened for my watch and the night as black as the inside of a cow, there was no moon tonight. . No one else was awake on our ACAV but even if we are inside a CB Base camp we always kept one man away at all times. It was about two thirty in the morning, it began with the ground starting to tremor, something you felt more than I heard it. Yes it was a WTF moment. I am not new in country, I am a seasoned soldier, I have seen a lot of shit... but WTF is this? A few seconds later as the horizon began to light up It took a moment before I realized that what I first thought was a sun rise it was happening in the north not the east.
Unless dogs and cats are now sleeping together, this does not happen, it was then I realized what I was witnessing was a Arc Light B52 event in the Au Shau valley. With dozens of B52s each dropping 70,000 pounds of bombs it is a spectacle few have ever seen, and those that do see often do no survive it. The crescendo of the ground vibrating increased as the light got brighter and brighter holding that for a few minutes (I did not look at my watch) then both the light and the ground shaking subsided and the impenetrable dark of the night fell back over me. It was like it never happened, I has no one to share this with, everybody else spelt through it. I never saw it before and never saw it again and speaking to others in country not many did get to see it. Awesome does not even come close to the description.
It was the night I saw the sun rise in the north..... if you are unaware of the B52 Arc LIght events google can be your friend.
Now the story about the new supercharger... well that is a different story. I will write it up if you let me know you are interested.
That was very interesting. Thank you for sharing and for your service. I’m a vet myself. Glad that you could share this.
I remember watching the Top Gear Vietnam special, and Hammond was talking to a local on the beach who witnessed the b52's coming in over the beach.
That must have been something to see. I got goosebumps just from the opening clip of this video.
Must have been absolutely terrifying
The kicker. He wasn’t talking to him they were using gestures and writing in the sand to communicate because the Vietnamese guy was deaf…from the bombs they dropped. Powerful stuff. That was a great special.
@slunasaurusrex well hammond did talk. Watch the clip
I did a motorbike trip in nam , started in Hanoi, we visited that downed b52 that top gear did amazing that it's been left there .
The use of Turbo-Jets on the B-52 meant they could fly so high and so fast that MiG-15s (remember the B-52 first flew in 1952) would not be able to have any significant overtake. Speed was the defense, similar to the B-29 vs the Zeros. Soviets did not have the ability to design a reliable jet engine yet, the MiG-15 used a copied British Nene.
Awesome! My dad ran a remote transmitter site on Guam then. He sent mission updates to the Buffs. He said they were so heavy they would drop off the end of the cliff and you would see them climbing several miles out to see. He passed recently. This video meant a lot. Thanks Capt.
didn't some of the crew have downwards firing ejection seats? that long climb out must have been stressful for them I guess
15:41 The jet engines available to the Soviet's at the time didn't have the fuel efficiency necessary to meet the desired range capability, which is why they went with turboprops. Fun fact: the Bear isn't that much slower than the BUFF - at altitude it can cruise at 700km/h to the BUFF's 800km/h. Pretty respectable for a prop job!
As I recall the Bear is the noisiest and fastest propellor-driven aircraft in the world.
Yeah, i think it had to do with range since they didnt have a tanker fleet.
@@pahtar7189 - I think I read the propeller tips are either close to or even exceed the sound barrier - thus the noise
Similar story Cap. During the build up to Gulf War 1, I was at Riyadh air base. Standing outside the maintenance hanger early morning, still frost on the hanger doors, I was waiting for an F16 to taxi out. When the engine started I began to feel nice and toastie warm, then I stepped to one side and felt a little cooler. I did this before the exhaust got too warm for comfort, but I didn't have any residue on me from the burnt fuel. I agree about the smell of burnt aviation fuel. I used to love the smell from helicopter exhausts as I refuelled them. The Wessex was best, sitting on the wheel/tyre (whilst refuelling at the front) with the exhaust right next to ones head. Great video.
Diesel exhaust and jet fuel exhaust are great
Costello: “Hey Abbott, are you going to tell me what city we are going to make the run on?”
