Bradford Runyon Interview, 5 May 2000
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put a camera in the tail. Well, so at Minot we had the H model, which was built in 1960 and it was their newest plane. Well they put different engines, a whole lot more powerful engines then the other planes had and a gunner still up front but this time he doesn't have a camera, so if you go to war, you justhe just sets the gun so if anything comes in the firing range they just automatically fire. So you know, we didn't have a camera or a gunner in the back of the airplane to look out for us in that direction. | ||
INT: | Yeah. So you only had a camera for the radarscope? | |
BR: | Yes. Plus we have our Bombay cameras so, whenever we drop bombs why we can see their impact, and so forth. | |
INT: | So you were first stationed at Minotwhat year was that? | |
BR: | Oh, I guess '67. Late '66 or 7. | |
INT: | Okay. | |
BR: | Yeah. | |
INT: | And what were you doing there? | |
BR: | I was copilot initially and | |
INT: | Instructor or? | |
BR: | Okay, well after I was there for a while then they selected me for the standardization evaluation unit, which iswe gave the check rides for other aircrews at our base, so I was an instructor copilot at that time. | |
INT: | And why were the B-52's stationed at Minot? | |
BR: | Well this is during the Cold War and then we had nuclear weapons on them so we werewell we had a certain number on alert at all times, and, you know, and different times then we had 'em on alert in the air loaded with nuclear bombs. | |
INT: | So the concern was coming out of | |
BR: | Out of Russia over the North Pole. | |
INT: | You were tied in with that whole northern tier. | |
BR: | Yes, uhhuh. |
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