Started my 70 years as a aircraft mechanic on the B-47 in 1953 at March AFB as crew chief with 441st Bomb squadron

Beautiful plane. you can sure see where the B-52 came from here. Looks so much like it's little brother.

I flew the B-47 in the early 60's. Although I have flown over 1600 hours in it, I did not enjoy it. It was very heavy on the controls and I felt I had to "manhandle" it. It was under powered. If the throttles were at idle, it took 9 seconds before you could be at 100% power; therefore, it had an approach chute you would deploy to increase drag. This allowed you to keep your throttle settings at about 90% while you were in the landing pattern. In it's day, it was a "hot" airplane.

I was a ground crew member on the RB-47H which was a B-47 changed over to a reconnaissance Plane. 28 of them were stationed at Forbes Air Force base in Topeka, Kansas. I served from 1962 to 1966. I was one of the few that were left at the base when it was closed down. Most of the planes went to the bone yard, but a few went to different museums. In 2005 I took my grandson to the Air Force museum at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. To my surprise the plane I worked on was on display there. These 28 planes did see service. This was the beginning of the Vietnam War and my plane would fly one mission a week. It would fly to England, refuel in air then go to Vietnam and take radar photos of the terrain then on the way back to England would fly just as close to the Soviet Union as it could then refuel in air again and return to Topeka. When it took the radar photos these were not actual photos, but a radar photo of the land. So if a bunch of trees had moved from one place to another, they were not trees but missiles. When flying near the Soviet Union they did not take radar photos but they tried to find out how good their defense was. To do this checking of the Soviets defense system, there were another 3 to 4 more crew members. I felt sorry for them since they were in a pod inserted in the bomb bay area. There was a hatch that they climbed into from the bottom of the plane. After they were in and just before taxing to take off we would close that opening up. If the flight crew had to eject there was no way for these men to escape except for a 40 foot long tunnel from the bomb bay to the cockpit. Their chances of survival were not good. My plane never got hit with fire but others did. Then it would fly back to England, refuel in air then fly back to Topeka. That was 36 hours straight in the air for the crew. The crew consisted of Pilot, Co-pilot who also was the gunner and the Navigator who sat in front on a lower level of the other two. If they had to eject, the pilot and co-pilot were ejected up. However the Navigator was ejected down and had to be ejected fast enough to clear the rest of the plane. One day as I was cleaning the cock pit the navigator forgot to put the safety pin in the trigger that bottomed the seat just before the he pulled the trigger to eject. Well I accidentally pulled that trigger and I went down about 5 inches very fast. Let me tell you I got out of that cock pit and on the ground faster as I ever did before. Generally it would take us 4 days to get it ready to fly again. I really enjoyed my time in the Air Force working on these great planes. I use to think I did not do much in the service but as I got older I realized that my job and these planes did a great service towards the war. Additional note about the Co-Pilot as the gunman. His seat would turn around and there he could shoot and control the two 20MM cannons on the tail of the aircraft. You have to remember that back then these planes could fly higher and faster than any other fighter. So they did not need very much self defense built into them.

I remember the B-47 well; I grew up in Wichita, KS. From the fifties into the sixties the roar of jet engines rumbled over the city, high power tests nearly 24-7. We got used to the jet noise the only time we noticed it was on holidays when the jets weren't turning; we noted the quietness that prevailed. Boeing transitioned the plant to B-52 production in the mid fifties and for a period of time both B-47s and B-52s were built in Wichita. The majority of the B-47s and B-52s were built in Wichita. I witnessed one B-47 blow up after takeoff watching it climb out from McConnell AFB, it was heading north. I was watching from our bathroom window while getting ready for school. That was in 1956. My parents owned a vacant 1 acre lot at 37th and Oliver North; part of that aircraft came to rest there. My parents never built a house on that lot as they had originally planned. Nine years later I watched a KC-135 go down in 1965. That 135 was TDY from Vance AFB, OK. assisting Boeing with refueling system modifications on the B-52. It was turning to the left returning back toward the base and was heading southeast when it appeared to stall in around a 45 degree bank rolled further left and pitched down. I later flew DC-8s and B-727s so I have pretty good concept of what I saw. There were no survivors in either of these crashes 17 people died on the ground when the 135 crashed. The B-47 was one of the prettiest jets built and its design was derived partially from the ME262 and the design lead to the B-52, KC-135, Model 367-80 aka 707 and all future Boeing successful aircraft designs that followed.

