The pilots at Turner Field were preparing to go home. Most of them lived in Turner Field Apartments adjacent to the Field. One of their fellow pilots, Richard Nunnelley (one of the two chosen as test pilots for this plane) was still in the air in his F-84 F.
In memory of 2nd Lt. Robert Paul Manifold, age 26 of Noblesville, Indiana whose F-84 collided mid air 10 miles west of Albany off the Dawson Road.
January 13, 1964
A B-52 based at Turner Field, Albany, Georgia was returning from a trip starting in Albany on January 11, 1964 as part of the "Chrome Dome" mission, a Cold War defensive concept requiring our B-52 bombers be in the air almost constantly. The flight pattern this time was designated Buzz One Four. Starting in Albany, they flew out over the Atlantic. Engine and mechanical trouble required a stop at Moron Air Base in Spain and again at Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts. A part of the 484th Bomb Wing, the plane was needed back at Turner to be plugged into the Chrome Dome schedule. A flight crew from Turner was sent to Massachusetts to relieve the exhausted crew and to fly the plane back to Turner.
(From the Washington Post Magazine)
By David Wood
Note: The author of the following article, a national security correspondent for Newhouse News Service, wishes to know if anyone reading this has any direct information or knowledge or recollection about this particular aircraft or its crew. If so, please contact David Wood via email at
In the middle of the cold War, in six minutes in a storm-racked sky over western Maryland, five airmen discovered what senior Air Force officials already knew. Their B-52 had a critical weakness.