Abbott: “Phuk Gno.”
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.
.
.
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Costello: “You’re a a real jerk Abbott.”
"If the pilot's good, I mean if he's reeeally sharp, he can barrel that thing in so low, oh it's a sight to see. You wouldn't expect it with a big ol' plane like a '52, but varrrooom! The jet exhaust... frying chickens in the barnyard!"
Yeah, the B-52 might not roll as fast as some fighters but it can roll faster than you'd expect (truthfully, most jet airliners can actually). The roll-rate produced here seemed to probably be full aileron deflection and applied as fast as possible (throw the yoke to one side).
Mein fuhrer I can walk!
“Well, I've been to one world fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing I ever heard come over a set of earphones. You sure you got today's codes?”
Bombs away: 22:37 Holy lag, Batman! The grass next to the runway was severely punished.
NVA radar operator: Sir, there is something wrong with my set...
lol
Bogeys, lots of em, angels... oh my god😳
It's a mountain...and it's moving at 400 knots...
Amazing intro with the B-52's covering the sky. Possibly the most terrifying sight from below if your are the enemy.
Or a civilian just trying to survive in your own country just minding your own business 😕
@@nonsequitor exactly
My father did his last two (out of 4) combat tours in SE Asia as a B-52 pilot. The first, based out of U-Tapao, Thailand, and the second from Guam, both in the early 70s. He participated in many Arc Light missions, as well as Linebacker II.
13:10 - "What if Linebacker I, but every pilot is Bud Holland?"
This old man would be more than a little happy if he heard there was a B-52 of any varient of it coming to DCS as a full aircraft module. Won't get my hopes up tho.
I’m a retired US Army Grunt and I find this video pretty amazing. Wow. Thanks.
Great scenario. Nicely done. I was surprised the B-52's didn't do more damage. Seems your one run at the control tower complex likely did more to shut down the airport than the B-52 strike. Nice channel.
Great video, recently listened through a recording of b52 comms for the 'linebacker 2' raid on Hanoi so seeing this was bloody gripping.
Fun fact for Cap. When performing a B52 bomb run on an airfield, you plan the strike to cross the runway at a 15-30 degree angle, ensuring that at least some of the bombs strike the runway and/or taxiway, especially with a 3-bomber cell flying in offset formation.. If aiming down the runway, all the bombs may land in the grass parallel to the runway.
The Wild Weasels in Vietnam were generally in F-105s.
After serving 8 years working on H models(the model shown in game) and multiple deployments to Guam, it is really cool to see them there and Guam again. Something I will likely never do again as long as I live.
Also no fortunate son? 😮
My father flew these kind of missons from Guam, where I was Born. One issue though, they never flew a mission like your portraying, they alawys flew at 30-35,000 feet. The only time my Father knows of B-52's flying low level missions was during the seige at Ka San and that was at 1,000 feet. The B--52's used in your mission were the B-52D's. These B-52's carrired 6 500Lbs bombs on MER's : Multiple Ejector racks, under each wing as well as 108 500Lbs bombs in the Bomb Bay. They flew in three ship cells and the cells would drop thier payloads at the same time. Each cell was 5-7 miles apart. Another thing to remember was that at that time Hanoi was the most heaviest defended city in the world. The F-4's would have flown Mig Caps How ever all that being said it was a really asweome raid.
Feeling extra valued today Cap!
Buffs flying like fighter pilots simba "like they should ". F5 is a sexy little fighter
A lot of the original attack profiles for B-52s going into Russia was low and fast, weaving through valleys just like an enormous F-111/F-4.
The nightmare for the people of Vietnam, as 30 B52 come over their heads so close they could almost touch them.. The Fear in that country at that time, just wow.
Tu-95 Bear has turboprops because they are cheaper to operate and simpler to produce. Back in the '50s the B-52 had 8 turbojets because larger ones were too expensive and unreliable. We're at the third engine change now but still 8 jet layout because of engineering costs deemed unnecessary.
