Boeing B-47 Stratojet Strategic Bomber | Rare Original Documentary | Upscaled Footage

A rare Boeing B-47 Stratojet documentary and upscaled footage detailing the B-47 program.
The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft. The primary mission of the B-47 was as a nuclear bomber capable of striking targets within the Soviet Union.

Development of the B-47 can be traced back to a requirement expressed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in 1943 for a reconnaissance bomber that harnessed newly developed jet propulsion. Another key innovation adopted during the development process was the swept wing, drawing upon captured German research. With its engines carried in nacelles underneath the wing, the B-47 represented a major innovation in post-World War II combat jet design, and contributed to the development of modern jet airliners. Suitably impressed, in April 1946, the USAAF ordered two prototypes, designated "XB-47"; on 17 December 1947, the first prototype performed its maiden flight. Facing off competition such as the North American XB-45, Convair XB-46 and Martin XB-48, a formal contract for 10 B-47A bombers was signed on 3 September 1948. This would be soon followed by much larger contracts.

During 1951, the B-47 entered operational service with the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command (SAC), becoming a mainstay of its bomber strength by the late 1950s. Over 2,000 were manufactured to meet the Air Force's demands, driven by the tensions of the Cold War. The B-47 was in service as a strategic bomber until 1965, at which point it had largely been supplanted by more capable aircraft, such as the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. The B-47 was also adapted to perform a number of other roles and functions, including photographic reconnaissance, electronic intelligence, and weather reconnaissance. While never seeing combat as a bomber, reconnaissance RB-47s would occasionally come under fire near or within Soviet air space. The type remained in service as a reconnaissance aircraft until 1969. A few served as flying testbeds up until 1977.

The B-47 arose from an informal 1943 requirement for a jet-powered reconnaissance bomber, drawn up by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) to prompt manufacturers to start research into jet bombers. Boeing was among several companies to respond to the request; one of its designs, the Model 424, was basically a scaled-down version of the piston-engined B-29 Superfortress equipped with four jet engines. In 1944, this initial concept evolved into a formal request-for-proposal to design a new bomber with a maximum speed of 550 mph (480 kn; 890 km/h), a cruise speed of 450 mph (390 kn; 720 km/h), a range of 3,500 mi (3,000 nmi; 5,600 km), and a service ceiling of 45,000 ft (13,700 m).

In December 1944, North American Aviation, Convair, Boeing, and the Glenn Martin Company submitted proposals for the new long-range jet bomber. Wind tunnel testing had shown that the drag from the engine installation of the Model 424 was too high, so Boeing's entry was a revised design, the Model 432, with the four engines buried in the forward fuselage.

In May 1945, the von Kármán mission of the Army Air Forces inspected the secret German aeronautics laboratory near Braunschweig.
General characteristics

Crew: 3
Length: 107 ft 1 in (32.64 m)
Wingspan: 116 ft 0 in (35.36 m)
Height: 28 ft 0 in (8.53 m)
Wing area: 1,428 sq ft (132.7 m2)
Aspect ratio: 9.42
Airfoil: NACA 64A(.225)12 mod (BAC145)
Empty weight: 80,000 lb (36,287 kg)
Gross weight: 133,030 lb (60,341 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 221,000 lb (100,244 kg)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0148 (estimated)
zero-lift drag coefficient area: 21.13 ft2 (1.96 m2)
Powerplant: 6 × General Electric J47-GE-25 turbojet engines, 7,200 lbf (32 kN) thrust each
Performance

Maximum speed: 607 mph (977 km/h, 527 kn)
Cruise speed: 557 mph (896 km/h, 484 kn)
Combat range: 2,013 mi (3,240 km, 1,749 nmi) with 20,000 lb (9,100 kg) bombload
Ferry range: 4,647 mi (7,479 km, 4,038 nmi) with underwing tanks
Service ceiling: 40,500 ft (12,300 m)
Rate of climb: 4,660 ft/min (23.7 m/s)
Wing loading: 93.16 lb/sq ft (454.8 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.22
Armament
Guns: 2 × 20 mm (0.787 in) M24A1 autocannon in a remote-controlled tail turret with
Bombs: 25,000 lb (11,340 kg) of ordnance, including:
2 × Mk15 nuclear bombs (3.8 megaton yield each), or
4 × B28 nuclear bombs (1.1–1.45 megaton yield each), or
1 × B41 nuclear bomb (25 megaton yield), or
1 × B53 nuclear bomb (9 megaton yield), or
28 × 500 lb (227 kg) conventional bombs

#b47 #stratojet #aircraft

[DoubleMrE]

It has always amazed me how modern looking the plane was for a 1947 design..