My dad flew this aircraft for about ten years, and he had flown the B-17, B-29, and B-50 before that. He was eventually made an instructor pilot in the B-47 and was involved in the "analog" Flight Simulator of the early 60's, and even as Flying Safety Officer at McConnell Air Force Base, Wichita, Kansas. He loved the B-47 as much as many Italians love the Ferrari automobiles.

I started my career in the aircraft business on the B-47 in the mid fifties. I was in a crew that removed and replaced the fuel cells and later on worked as an E&E and electrical checkout mechanic along with several other classifications. One amusing story that I remember very well was the time an Air Force inspector wrote a squawk that stated there was evidence of a rat chewing on a wire assy. and the person responsible for answering the squawk wrote in the corrective action section that he installed one cat. The squawk was a permanent part of the ship's log and probably still is. The truth was that the insulation on the wiring had sugar in its makeup and rats did indeed chew on them. Don't ask me how the rats got aboard, but they surely did because the backbone where most of the wire harnesses were routed was full of rat poop.

I was a Bomb Nav technician based at Lockbourne AFB in the early 1950's. We had the North American RB-45 until 1952/53 and then received the RB-47E. What an Airplane, fast and reliable . Great experience.

That is one precise paper delivery from 35,000 feet! I remember Yeager's comments about the jet, saying that it was so aerodynamically clean that it was hard to get it stopped!

I was a A6E TRAM Naval Flight Officer, I really enjoyed this video. It brought back a lot of memories. Thanks

My father was Russian Voice Intercept/enlisted flyer in the USAFSS from 1953 to 1983 and at one point after his time flying on the RB-36 his TDY/SAC unit was reassigned to RB-47Hs. Believe it or not he was 1 of 3 additional crew members tucked away in the belly of that bird as Electronic Warfare Raven... he said after the RB-47 came his less glamorous EC-121 assignment. Wow! I love my Daddy!!!

This is awesome to watch and remember back then when we where actually kicking the bears ass . Our B-47-E 's where the bomber of the times, It could do just about do every thing a Pilot ask of her ...1 I slept on a tarmac's a lot of nights. and eat a lot of Dry Baloney sandwiches. and at 77 years older miss it. but thankful to have played my part .

Definitely one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built.

Great film and the story of it,and yes this was our first jet bomber built in the year of 1947. When the 1960's began this bomber ended up in the scrap yard in kingman AZ. Walter Boyne was very upset that the military decided to scrap it,and it was quite unsettling to him because he flew them back in his pilot training days. Jimmy Stewart also flew this bomber all the way out in JAPAN and landed there. Hopefully this jet will fly at our airshows all over the USA and bring thrills to many military men and women everywhere.

The B-47 Stratojet is arguably among the greatest "landmark" airplanes of all time, because many of the aerodynamic innovations introduced with the B-47 became the precursor to today's jet airliners--especially the thin, sweptback wings and the podded mounting.of the jet engines. What was learned from the B-47 was applied to the Boeing 707, a true landmark of airliner technology.

It's amazing how fast new planes became obsolete during the period from 1947 to 64. Except for a few, B52 and the SR71 to name 2. They are still not obsolete.

Love the majestic anti-flash white under belly period. The plane seems naked without it. Hard to believe the B-47 first flew about one year after the B-36.

When the B-47 was first put in service, few fighters could intercept it or was as fast especially over a medium distance. It was away ahead of its time and laid the ground work for the 707 the first jet airliner.

The belly of the fuselage was painted white to reflect the flash of a nuclear detonation.

The B-47 was a necessary step towards completion of what the B-36 started and the B-52 ended; the prevention of WW 3 after 1946 up to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Without great aircraft and the professionalism and dedication of thousands of airman and support personnel, the likely hood of an atomic conflict would have been at least far higher....

