| Date: 5 August 1965 |
| Aircraft type: RB-57E Canberrar |
| Serial Number: 55-4243 |
| Military Unit: Detachment 1, 6250 CSG |
| Service: USAF |
| Home Base: Tan Son Nhut |
| Name(s): |
| Capt Richard E Damon (Survived) |
| Capt Richard C Crist (Survived) |
| Although the B-57s of the 8th and 13th TBSs were the first offensive jet aircraft to be based in South Vietnam, they had been preceded by over a year by another B-57 unit. On 6 May 1963 two specially-modified RB-57Es arrived at Tan Son Nhut and flew their first mission the next day. The aircraft were equipped with a total of five cameras added to which was a highly secret infra-red scanner, the first of its type to be used in the conflict. Tasked with photographic and infra-red reconnaissance, the RB-57Es roamed throughout Southeast Asia using their special radio call sign ‘Moonglow’. Many of the unit’s missions were flown over the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos, usually at night and often in co-operation with a C-130 flareship and a B-57 strike aircraft. The Patricia Lynn Project was only intended to last a matter of months to evaluate the new sensor, but the aircraft remained in Vietnam for eight years, the longest deployment of any aircraft or unit of the entire war. The unit became known as Detachment 1 of the 33rd TG and received two more aircraft in December 1964. On 8 July the unit became attached to the 6250th CSG and almost a month later it lost its first aircraft. RB-57E 55-4243 had flown the very first Patricia Lynn sortie in May 1963 and was hit by small arms fire during a night infra-red mission over South Vietnam on the 5th. Capt Damon turned towards Tan Son Nhut and almost made it there safely but the aircraft caught fire and both crew ejected a mile and a half short of the runway. |
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