Flying from the Black Hole: The B-52 Navigator-Bombardiers of Vietnam

by Robert O. Harder

U.S. Air Force navigators and bombardiers have long labored under the shadow of pilots, their contributions misunderstood or simply unknown to the public. This was especially the case with the B-52 non-pilot aircrews in the Vietnam War. Yet, without them, it would have been impossible to execute nuclear war strike plans or fly conventional bombing sorties. With this book, one of their own reveals who these men were and what they did down in the Black Hole of the B-52 bomber. It is the only work to detail the B-52 air war in Vietnam from the perspective of a navigator-bombardier. The book's opening thrusts the reader into the thick of the war's climactic 1972 Hanoi Christmas bombing, an operation so poorly planned that it nearly became a disaster of epic proportions. The author then offers a history of the development of bombing techniques and the evolution of bomber aircraft, focusing on the Vietnam-era B-52. Final chapters return readers to the eleven-day Christmas War over Hanoi and Haiphong for an insider's view of that defining battle, described by the author as the last massed, heavy bomber raid the world will ever see. The author brings the book to a close with a discussion of the B-52 and its capabilities in the twenty-first century.

Genres: Audiobook, Aviation, History, Military History

299 pages, Hardcover

First published May 4, 2009

About the author

Robert O. Harder was an Air Force ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate and Strategic Air Command "Cold War" B-52D aircrewman with 145 combat missions during the Vietnam War. A rated navigator and radar bombardier, he also flew nuclear training sorties and stood Pad Alert. A former chain retail executive, he is a commercial pilot, FAA-certificated flight instructor, and free-lance writer. Harder and his wife Dee Dee live in Chicago and at their summer cabin on Big Sandy Lake, Minnesota. For more information on him and his books visit his website at robertoharder.com.

Reviews

[Barry Sierer · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those little gems a military history buff stumbles on accidentally. I have always been curious about the roles of different crewman in multi engine military planes because the focus in on the pilot and no one seems to know what these crewmen do. (apart from themselves).

Harder’s book is highly technical with slices of dry but funny wit. Its definitely for the more technically minded reader but its still a great read from an overlooked perspective.

[HaydenM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about the navigator-bombardiers of B-52 Stratofortresses particularly during the Vietnam war. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in aviation, the Vietnam war or navigating however, if you do not have an interest in these thing s, I can see how it would be quite dull. Overall, a good book that I enjoyed reading.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was expecting an I was there type of book instead Flying from the Black Hole is a book that has part memoir part history of the radar navigation, navigator position. I was amazed by some of the information that Harder published but the book was well worth the read.

[Charles H Berlemann Jr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book would be interesting to read and it was recommended to me because it talks of the personal experiences of a B-52 crewman during Linebacker. Instead it is a book that not only talks about the history and development of the bomb, the bomber, Curtis LeMay, how a Navigator-Bombardier was create, how a Navigator-Bombardier is trained, and how the B-52 was used in Vietnam from Arc Light Missions to the Linebacker raids.

It is an informative book. Just that when it spends the first quarter, 25%, of the book about history that is only tangent to the title and what the blurb on the back of the book means. I have to wonder what was the purpose of the book. I alternated between reading this on my kindle and listening to the Audiobook version through the day. It was when the author spent time putting down some TAC Air pilots who flew F-105s and F-4s over North Vietnam and how one went about doing SAC Nuclear Launch alerts. That is when I sort of tuned out of this book and really wondered what its purpose was and how it related to flying in Vietnam as a B-52 crewman.

