1957 photo shows massive flight line dominated by
newly-arrived B-52 bombers
This shot  shows the sprawling base that includes the ellipse in top left, and the base gym to the right (pictured above the fire
station).  Although the fire department has moved closer to the flight line, and many of the buildings in this photo are gone, the
base gym is still in existence today at Westover Air Reserve Base. (Photo from the 1969 base guide by Boone Publications)
This aerial photo, taken April 15,
1957, clearly shows just how big
the base was in those busy SAC
days. Bill Sheehan, a friend of
mine from the Galaxy
Community Council, kindly gave
me this valuable photo.

B-52 Stratofortresses - most
brand new from the Boeing
factory - line the parking ramps.
Forty-five C and D models of the
Stratofortress began arriving at
Westover in December 1956.
Other bombers are parked in
maintenance hangars.

Also note the two B-47 Stratojets
parked among the B-52s (one
parked by the fuel cell hangar;
the other among the row of
BUFFs closest to the hangars).
B-47s periodically transited the
base during  training missions.

Just four months after this photo
was taken, 20 brand new
KC-135 Stratotankers began
arriving at the base. There was
so much "iron on the ramp" that
20 KC-97s assigned to the 26h
Air Refueling Squadron,
relocated from Westover to
Plattsburgh AFB, N.Y, in August
1957.

Also visible in this historic photo
are the base ellipse (the large
oval in the center of the photo),
and what appears to be a
twin-engine airplane taxiing on
the B-52s' side of the nosedocks
closest to the main runway. The
aircraft could be a T-29 or a
C-131 Samaritan; the latter was
used as a utility transport by 8th
Air Force.
... And another bird's eye view, taken in 1979
This excellent photo taken of Westover in 1979 shows in clear detail the mark that SAC left just five years after the last active-duty aircraft departed.  This was before a
large portion of the former active-duty buildings were torn down; you can see them to the right of the base supply building (look in the center of the photo, where a large
taxiway runs from the runway, and past the nosedocks to the left).  The nosedocks in the upper-right corner, once used for C-124s and KC-135s were also torn down in
the late-1980s to make room for the 16 C-5s that were assigned to the base beginning in October 1987.  (from Patriot newsletter archives)

                                                                                                                                                       
NOT SURE WHEN - Here's a neat aerial shot sent to me from Westover friend Steve Perreault. Note the "pre-SAC" look to the airfield. Runway 5/23 is not
yet constructed.  This has to be from the late 1940s or early '50s. The parking apron has yet to be expanded, and the only hangars visible are the ones
along the original flight line (the Base Hangar, and #3, 5, 7, and #9).
Late 1940s? Early '50s?
99th Bomb Wing
B-52s
Transiting
B-47
KC-97s
w/4050th Air
Refueling
Wing
More
KC-97s
C-124
Globemasters
(left)
Base
Ellipse
"Christmas
Tree" alert pad
Former alert
hangars for
F-104,
F-102, and
F-86 fighters
Runway 5
B-52 nosedocks
KC-135 nosedocks
Fighter
flight line
B-52 nosedocks
South Ramp
North
Ramp
Old
Runway
01/19
(photo provided courtesy of Bill Sheehan)
(photo from the Westover Patriot newsletter)
Old Runway
06/24
Generals
Row
housing
(to right)