B-36 Bombers visit England

On January 16, 1951, 6 B-36Ds were flown from Carswell AFB to the United Kingdom. The purpose of the mission was to evaluate the B-36D under simulated war plan conditions. Also, further evaluate the equivalent airspeed and compression tactics for heavy bombardment aircraft; and evaluate select crew capability for bombing unfamiliar targets. The aircraft, staging through Limestone AFB, Maine, would land at RAF Lakenheath, England following a night radar bombing attack on Helgoland, Germany. From there, the bombers would conduct a simulated bomb run on the Houston Bomb Plot, London, finally landing at Lakenheath. Originally, 11 bombers launched out of Carswell on 14 January to Limestone AFB. On 15 January all were set to depart Limestone. Of those, two aborted shortly after takeoff for engine failures, and three more returned to Carswell that .day. The remaining six (1-9BS, 2-436BS, 7BG; and 1-26BS, 1-42BS, 1-98BS, 11BG) landed at RAF Lakenheath on 16 January following the two scheduled bomb runs. This was the first deployment of wing and SAC B-36 aircraft to England and Europe. For the next four days, the flight flew sorties out of England. The aircraft redeployed to the states on 20 January 1951, arriving at Carswell on 21 January.