Thank you GR, this is the kind of mission I’ve been waiting for you to make for years
@grimreapers Thanks for posting this! That was truly incredible.
Some great cinematography here, Cap!
For some reason, though, I can't stop thinking about Dr. Strangelove.
15:330 The Soviet TU-95 Bear had turboprop engines because the Soviets could not yet manufacture jets with good fuel economy.
I was with Nimitz in '97-'98 on Sacramento. Last I saw of Nimitz, she was off around the Cape of Good Hope en route Norfolk for refueling with Port Royal. Good cruise.
We actually ended up transiting the suez to get home in time.
@@Firedad376Cool. After you guys left to the east, and we were off to Australia. I really did not notice because... Australia. And the talk was of you going around the Cape.
We had to high tail it home to meet the 180 day requirement that Admiral Boorda had set in place for deployments prior to 9-11. That cruise was wack from the time we left HONG Kong. We were supposed to be a showboat cruise because she was 25 years between refueling but no
..Sadaam had to go and kick weapons inspectors out of Iraq. Meaning instead of 2 weeks in the gulf we spent 16.
Yes, our Buff's would go tdy to
Guam for Arc Light and Bullet
Shot.
I was an officer at Pease, AFB,
Portsmouth, NH, from 1969
to 1973, not a flight crew member,
though I have flown in KC-135's,
tankers, still there with the NH
ANG.
I was first a Personnel Officer,
and later as a Captain, I was
the 509th Squadron Section
Commander.
Actually, after the Buff's left
Pease, in December 1970,
the Wing Commander flew
in the replacement FB-111,
which in it's hardened shelter,
I got to look in the cockpit. 😊
Visually spectacular.
Merica...phuc yen
oof
I would like to see night operations in fighters or bombers. I really enjoyed the helo op you guys did at night. How about air to air or air to ground jet ops?
I would have wanted to be one of the ground pounders getting that strike as their air cover. It was said when the buffs went in the VC and NVA regulars got the hell out of the area to avoid becoming mists.
i remember being told that there was intent to do B52 low level raids in Desert Storm also, not sure if any actually happened
Ex B-52 tail gunner here (back when they had tail guns). I flew night one of desert storm and it was a low altitude mission. The first two nights were low, maybe third night also, then we flew high altitude for the rest of the war.
Great simulation! Really impressive. I saw a B52 at an airshow years ago. DAMN that thing is HUGE.
This giant flight of Buffs all banking together is both frightening and impressive.
That was pretty epic. Thanks for that. We (dad was USAF) were actually stationed at Anderson from '69-71. I'm just old enough to remember the Buffs going in and out of the base (dad says my first word was 'jet'...mom disagrees), along with the C-5 and C-141 on occasion.
Later in life, I met a Buff pilot that used to fly the BlackBox missions. He had some tales to tell. Those were very stressful and the burnout was really high.
I wish DCS would come out with an A-6
The answer to why the Bear had turboprops and not turbojets is due to Soviet engine technology being lacking at the time. Their jet engines just weren't as powerful. So they came up with the compromise of a contra-rotating turboprop.
We need AC/DC Thunderstruck as backround music.
From 1995 to 2003 I was a maintainer stationed at Minot AFB, ND. I still remember the sounds an smells fro the BUFF's early morning engine runs coming to my room. My other memory is the sights and sounds from the first straight into Afghanistan leaving the base. What a beautiful night sight.
too bad you couldn't get the SEA cammo scheme on those Buffs. Still cool. I was a kid living on Guam in 1968/69. Those guys were noisy and took off at all hours disturbing my youthful sleep.
Keep Calm and Call for Arc Light
You guys should have seen the last day of bombing north vietnam. I was a crew chief on the F4s and that last day we put eveything in the sky that could fly. My bird had no weapons recticle. It flew anyway. The pilot made his own site recticle on the wind screen.
That snake island talk now has me thinking of an arc light raid on the Kerch bridge 😩
B-52 Arc Light raid = Fuck your entire grid square!! Holy hell that was entertaining!! Damn fine flying as always Grim Reapers!!
