"B2431" wrote in message
...
From: "John Keeney"
Date: 1/9/2004 12:57 AM Central Standard Time
Message-id:


"Mark and Kim Smith" wrote in message
...

Is a tail gun necessary on a B52? Has one ever been used as a
defensive
measure in recent times?

The USAF's answer is obviously "no" since they have removed.
To the best I know the last time it was used in anger was over Vietnam.

Also, refresh my memory, it was a B52 that Slim Pickens was dropped
from
in the movie ( as per BUFDRVR's signature )??

Yes, Slim Pickens was the pilot of a B-52 in "Dr. Strangelove"
(or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"),
I can't tell you off hand what model it was supposed to be.

It's been a long time since I saw the flick.

Me too. I may have a copy, perhaps I'll watch it this weekend...

All I remember is it was a tall tail.

That's my impression, but I haven't seen it for a long time now
and it was at best a plastic model (was there a real take-off scene?)

Good flick.

Indeed.
A cult classic with the bomber crews back in the days of SAC.
I wonder if the maker of that "antiwar film" found it at all ironic?
A friend who was a BUFF BN tells me they were forbidden to
watch it when it first came out, so they all made a point of
seeing it in town.