These are amazing films that are beautifully restored!! Thanks for sharing!

I went to school at chanute AFB back in the early '60's to work on this bird as an aircraft electrician, also trained on the KC97 as an aircraft electrician. Good old days. Stayed with aviation for 30yrs.

I watched these all the time at Greenham Common in the UK when I was growing up, used to hang on the fence and wave at the pilots when they were taxiing back to the ramp.

Like what you see? Your DVD purchases at our store make this channel possible. www.zenosflightshop.com Get this video, plus two more B-47 films & two B-47 flight manuals on our "Boeing B-47 Stratojet" DVD bit.ly/1dlzEiO We need your support! We have 100s of films in our library. We have licensed footage to major TV networks and cable channels. For more info see kzfaq.infoabout Zeno

Talk about a beautiful bomber. Probably the most beautiful of all.

I remember going thru a B-47. With the navigator station being in the the nose, as I sat in the navigator station it occured to me that this must have been how the astronauts felt being inside the first mercury space capsules.

It would be cool if they can get 1 B-47 operational again. It would become a flying museum. Yes, it would take lots of money and volunteer effort to get her up in the skies again. It would be a BIG air show draw.

"We haven't touched on speed much." Every other word has been about speed.

BillK was crew chief on one in Lake Charles La. great aircraft ... In flight refueling was something to see , loved that airplane..

Full agreement, I believe it is the most beautiful bomber ever constructed.

Last comment on this video. 1948 and SAC was a shambles then came LeMay and SAC became the SAC that is remembered. LeMay was such a great military leader who made the greatest error a military man can make, including "Ike" and that is he got involves in the U.S. political arena.

Seems amazing to me that over 2,000 B47s were produced but were obsolete within a few years.

I love that bit with the cigarette butts. You cant come any clearer than that. 9:00 - Training Wheels!

Awesome video! You don't see mechanical training aids like those anymore. Now it's all computer based training and diagrams. When I went through KC-135 school in the early 2000s they still had the old mechanical training aids, but they didn't get used, only the computer lessons on a slide screen.

1947 amazing!!! Tech used in B52s and the airliners starting with 707s

I was stationed at Kadena, Okinawa about 1965 when a General flew a B-47 into Kadena, I think he was out of Guam/Anderson, but it was his plane and he was checking out the SAC Unit at Kadena/KC-135 Tankers. He then took off for Clark, but never arrived. I don't think they ever found them. Nice looking plane though, first one I ever saw, and the General had it pretty shined up.

The B-47 looked fantastic

Visited the crash site of one of these on Mt. Wright in Newyork state, once you get to the top you can see parts of one of the engines, one of the wing mounted landing gear, and some aluminum probably from the wing. Wish I had more time to walk around between the two mountains to find the rest of it.

And thanks big time for the "Strategic Air Command" movie theme at the end! "With jets winding free and men flying true." "Round the world isn't too far, when the Air Force takes command." Sign me up!

This as beautiful film. Well done.

Rumor was that Hap Arnold didn't like the fact that on this bomber, the pilot and co-pilot couldn't make eye contact but were seated in tandem. Communication issue?

To Ronald Hagler, I crewed a B-47 and went to tech school on them. You do not mention the engines J-47's had to be at 70 percent before the throttles could be advanced. I was there on the ground touching the engines to feel for vibration and looking up the tail pipe to tell you the pilot that engine was rotating then when the engine lit off telling you the pilot that you had ignition. I crewed them and never heard or heard of a pilot that did not like that airplane. They were the cutting edge at that time and there was nothing better anywhere in the world. So, I take you at your word. So, I have a tough time with what you are saying. That was and is a beautiful plane. I enjoyed keeping that plane flying even for pilots like you.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOMBER EVER.

From the wiki: The B-47's reliability and serviceability were regarded as good. The only major problem was poor avionics reliability, which was normal given the existing vacuum tube technology, and the need to place some equipment outside the pressurized crew compartment. Much work was done to improve avionics reliability, but they remained problematic throughout the B-47's operational life.

