The Boeing Bomarc was a surface-to-air missile. The Bomarc became an operational missile in about 1957, but when I went to Grand Bahama in 1958 there were still frequent Bomarc launches. Some were testing new developments and others were training missions.
Since the Bomarc’s purpose was to shoot down an airplane, the target was a drone B-17. A manned B-17 was also flown a little distance from the drone to control the drone. The Bomarc was programmed for a near miss of the drone. Cameras on the drone recorded the miss and they could calculate how close the Bomarc came to the programmed miss by viewing the film. There were one or two drones that were hit instead of near misses and went down near GBI.
The Bomarc would climb to a high altitude, fly to the area near the target drone airplane and dive at the plane. Now and then, the near miss was not a miss and the drone would go down. Two or three drone B-17s went down near Grand Bahama.
When any missile launch was scheduled, all flights through our area were supposed to be prohibited. If the launch was a Bomarc and the Bomarc selected a civilian airplane for a target, it would really create problems. No one wanted a Bomarc diving on a civilian airplane, even with a near miss. If a Bomarc dove past a civilian airplane, the people in the plane would probably need a change of clothes.
When I took Billie and kids to Grand Bahama, I had hired a friend and his twin Beech to fly us in. We left West Palm Beach and flew very low over the ocean toward the island. I asked my friend why we were flying so low. He told me there was a missile launch and flights were restricted. We were flying below the radar.
I immediately thought of the Bomarc launches and asked what kind of launch. He did not know because he did not work for the range. I just prayed it was not a Bomarc that might select us for a target. It was not a Bomarc. This pilot lived on Grand Bahama and had flown in and out under the radar many times.
Copyright © Jerry Blackerby 2009