Bradford Runyon Interview, 5 May 2000
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| INT: | Oh, because you were flying for 13 years. | |
| BR: | Yeah, well no. I think that was Major Partin. I was only in for 7 years. [At this time we had mistaken an AF Form 117 sighting report form submitted by Major Partin, as having been submitted by Brad Runyon. It is not until later in the interview that we clarify this confusion -TMT]. | |
| INT: | Okay, so just sort of give us some background—some early history. | |
| BR: | Okay, so anyway, actually Minot was my first B-52 assignment, and then from there I went to Carswell in Texas before going over to Viet Nam—had two tours over there. | |
| INT: | Where'd you do your training? | |
| BR: | At Del Rio, Texas and Laughlin Air Force Base was my initial training, and so then B-52 school—Castle in California. | |
| INT: | Okay, I got to pause here—could you start that over? Sorry. | |
| BR: | Okay. Well, anyway after graduating college at the University of Florida, then I went to pilot training at Del Rio in Texas, graduated there and went to B-52 school in Castle Air Force Base, California. | |
| INT: | Okay. So it was a school specifically for B-52's? | |
| BR: | Yes, it was for B-52's, and so my first assignment was at Minot Air Force Base in the B-52 H, which was our newest B-52 at that time, which still is our newest B-52. | |
| INT: | And the H refers to what? | |
| BR: | Uh, just the model. They start out with the experimental B-52 A and then B and then the C's—B-52 C's were the first combat aircraft that they had. Then they had the D's, E's, F's, G's and H's. | |
| INT: | Okay, yeah. We were wondering—I think Bernard thought it was an instructor's plane. That's not true? | |
| BR: | No. The first planes, you know, had a tall tail—a 48-foot high tail and oh, flexible wings—wing tips would go up and down 33 feet. Well then they went to the G model and shortened the tail by a few feet and stiffened the wing and it would only go up and 31 feet, which—that's more scary, you know just see your wing tip going up and down 30 feet when you're flying, and so then on the G model they brought the tail gunner forward, |
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