Boeing B-47 Stratojet Bomber (2024)

B-47 Concept and Design

B-47 Menu

Deployment

Scrapping

The Boeing B-47 Stratojet was the first swept wing jet bomber and the first to be designed to carry nuclear weapons. The design of the B-47 relied on swept wing data captured from Germany after World War II.

Boeing engineers had envisioned a jet-powered plane as early as 1943. However, wind-tunnel tests of straight-wing jet aircraft indicated that the straight wing did not use the full potential of jet-engine power.

This medium bomber featured six jet engines, allowing it to fly at high subsonic speeds and at high altitudes. The B-47 needed defensive armament only in the rear because no fighter was fast enough to attack from any other angle. The first XB-47 rolled off the assembly line in September of 1947. The Stratojet entered service in 1951.

Because early jet engines could not provide enough thrust for takeoff, the XB-47, B-47A, and B-47B had 18 small rocket units in the fuselage for jet-assisted takeoff (JATO).

A ribbon-type drag parachute and anti-skid brakes reduced the B-47 landing speed.

Technical Specifications

Boeing XB-47 Stratojet

B-47 Stratojet Production Recap by Model Number

A total of 2,042 B-47s were built, forming the backbone of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) in the mid 1950s. Boeing built most of the B-47s, but others were assembled by the Douglas Aircraft Co. and the Lockheed Aircraft Corp. Shown below is a recap of B-47 production by model number.

B-47 Stratojets at the Boeing plant in Wichita

Model	No. Built
XB-47	2
B-47A	10
B-47B	399
B-47E	1,341
RB-47E	240
RB-47H	32
ERB-47H	3
RB-47K	15
Total	2,042

Photographs of the B-47 Stratojet Assembly Line

Boeing's B-47 Stratojet assembly line

Stratojet wing assembly

Boeing's B-47 Stratojet assembly line

Completed B-47 bombers outside the Boeing assembly plant in Wichita, Kansas

B-47 Stratojet Deployment by the U.S. Air Force

Boeing B-47 shown at Pine Castle Air Force Base, Orlando, Florida

The B-47, along with the B-52 Stratofortress, replaced the piston powered Convair B-36 in the SAC fleet.

The B-47A entered service in May of 1951 with the 306th Bombardment Wing (Medium) based at MacDill AFB in Florida. The 306th was intended to act as a training outfit to prepare future B-47 crews.

At its peak use in 1958, the USAF operated 28 B-47 bomb wings and four RB-47 reconnaissance wings, totaling 1,357 B-47s and 175 RB-47s. Several versions were high altitude reconnaissance aircraft and many were used for electronic reconnaissance.

The USAF phased out its last B-47 bombers in 1965, and the USAF retired its last Stratojet, a WB-47E, in 1969.

Boeing WB-47 Stratojet S/N 12115

U.S. Air Force B-47 in flight

B-47 Stratojet S/N 12225 at MacDill Air Force Base in the 1950s

U.S. Air Force B-47 Stratojets on the apron at MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa Florida

Boeing RB-47E, with B-47E in the background, in flight ... world's fastest day-or-night long-range bomber

The End of Service for the Boeing B-47 Stratojet

In mid-1960, B-47s began arriving at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona,for storage and ultimate scrapping.

Final phaseout of B-47 bomber wings began in 1963. In October of 1965, the Air Force initiated Project Fast Fly to coordinate the inactivation of the last five B-47 wings and supporting tanker squadrons. The last B-47 bomber variants were removed from service with SAC by 1966.

The last USAF operational aircraft, WB-47Es assigned to the Air Weather Service, were withdrawn in September 1969.

By the end of June of 1966, over 1,000 B-47s were in storage at the base. Hundreds of B-47s still remained in storage at Davis-Monthan in 1967 parked neatly in rows (see photo below).

The last flight of a B-47 occurred in June of 1986, when a B-47E S/N 52-0166 was flown from the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake to the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California.

Davis-Monthan AFB's AMARG facility

Aerial view of rows of Boeing B-47 Stratojets at Davis-Monthan AFB waiting to be scrapped in January, 1967

This photo shows stacks of ingots from scrapped Boeing B-47 Stratojets at Davis-Monthan AFB in April, 1962. B-47B S/N 51-2284 rests in the background, awaiting its turn at the smelter, with 51-2321 seen in the left of photo. (USAF Photo)

Boeing B-47 Stratojet Surviving Aircraft

Of the more than 2,000 aircraft built for the Stratojet fleet, a total of only 21 B-47 aircraft have survived, been restored, and placed on display in locations across the United States. One additional B-47 is awaiting restoration at the Air Force Flight Test Museum, EdwardsAFB, California.

