The Earl E. Myers Story, Chapter 23 — RB-47 Combat Crew Training, Page 1 of 2 Pages

After an all too brief period of R&R, it is back to work with further training schedules to prepare the reconnaissance crews and aircraft for the tasks ahead.

Survival Training Adventures:

With runway construction complete, all of the RB-47s were now in place at Forbes. There was no end to training. It was a perpetual schooling process. Now we were off to Stead AFB, Reno, Nevada for survival training. Newt, Scotty and myself departed Topeka in mid-November 1955. We had a nice leisurely ride to Reno. As we departed the train in Reno we noticed about 200 motorcycles parked along the railroad right of way. The guy's were rowdy, drunk and threatening. The then Mayor of Reno ordered the Law Enforcement Department to take a cable and run it through every bike there with a grappling hook on the end. The next freight train coming through, the bikes were yanked off of their parking spots and dragged out of Reno. They then collected all of the bikers and gave them a butch haircut and a shave. WOW, what a calamity that was. The sign over the entrance to the city, was, "The Biggest Little City In The World". The bikers were furious and the Mayor put them on a bus and took them out of the city several miles and dumped them. Again their anger was displayed.

We were not scheduled to report in at Stead AFB until the next day so we obtained rooms in Harold's Club. We were hungry, dirty and thirsty from the 4 days we spent enroute. We went to our assigned rooms and did the "S" things, shower, shampoo, shave, shine. Back to the dining room we went for a scrumptious meal and a cocktail. After crew rest we ventured into the gambling area. I am not a gambler at heart and I limited myself to $20 per day. That was a lot of money then. The Casino gave each of us $10 in chips to use for whatever we wanted. I played Black Jack and started to win almost every hand. Newt and Scotty went back to their room and snoozed off. I had been lucky and won a considerable amount of money.

I made three trips to Western Union to wire money to the bank in Topeka. Time was ticking by and it was late or rather early morning. Scotty and Newt appeared on the scene and told me it was time to leave. I did not want to leave as I was
winning, but trying to be a good soldier we left.

We took a G.I. bus to Stead AFB arriving about 0900 hrs. I had so many silver $$$$$ in my pockets that I could barely navigate. Having already made 3 trips to Western Union to wire my winnings to the bank in Topeka, I stashed my other winnings in a foot locker, locked it up and proceeded to process in at the Base. It was 8 days before Thanksgiving. We were scheduled to return on the day before Thanksgiving if all went well.

We traipsed the countryside and up and over some mountains. We were given pemmican to use for food and what ever else we could hunt or scrounge. Their were aggressors in the forest and we were to avoid them to the best of our ability. The first night we spent next to a large fallen tree and started a fire to keep warm in our bed rolls. We caught a possum and dug a hole in the ground for a fire. We wrapped the animal in large leaves and buried it after we started a fire to slow cook it. After about 3 hours, we took it out of the fire and proceeded to devour it. It was horrible. We broke out the Pemmican and it was not much better.

They taught us that we could eat anything with hair growing on it! We could hear what we thought were beavers slapping their tails in the stream nearby. We never saw one and I suspect it was the aggressor's nearby trying to keep us alert. We covered a lot of miles during the 7 days that we were out in the woods. We were supposed to seek out a landing place for a C-47. We found what looked like a suitable strip in a valley and tested it by carrying another student on our back to find out if it would support a C-47. Needless to say we had to change positions with our partner several times to complete the survey.

We arrived back at Stead on Thanksgiving morning. After cleaning up, and off to the mess hall we went for for the best food ever. What a Thanksgiving! The return trip to Forbes was uneventful in a C-47. It was good to be back in civilization, even in Topeka.


	Biographical Notes Relating To The Earl E. Myers Story Chapter 23 — RB-47 Combat Crew Training Page 2 of 2 Pages
	In September 1955 the time came to move our operation back to Forbes. We took the G.I. blankets down from over the windows in the BOQ, cleaned the barracks up and departed. Man what a happy day that was. The Wing did an in-trail stacked flight home. Nothing like the feeling of going home. With photo credits going to Dick Newton, here are some en-route photos that will give you a feeling for the images involved in extended flights in the RB-47E.
	Right: Cruising at Mach .74 (74% of the speed of sound), typically at 36,000 to 38,000 feet altitude, we are approached by an F-89 Air Defense Command fighter interceptor, checking out, for sure, just whose aircraft are these radar blips moving in toward the U.S. from the far north.

				Left: Right on schedule, we are about to keep an air refueling appointment with a KC-97 tanker. With a full fuel load, these tankers would typically offload their fuel to the B & RB-47s at an altitude of around 14,000 to 16,000 feet. Sliding over to the left, the RB-47 crew begins to position themselves to come up directly behind and slightly under the rear of the KC-97 tanker. The B-47 crew and the tanker boom operator begin a steady exchange of information which will locate the B-47 within the envelope of travel for the refueling boom.