[gort]

Another interesting fact about the use of JATO by the B-47. Boeing and the Air Force knew the airplane was going be sluggish on takeoff due to limited thrust from its engines. The six engines had sufficient thrust to drive the low-drag airplane to high speeds, but they knew it would have trouble accelerating for takeoff. They did consider adding two more engines to provide needed takeoff thrust, but once airborne the extra weight of those engines and the additional fuel they used would reduce the jet’s range, which was already marginal. This is why JATO was the better solution for heavyweight takeoffs. Once the horse collar was jettisoned the airplane did not suffer a weight penalty, or an efficiency penalty by having more engines than necessary for inflight performance. JATO bottles went away for later airplanes as more powerful jet engines allowed for higher unassisted takeoff weights.

[nohandle]

These guys used to practice touch and go landings late at night from Forbes AFB in Topeka back in the 50s. We lived under the incoming flight path. Must have been tough in the take off path.

[lancejohnson]

The second prototype was NOT PURCHASED for the museum at Edwards. It was, and remains property of the USAF. It is just on loan. The fundraising was to move it from here to Edwards. And good thing, too. It would have self-disassembled from corrosion due to weather and pigeon droppings, a common issue with all the Chanute aircraft before they mercifully pulled the plug on the museum. Heartbreaking, but inevitable..

[chrisbremner]

A brilliant leap forward and a very handsome plane, but an absolute death trap, there is a movie out there about one whose crew abandoned one because of mechanical failure with one crew member left on board .

[christonefeltzs]

In the movie strategic air command starring, Jimmy Stewart shows the B-47 being used by the movie star, also the B-36 actually that’s pretty much what the movies about. As he re-entered the Air Force after World War II was over. And those two airplanes is what he was asked to command.

[timarnold]

My dad flew the B-47E for the 372nd BS, 307th BW at Lincoln Air Force Base, Nebraska from 1957 to 1961.

[jamesgardiner-gp]

B 47 was used by AVRO Canada as test bed for the new engine for CF 105 This engine was attached at the rear on right side

[Thunder_]

B-47 was just a stopgap plane. Just a few years later the B-58& B-52 filled these roles. All 1st gen. jets were tough to fly.

[JustMe]

The increased drag required for descent was less due to the airfoil being clean than to the engines high idle power due to the primitive techno6og early jet engines.

[Everythingallthetime]

3970 pounds of thrust.... thats what she said!

[dukeford]

It would have been a much better (and safer) aircraft with an airline-style flight deck with side-by-side seating and a 4th crewman.

[Flyingscotsman]

Just bad to the bone 🍖 awesome machine, the US military has always pushed the boundaries got to give them that.Britains descisions to join the european common market killed everything stone dead, yet a few years earlier in the 60s we pushed the boundaries beautiful jets and cars and the music was fab 😂.

[carolscott]

It sure isn't the same company Scott

[oculusangelicus]

That last video was most certainly a propaganda film. The B-47 was a death trap that had a tendency to kill its pilots and crew. because of the poor level of Technology of the time, Pilots were forced to babysit the plane at all times, creating Pilot fatigue like no other aircraft could. and because of the design, and the style of landing gear, and the very easy way a pilot could lose control of the plane if the landing wasn't textbook every time, the pilot would lose control and crash. almost universally crashes were on landings. The Military back then would, instead of recognizing the aircraft as far too finicky, they would simply blame the Pilots for the crash, and do very little about it. When they finally switched over to the B-52, they had realized the design of the aircraft demanded far too much from its pilots. Very similarly demanding aircraft was the F-104 Starfighter. Sure, it was fast, but its speed and very small wings needed pilots capable of maintaining high levels of concentration for the duration of the flight, regardless of how long it might have been. There were so many crashes in the Starfighter too. Gladly the military finally demanded aircraft that were easy for the pilots to control and didn't need a lot babysitting.

[billotto]

WTF HAPPENED TO BOEING ? THEY'VE FALLEN TO A WANNABE HAS BEEN COMPANY !

[brannancloward]

I can see what caused all the global warming....