I thought primary targets were runways and fighter jets, not the groundskeepers 🤷🏻♂️
You know what, Cap-I, for one, would love to see you try and record a less cinematic video where everyone flies with realistic spacing, without wingtip to wingtip formation flying, etc. I think it might even be a more fun experience for you guys to do some of the more difficult missions that way since you’d probably fight more effectively when the formation, the relative distances, etc. would be more conducive to supporting one another and having a good SA (when you fly in a tight formation and then scatter at the last moment, there’s a period when you don’t really know where your wingmen are and things can get hectic really quickly). And no AI mid-air collisions messing up the mission would be a nice bonus…
GR has never been MilSim...........
Got a milsim mission coming in a couple of weeks.
@@grimreapers Nice 😀 Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy the usual shenanigans, the obligatory “Get another one”, etc. but seeing the BUFFs crash into each other made me realize that a less cinematic video would be a nice thing to watch every once in a while.
Turbo prop has always been considered to be the most efficient way to power flight. Where Jet engines provide faster, more responsive flight.
Some commercial plane manufacturers are going back to props as the name of the game is "how much" over "how fast"
I’ve stood in the exhaust of an M1A1 hundreds of times. Nothing wrong with me. [twitch twitch]
They're using the sound from the H mods with the TF 33s. The previous mods like the Gs I was stationed with were much harsher sounding. I probably wouldn't be near as deaf if we'd had the H mods.
6:15 the United States Military isn't the most powerful fighting force in the world because of sheer fighting force. Its in logistics, we can have troops on the ground anywhere in the world in 48 hours. Our armed forces are also one of or the largest logistical "companies" in the world.
*_"Carpet Bombing means never having to say you're sorry."_* 😉
As far as North Vietnamese farmers were concerned, I would not be too worried about them. I dont believe most of them had automatic rifles such as AKs in real life (though this game may be different). At worst, they can fire off three shots with their bolt action rifles before American jets scoot past them much faster than the animals Vietnamese farmers are used to hunting.
My grandpa was a tail gunner on the BUFF, every time I see him I try and pick his brain as much as I can about what they were like
Literally the most metal thing ever.
The wake turbulence of sitting behind 30 BUFFs at low altitude would be, shall we say, pretty interesting.
As far as I know, the Soviets used the contra-rotating turboprops on the Tu-95's because early turbojets were too fuel thirsty and they struggled with getting the range for intercontinental operation.
Whereas early B-52's could go roughly 10000km, the early Tu-95's could top that with roughly 15000km of range due to using smaller turbine engines to power those massive props.
I suppose the reason why they still use turboprops in even the latest versions of Tu-95 is that there isn't really a game changing advantage to replacing them with turbofans.
With Turboprops the Tu-95 can still fly as fast and as high as most turbojet/fan powered bombers. Might just not be worth the money and hazzle.
if you could get someone to make an EB-52 and Flighthawk you could run some of the encounters from Dale Brown's Dreamland series of books.
WOW! you guys...that was awesome
This would be a cool scenario to do with "modern" aviation assets. F-16 for SEAD, F-111s (Su-24s) for targets of opportunity, F-15EXs for top cover, and B-1B for the main strike.
The Russians went with the Turboprop because their turbojets/fans were less efficient than the western equivalents.
Except for the cami paint and not B-52D's, very real.
Very cool guys!!!
Ever wonder how this whole conflict would have transpired if the US would have launched an Operations Linebacker 2 campaign on Hanoi in 65 instead of Rolling Thunder
Imagine that being on the receiving end of an Arclight strike was the closest to feeling that whatever god was up there expressly hated you at that point in time to such a degree that no words were ever developed to express just how terrible it was that their wrath was going to be.
Looks like a WW2 8th Airforce raid!
@2:00 15 miles NNW of Hanoi is Thud Ridge. Is that where the raid will take place if so there are some geographical challenges and I think war planners knew this going in so you really wouldn't want slow hvy bombers flying in at low alt near there.
jesus chhrist.. 30 b52 flyby.. wow. who needs cloud seeding with that lot cutting through the air.. Great re-enactment, again. Also you wouldnt wan to be on the receiving end of that payload. ouch.
