At the time of this article the Boeing B-47 Stratojet was Strategic Air Command’s most important bomber. While we can say with hindsight the rumoured force of 5,000 aircraft never materialised there was still an impressive 2,032 examples built. It was also revolutionary with its swept wings and podded engines. Indeed, Boeing has stated: “It represented a milestone in aviation history and a revolution in aircraft design. Every large jet aircraft today is a descendant of the B-47.” There were also reconnaissance variants and some B-47s were modified to gather information on weather. Despite the innovations, the bomber B-47s only served for 15 years having been superceded by the legendary B-52 Stratofortress.
Here’s a review of the B-47 from 1951…
THERE IS NOW no longer the slightest question that the United States Air Force has placed the Boeing B-47 Stratojet at the solid core of its future offensive aerial arsenal. Rumors of the size of the current production program range up to 5,000 airplanes, or enough for more than 100 Bomb Groups. Ultimate cost of such a monstrous production program is estimated as high as 15 billion U.S. dollars, spread out, of course, over a five-year period. This makes the B-47 program easily the larg…
