Nov 122009
Three panoramic shots (scaled down to 20% of the originals) of the B-47 on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum. Click on the links after each dinkysized version to get the larger panoramas.
4 Responses to “B-47 at Hill AFB”
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A curiously elegant design, long obsolete or not.
Jim
Yeah, she really was a attractive aircraft design.
The scene of one taking off with full JATO boost in the movie “Stratigic Air Command” is really something to see.
The Soviets kept their equivalent, the Tu-16 “Badger”, in service forever, and with a beefed-up wing structure and new engines it would have been interesting to see what a advanced B-47 could have done… but SAC went B-52 mad, and the B-47 went bye-bye pretty darn fast.
Had to link to this photo of a B-47 doing a JATO takeoff (there are 33 JATO bottles firing down there in a big expendable rack) as its engines apparently burn crude oil:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boeing_B-47B_rocket-assisted_take_off_on_April_15,_1954_061024-F-1234S-011.jpg
Ah, the early days of jets!
The B-47 was supposed to be a ‘stop-gap’ measure to get a jet bomber up and running as soon as possible. It was designed as a “medium” so as to be easier to produce and faster to get into service. SAC (or those in charge actually :o) had no real interest in “small” bombers such as the B-47, they wanted the B-52 ASAP and a “supersonic” heavy bomber the day before that!
“Strategic” bombing called for multiple nuclear weapons from large aircraft, the application of the ‘lessons-learned’ from the massive WWII bombing campaigns. (The Air Force of course is STILL arguing various “lessons-learned from WWII… And WWI, the Civil War… Occassionally a few of the more ‘modern’ conflicts I suppose… :o)
Neither the B-47 nor the B-58 were considered “real” bombers by SAC despite the various ‘hype’ over them while in service, and truth be told the idea of a specific aircraft for the “medium” bomber role was an anachronism. It’s something that can only happen during a major shift in technology where an older “standard” concept is pushed into a new use with new technology while doctrine and uses are still fluid and subject to change.
Jet aircraft speeds and nuclear weapons ability to exceed the damage of thousand aircraft formations from WWII was exactly such a change and the B-47, B-66 and other ‘transitional’ aircraft were the result.
Randy