	Right: As the RB-47 Co-Pilot, in the rear cockpit, prepares his air refueling control switches to receive the fuel, the Aircraft Commander moves into position to connect with the telescoping boom literally flown into the connect position by the skilled boom operator.

				Left: Approaching their home station, the RB-47s begin a gradual letdown from their cruising altitude to arrive over the omni navigational aid at 20,000 feet, headed outbound from their landing runway. From that point, they drop gear and flaps to provide a very rapid decent while they fly a descending teardrop pattern which will bring them back to the runway heading for approach and landing. This selected group of aircraft were scheduled to make a low pass over the field, in formation, to celebrate the Wing's return to home base. Reaching their chosen altitude of around 1,000 feet or so, the formation retracts their gear and flaps, pull into close formation and make their fly-by to the gathered base staff and family members who have waited for this day to come.


	After an all too brief period of R&R, it is back to work with further training schedules to prepare the reconnaissance crews and aircraft for the tasks ahead. Survival Training Adventures: With runway construction complete, all of the RB-47s were now in place at Forbes. There was no end to training. It was a perpetual schooling process. Now we were off to Stead AFB, Reno, Nevada for survival training. Newt, Scotty and myself departed Topeka in mid-November 1955. We had a nice leisurely ride to Reno. As we departed the train in Reno we noticed about 200 motorcycles parked along the railroad right of way. The guy's were rowdy, drunk and threatening. The then Mayor of Reno ordered the Law Enforcement Department to take a cable and run it through every bike there with a grappling hook on the end. The next freight train coming through, the bikes were yanked off of their parking spots and dragged out of Reno. They then collected all of the bikers and gave them a butch haircut and a shave. WOW, what a calamity that was. The sign over the entrance to the city, was, "The Biggest Little City In The World". The bikers were furious and the Mayor put them on a bus and took them out of the city several miles and dumped them. Again their anger was displayed. We were not scheduled to report in at Stead AFB until the next day so we obtained rooms in Harold's Club. We were hungry, dirty and thirsty from the 4 days we spent enroute. We went to our assigned rooms and did the "S" things, shower, shampoo, shave, shine. Back to the dining room we went for a scrumptious meal and a cocktail. After crew rest we ventured into the gambling area. I am not a gambler at heart and I limited myself to $20 per day. That was a lot of money then. The Casino gave each of us $10 in chips to use for whatever we wanted. I played Black Jack and started to win almost every hand. Newt and Scotty went back to their room and snoozed off. I had been lucky and won a considerable amount of money. I made three trips to Western Union to wire money to the bank in Topeka. Time was ticking by and it was late or rather early morning. Scotty and Newt appeared on the scene and told me it was time to leave. I did not want to leave as I was winning, but trying to be a good soldier we left. We took a G.I. bus to Stead AFB arriving about 0900 hrs. I had so many silver $$$$$ in my pockets that I could barely navigate. Having already made 3 trips to Western Union to wire my winnings to the bank in Topeka, I stashed my other winnings in a foot locker, locked it up and proceeded to process in at the Base. It was 8 days before Thanksgiving. We were scheduled to return on the day before Thanksgiving if all went well. We traipsed the countryside and up and over some mountains. We were given pemmican to use for food and what ever else we could hunt or scrounge. Their were aggressors in the forest and we were to avoid them to the best of our ability. The first night we spent next to a large fallen tree and started a fire to keep warm in our bed rolls. We caught a possum and dug a hole in the ground for a fire. We wrapped the animal in large leaves and buried it after we started a fire to slow cook it. After about 3 hours, we took it out of the fire and proceeded to devour it. It was horrible. We broke out the Pemmican and it was not much better. They taught us that we could eat anything with hair growing on it! We could hear what we thought were beavers slapping their tails in the stream nearby. We never saw one and I suspect it was the aggressor's nearby trying to keep us alert. We covered a lot of miles during the 7 days that we were out in the woods. We were supposed to seek out a landing place for a C-47. We found what looked like a suitable strip in a valley and tested it by carrying another student on our back to find out if it would support a C-47. Needless to say we had to change positions with our partner several times to complete the survey. We arrived back at Stead on Thanksgiving morning. After cleaning up, and off to the mess hall we went for for the best food ever. What a Thanksgiving! The return trip to Forbes was uneventful in a C-47. It was good to be back in civilization, even in Topeka. Editor's Note: For those of you who would like to review some historical data relating to the B/RB-47, click here and return with your back button at your discretion. End of Page 2 of 2, Chapter 23 — Go to Chapter 24 Go to EEM Introduction —Chapter 1 — 2 — 3 — 4 — 5 — 6 — 7 — 8 9 — 10 — 11 — 12 — 13 — 14 — 15 — 16 — 17 — 18 19 — 20 — 21 — 22 — 23 — 24 — 25 26 — 27 — 28 — 29 — 30 — 31 — 32 Return to Biographical Stories Index Page Go to Home Page