Jetrader - Summer 2018 - 51

was needed to correct the Dutch-roll characteristics of the swept wing. Without the
yaw-damper, accurate bombing would have
been impossible.

The Also-Rans
Of the four new bombers selected to
go ahead to the prototype competition,
all made their first flights in 1947. First
into the air was the North American XB-45
in March, and last was the Boeing XB-47
in November.
In January 1947, even before the prototype flew, the Air Force chose the XB-45
to immediately go into production with
a contract to deliver an initial batch of
190. Later, as development of the B-47
appeared, the production of B-45s was cut
back. Only 142 would be built, including
33 equipped for reconnaissance missions,
mostly over Korea.
Convair's XB-46 was a beautifully sleek
design, but its good looks were not enough
to avoid being eclipsed by the swept-wing
B-47. The program was canceled in August
1947 even before the flight testing was finished and even before the B-47 had flown.
Only one XB-46 was completed, and was
used for stability and control flight testing. Eventually the airframe was scrapped,
with only the nose section being sent to
the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson
Air Force base.
Martin's XB-48 was also a disappointment. The program ran behind schedule and
the two prototypes missed the guaranteed
speed by more than 50 mph in flight tests.
Once the preliminary flight test results
were compared to the Boeing B-47, it was
also canceled.

the slender 35-degree wing sweep and the
podded engines under their wings.

Where Are They Now?
The two XB-47 prototypes spent much of
their time at Edwards Air Force Base, and
were among the many aircraft test-flown by
Chuck Yeager. In fact, Chuck logged more
time in the B-47 than any other test pilot
at Edwards. The first prototype (46-065)
was scrapped there in 1954.
The second XB-47 prototype (46-066)
was restored and displayed at the Octave

A321P2F

A330-300P2F

Chanute Aerospace Museum in Rantoul,
Illinois - whose doors, sadly, were closed
in 2015. The aircraft was sold in 2017 to
the Flight Test Museum at Edwards Air Force
Base to be reassembled and restored for
display there.
Donated by Boeing in 1972 to the
Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, but
not restored and delivered out of the Air
Force's desert boneyard in Tucson until
2003, the Dash 80 is now in the Museum's
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Washington
Dulles Airport.

A330-200P2F

A320P2F

WE ARE
FAMILY!

The Airbus Freighter Conversion

The B-47's Legacy
While the B-47 was a medium-range
bomber, the lessons learned gave Boeing
a leg up to compete for, and win, the program for a new long-range bomber that was
to become the B-52. It featured the same
35-degree wing sweep, podded engines
under the wings, bicycle landing gear, and
drogue parachute for landing. Ultimately
744 B-52s were manufactured.
The B-47's second legacy sprang from
Boeing's decision to build the famous
367-80 (the Dash 80) commercial jet transport prototype, from which the KC-135
tanker for the Air Force, and the Boeing 707
passenger airliner were born, again with

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