Included below is a list of surviving B-47 Stratojets, with model numbers, serial numbers and location.

S/N	Model	Location	Photo
53-2135	EB-47E	Pima Air and Space Museum, located next to Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona
52-0166	B-47E	Castle Air Museum next to the site of the former Castle AFB, Atwater, CA
53-2275	B-47E	March Field Air Museum March ARB, Riverside, CA
53-2104	B-47E	Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum, Pueblo, Colorado
53-2276	B-47E	Global Power Museum Barksdale AFB, Bossier City, LA
53-4299	RB-47H	National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH
53-4257	RB-47E	Charles B. Hall Airpark Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, OK
51-2360	WB-47E	Hill Aerospace Museum Hill AFB, Ogden, Utah
53-4296	RB-47H	USAF Armament Museum Eglin AFB, Fort Walton, FL
51-7066	WB-47E	Museum of Flight's Aviation Pavillion Seattle, Washington
51-2187	B-47E	Kansas Aviation Museum, Wichita, KS
51-2315	B-47B	Grissom Air Museum, Peru, IN
52-1412	B-47E	Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum, Ashland, NE
53-4213	B-47E	McConnell AFB, Wichita, KS
51-2120	B-47B	Whiteman AFB, Knob Noster, MO No public access - check with the base
53-2280	B-47E	National Museum of Nuclear History Albuquerque, NM
50-0062	B-47B	Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, Savannah, GA
51-7071	B-47E	Hightower Park, Altus, OK
52-0412	EB-47E	Dyess AFB Linear Airpark, Abilene, TX No public access - check with the base
52-0595	B-47E	Little Rock AFB, Jacksonville, AR
53-2385	B-47E	Clyde Lewis Park, Plattsburgh, NY
46-066	XB-47	Waiting restoration at the Air Force Flight Test Museum, Edwards AFB, CA No public access - check with Edwards AFB

B-47 at the Pima Air and Space Museum

Boeing EB-47E Stratojet, S/N 53-2135, at the Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona

Boeing EB-47E Stratojet of the Strategic Air Command

B-47 at the Castle Air Museum

Boeing B-47E Stratojet, S/N 52-0166, at the Castle Air Museum
On June 16, 1986, this aircraft made the last flight ever of a B-47, flying from the China Lake facility to Castle AFB for placement in the airpark

Boeing B-47 Stratojet 0166

B-47 at the Museum of of the United States Air Force

Boeing RB-47H, S/N 34299, on display at the Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio

B-47 at the Museum of Flight in Seattle

Boeing WB-47E Stratojet S/N 51-7066on display at the Museum of Flight, Seattle, Washington

U.S. Air Force WB-47E Stratojet

B-47 at the Hill Aerospace Museum

Boeing WB-47E Stratojet S/N 51-2360 at Hill AFB in Ogden, Utah

B-47 at the Pueblo Weisbrod Aerospace Museum

Boeing B-47 Stratojet 32104 at the Pueblo Weisbrod Aerospace Museum in Pueblo, Colorado

Boeing B-47 Stratojet in Pueblo, Colorado

Tail section of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet S/N 32104

B-47 at the Air Force Armament Museum at Eglin AFB

RB-47H Stratojet 53-4296 at the Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin AFB, Florida

B-47 at the Charles B. Hall Airpark at Tinker AFB

Boeing RB-47E Stratojet S/N 53-4257 at the Charles B. Hall Airpark
located at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

B-47E at the Barksdale AFB Global Power Museum

Boeing B-47E Stratojet, S/N 53-2276, at the Barksdale AFB Global Power Museum in Bossier City, Louisiana

B-47 at the March Field Air Museum

B-47 Stratojet, S/N 2275, on display at the March Field Air Museum in California

B-47 at the Strategic Air Command and Space Museum

USAF Boeing B-47E Stratojet S/N 52-1412 at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland, NE

U.S. Air Force B-47E Stratojet, S/N 52-1412, at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum

B-47 at the Grissom Air Museum

B-47 Stratojet, S/N 51-2315, on display at the Grissom Air Museum in Peru, Indiana (Photo courtesy of Douglas Clark)

More B-47 Photos

B-47 Stratojet, City of Lincoln (Photo by Lt Col Frank J. Puerta)

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