THE BOEING B-47 STRATOJET

Autorevole e completa storia del B-47 Stratojet, dai primi progetti, allo sviluppo, le modifiche, le varianti, attraverso i suoi molteplici ruoli ed impieghi, con dati di ognuno dei 2.200 aerei costruiti e di tutte le perdite subite.

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The B-47 was the aircraft upon which Strategic Air Command (SAC) based its capability pending the development and delivery of the B-52. First proposed during the Second World War as a high-speed piston-powered reconnaissance platform, the B-47 evolved into what would become the first swept-wing, medium jet bomber and SAC’s most numerous operational aircraft. Given its pioneering role as a jet bomber and the ongoing evolution of SAC’s mission and US national security, the B-47 had more than its share of teething problems. Initial Boeing flight tests mixed triumph with tragedy, and demonstrated that an entirely new way of flying a large aircraft was required. Poor reliability in the bombing-navigation and fire-control systems undermined the effectiveness of early B-47Bs but were eventually overcome as the aircraft evolved to fill many different roles. Used as reconnaissance, weather, testbed and radio relay platforms, one variant, the EB-47E BLUE CRADLE, also demonstrated its versatility as an electronic warfare jammer whilst the RB-47H, ERB-47H, and EB-47E(TT) undertook electronic intelligence and gathered telemetry associated with the Soviet ICBM program. Authors Mike Habermehl and former SAC pilot Robert S Hopkins III have combined years of research and experience to provide the ultimate history of the Stratojet.

• The ultimate history of the B-47

• Includes individual data on each of the 2,200 aircraft built

• Detailed summaries of all losses