The best that I can guess up to a point, is that the book was trying to say that the B-52 guys did have it hard since they were SAC crews who had to still do the Nuclear War Alert missions. That they weren't sent north earlier in the war because of politics. Plus in general how life was in the SAC during the Vietnam era bomber fleet was like from training to if selected flying combat missions.
I gave this a 3, but if realistic its probably a 2.75 star maybe struggling to get to a 2.8. It fits in that genre of "There I was..." sort of history books and though the author tries hard to go bigger, it cant seem to get out of the way of the attempt to capture the experiences of the author of his life as a SAC bomber crewman of the era. From training to standing alerts as a SAC Nuclear trained crewman to combat ink over Vietnam and back to SAC. There have been better and worse "There I was..." done by pilots and I think what this one is lacking is actually recounting life experiences at certain points such as flying the 12+hr mission from Guam to being at Thailand B-52 bases or even what it was like standing the alert with real or silly stories of that life. That slice of life and humanity in the book is missing and what makes it struggle to get to 3 star status.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, presenting a detailed history of the career and experiences of a Radar-Navigator in a B-52 bomber of the 1960s, with a concentration on the Arc Light and Linebacker operations in Vietnam. The author does a commendable job taking a highly technical field and presenting it in a very readable and understandable form. With detailed descriptions of the education and training of the crew, the use of the wide array of equipment onboard the B-52, the flying of the Arc Light and Linebacker missions, and the general life of a SAC B-52 crewmember, the book helps better understand this particular element of the Cold War and Vietnam. I always appreciate personal histories that present the detailed story of particular incidents or happenings, this book is a model of such an effort. There isn’t much in the way of philosophizing or commentary on the operations, just the basic facts of what the author and his comrades were trained to do and how they did it. A great book if you want to know more about SAC in its heyday, the B-52, and this portion of the air war over Vietnam.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read! If you ever wanted to know what it was like to be a "crew dog", then you won't be able to stop turning pages. I'd always heard rumors about the Linebacker II bombing, but never saw it documented like this in an easily readable form. The text is pretty technical and Harder does a good job of translating the jargon--but, I think the book's audience is largely a niche audience. And, author's appreciation for BGen Sullivan, who laid his career on the line for the crew dogs and FUBAR tactics, is admirable. Further, the Linebacker II kefuffles onlined here, made me relate to the 1991-2 USAF reorganization when CSAF McPeak, AND Jack Chain, CINCSAC, both career fighter pilots, made SAC disappear--after a 20 years laying in wait. As a -135 navigator, I always subscribed to the "sister in a...than a brother in a BUFF" theory. However, this book brought back memories and gave me greater appreciation for those who flew in the hole on the big ugly... Hat's off!

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read! If you ever wanted to know what it was like to be a "crew dog", then you won't be able to stop turning pages. I'd always heard rumors about the Linebacker II bombing, but never saw it documented like this in an easily readable form. The text is pretty technical and Harder does a good job of translating the jargon--but, I think the book's audience is largely a niche audience. And, author's appreciation for BGen Sullivan, who laid his career on the line for the crew dogs and FUBAR tactics, is admirable. Further, the Linebacker II kefuffles onlined here, made me relate to the 1991-2 USAF reorganization when CSAF McPeak, AND Jack Chain, CINCSAC, both career fighter pilots, made SAC disappear--after a 20 year wait. As a -135 navigator, I always subscribed to the "sister in a...than a brother in a BUFF" theory. However, this book brought back memories and gave me greater appreciation for those who flew in the hole on the big ugly... . Hat's off!

[Focker D · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best Vietnam era aviation memoirs/histories I have read. The author expertly
shifts between tactical level detail and strategic level context, and sprinkles in a great deal of funny anecdotes along the way. The result is a great mini-history of the BUFF and a great window into what it was like to be a BUFF black-holer in SAC during ARC LIGHT and into LB-I and II.

[Edward B · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is hard to believe a man who pulled a single 4-year tour of duty in th Air Force, could write a book with such detail and accuracy. But by many accounts, it is accurate.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and learned a lot in the process.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because my children were taught in elementary school by someone from the Black Hole... Mr. Duff H. I have a greater appreciation of his 1st career & military service.

I also enjoyed learning more about the evolution of technology through the '50s-'60s.

[Yong · Rating 3 out of 5]

i didn’t expect much but turned out to be an engaging narrative of flying in a bomber as a crewman.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reader-friendly history of aerial bombardment, with the emphasis on the Arclight and Linebacker campaigns of the Vietnam War. The real heroes are the navigators and bombardiers, who flew in a tiny windowless compartment; hence the title. A lot about the conditions in the air and on the ground from a veteran of the campaigns. Worth reading.

[Kashayar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aside from a few spelling and grammatical errors, this is an excellent book. Could not put it down and it was a page turner. A great book.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unique view of the Vietnam war. Hard to believe that the USAF ended up using its premier strategic bomber as a ground support weapon.