Originally Posted by FLAPHappy

Yes hound Dog, we had Quite a Ride back then, 1963,64, Those babies thundered down the runway , flaps down and locked, then the fun began, turn on the water, what smoke (Black) you could see from maybe 10 miles away when they launched.
In that time the B-52d carried 275000 LBS of fuel, 180000 lbs of water, that was the EWO load, (Emergency War Order) when we were on Alert Status. Which means the Aircraft is fully loaded with Necuelar Bombs, rockets chaff and Ammo for the Tail Gunner, 50 ca. and 20mm guns. It way awesome to watch them after launch. Learned a lot in those days. I don't remember the dash number of those J-57's just remember the J-57. On alert we used shotgun starters, canisters of propellent about 12"" round, light them off on #2 engine, which would start the start sequence of those engines, created turnover of that engine, which supplied hydraulics , phenumatics, and fuel to the other 7 engines , what a trip, even for the Pilots.