My uncle was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base and was killed when the B-50A planed crashed on a practice bomb drop. The year was 1950. He was an aerial photographer. I have several questions to ask, please don't think them dumb. 1. Why would you need an aerial photographer on a practice bomb drop? I guess you needed to make sure the bomb dropped on target, or something else? I just don't understand. 2. Is there a B 50 anywhere that allows visitors to go inside the plane? I would like to see what the inside of the plane looked like.......not just a hull, but some semblance of what it looked like at the time. 3. If there isn't a B-50A, what is the next nearest plane like the B-50 and is there some place I can go to tour that plane? 4. How often were practice bomb drops done? Was this in preparation or fear of a nuclear attack? I mean they weren't using new technology (or were they) because it was an older plane? Sorry if my questions seem naive. I just want to know more. Thanks, Sheilah Broughton
1. There's any number of reasons for a photographer to be aboard. To record the practice bombing, crew functions, air to air photography, whatever the USAF decided was worth documenting. 2. The museum at ex-Castle AFB in Atwater, CA, has a B-50 which has been open during Open Cockpit Day, usually Memorial Day Weekend. http://www.castleairmuseum.org 3. See number two. 4. There were always practice missions. Part of the ongoing training whether it's practice bombing missions, fighter intercepts, the lot.
Hi, Thank you so much for your reply. So, if there are any number of reasons an aerial photographer was needed does that mean someone gave him his assignment for each flight and that it could be different for each flight? If so, who was that someone?
3. The B-50A was a development of the B-29, and there are quite a few of them in various states of preservation, which would give you a good idea what your uncle's plane was like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-29_Superfortress_survivors
The Squadron Operations Officer under the direction of the Squadron Commander made flight assignments.
Possibly the base or squadron photo detachment, a request from public affairs, a request from any number of higher ups that want photos of the USAF doing something.
Here is some data I found on the crash: 5th of January 1950 The B-50A ditched in the Choctawhatchee Bay due to an engine failure. Instructor pilot 1st Lt. Park R. Bidwell, Jr., pilot 1st Lt. Vere Short, co-pilot 1st Lt. James S. Wigg, bombardier Maj. William C. McLaughlin and crewmen S/Sgt. Clifford J. Gallipo, M/Sgt. Alton Howard, M/Sgt. William J. Almand, T/Sgt. Samuel G. Broke and Cpl. William F. Fitzpatrick survived the incident. The bodies of flight engineer M/Sgt. Claude Dorman and aerial photographer S/Sgt. William Thomas Bell were recovered by divers. The B-50A was from the 3200th Proof Test Group, it crashlanded two miles NNE of Destin FL, killing two of the 11 crew. Nine escape from the downed aircraft following the forced landing. The airframe settles in eight to ten feed of mud at a depth of 38 feet. The body of S/Sgt. William Thomas Bell, 21, aerial photographer, who lived in Mayo FL, is recovered on Tuesday, 9 January, outside the plane from beneath the tail.