Why turbo prop and not turbo fan, less M.I.C.E. needed. Bagpuss attests.
The U.S. lost 30 B-52 that were not replaceable and we still lost that damn stupid little war.
.................. Shine like an Arc Light ......................
Such a beautifull Song ☘️
🫒🌍🕊
@Grim Reapers Speaking of jet exhaust, i was working for a FBO through an airshow. I was marshalling out a MIG-15 (from about 20ft away), and got totally blasted with the exhaust. Lovely hot gravel and fumes, i'd do it again in a second haha
4:10 that's the sound of freedom, boys.
Just thinking that the F-4s would have a problem with the wingtip vortices of the B-52s at that altitude.
Hey cap, I make music on digital software. Is it okay if I take some of the amazing shots from the vid to use for album covers?
I wonder how that would have sounded in real life if instead of B-52s it had been an equal number of Tu-95s. I can imagine windows rattling and things falling off shelves. This does make me wonder about reenacting Linebacker II. Instead of using SAC's very flawed tactics come up with new ones of your own that would overwhelm Hanoi's defenses.
Through most of the design process, the B-52 had propeller-driven engines. Jet technology developed faster here than in the USSR, so the engines were replaced by jets on the B-52s, but not the Bears.
Holy rice cakes, Batman
Did the game render all the explosions?
yep. it renders and models every bomb being dropped and then the blast wave is also modeled.
hence the brutal lag.
what a raid !
I heard a lecture by a BUFF pilot back when I was in college. He talked about several times when crews did emergency jettisons of their bomb loads right onto the beach and into the water after engine failures. He said the EOD guys earned ALL their money on those days.
So I found out there is a su-47 Berkut mod and I wanted to test it out in lots of simulations but my pc broke so I am unable to. Can you guys test the su-47 out in dogfights. That would be so cool to see you guys do it. Plus you guys usually go above and beyond in testing vehicles
Damn how did I not know about this?
can't wait to see this recreated with the heatblur F-4
F-4E didn't come into service until 1967 sadly.
When the new F4 comes out, I would love to see you guys do Operation BOLO. I think you guys would have alot of fun Mig hunting over North Vietnam
Oddly I don't remember the B-52's sounding like that but they where taking off and landing and it was like 40+ yrs ago so could be...LOL
Cap you saying about the F15 exhaust wake, I got to stand in the Exhaust wake of an F4 & that was Smokey.
Amazing video with BEAUTIFUL visuals! Thank You!
Projecting power!
Is there a reason no one ever does multi-crew missions flying a bomber? I always thought it would be a fun perspective to see. I've never really been able to find a group doing them. This isn't specific to the B-52 featured in this video, just in general.
Going back to my aircraft design lectures from university I can tell you that propellors are more fuel efficient than jet engines in an aircraft optimised for endurance. That's just how the maths works out. Given that the Bear was designed for maritime patrol I'd suggest that this is why its designers elected to use turboprops rather than jets.
Thanks
I worked topside on 3 different carriers. Was flight deck crew for the Cats. Qualified Cat safety observer(takes the place of the shooter) when they use the bubble
Cap KC-135 Crew Chief 1983 - 2011 was in the exhaust many times. Also we would stand in the APU exhaust in the winter to stay warm.
I’ve been thinking of a WWII mission you could try where my could try to do it with aircraft from different eras since the actual mission & I came up with the Original Mission “Operation Catechism” the mission to sink the Turpitz it was carried out by Lancasters, you could try it with 60’s/70’s/80’s/90’s and 2020+ aircraft it would be a hard one as the ship was in a Fjord and covered by smoke screens and tons of Anti Aircraft & fighter aircraft. No Long range anti ship missiles just bombs laser guided n non laser guided.
6:46 how long after this did you get yourself a cup of tea?
South China Tea
I'm surprised that there hasn't been an Arclight over Yemen.