Those critics who weren't even born during the B-47 era, say it wasn't maneuverable - I saw one in a real documentary- (Power flip up, and over -completely upside down, and turn 180 degrees, after dropping a live nuke (during nuke testing in 50s), and then speed away before the nuke exploded over its target! Would be good to find that video! 🤔😉

"Handles like a fighter...." OMG A freight train would be more accurate.

Definitely SAC Bomber pron!!! I love how Captain HardTail smoked a whole pack of Luckys sweating out the noobs first solo mission, I hope he picked up the butts and field stripped them---FOD is bad. :D

My father was a mechanic on this aircraft from 1956 - 1960

Some say the B-47 was a hazard to fly. It may have been challenging but that was probably from its high-performance, multi-jet technology being so new. I wish we had these and the men behind them to deal with our threats today.

Very nice! Thank You so much enjoyed a lot.

Amazing that the wings were strong enough to support the outer single jet engines. I can't think of any other aircraft with engines that far out. WB-47s were still in use as late as 1968-69 as I saw one at Lajes in the Azores as well as KC-97s presumably refueling fighters crossing the Atlantic (Air Guard).

An awesome collection

When I was an AF corpsman in England in the early 60s, I worked in the ICU of a USAF hospital. I had a burn patient [hands and forearms] Who'd been the AC cmdr in a B47 crash. The navigator had been killed.The navigator had been in a peculiar space down below the cockpit. Apparently a lot of B47 navigators died.

6:19 B-24 pilots and crew: "What are we?? Chopped liver??"

Other than the questionable picture of Hitler above the engineering team in the beginning I love watching these films as an aviation buff and the B-47 was a groundbreaker.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking...

Great show

5:25 The people who had the most problems were the people with the thousands of hours. Jets were not reciprocating engines and the folk with the high time on them had major problems converting.

Excellent, thanks Zeno.

Zenos you are a star

The B-47 was the first airplane capable of maintaining a wind correction crab angle all the way down to the runway.

44 years from the Wrights' first flight to this. And 44 years ago, we had F-15s and -16s. Our newest fighter, the F-35, is a rough performance equivalent to the F-16... Progress has slowed to about zilch.

OMG the thing with the paper Boy was Hilarious!

My Father flew second station on B-47s. I got a big kick when the narrator said " ...the observer had a computer for a brain". All I can say is "...he sure did".

When you think about it, when they say 'handles more like a fighter than a bomber', they are probably thinking of the B-29 and B-36, not the B-57.

23:37 Globemaster wide open, B47 10 knots above stall speed - - amazing none fell on us ...

A particulr corner of a building? Yeah, sure. There is a certain point in accuracy you cannot improve with unguided bombs and lots of altitude. And this was around the time they decided that since nukes were so powerful, there was no need to do better than get it in the right city.

I like when the instructor was chain smoking on the tarmac.

It is a shame it was scrapped prior to the turbo-jets. I think that is the correct term where you have a large initial fan and it blows free fast air down the inside of the engine covers. Why was the AF in such a rush to get rid of it. Granted the B-52 was better, but the 47 had a great thing going for it--- it was paid for.

Did you know that 203 B-47s crashed during their short history?In just one year 1957/1958 there were 49 crashes. I was the crew chief on 53-1905 at Pease AFB NEW HAMPSHIRE FROM 1955 to 1959. The year after I left ,my plane crashed in New York killing everyone. M/Sgt Gerald Van Boxtel

This thing didn't just drop the bomb, it had to go into a climb, then release the bomb into a sling, then roll it over into the opposite direction. If you've ever seen a B47, it's huge, like rolling a 707 like a fighter jet..

What a beautiful aircraft. Dose anyone know if there's 1 still flying?

Stratojet.... Stratocaster... THE JET AGE!!

Abel Danger/Field McConnell claims this was the first unmanned plane, drone.

Excellent

so much damn Pride back in the day....

1300 of the produced... and where are they now!?!?

How accurate was the old "Kay System" bombing device?

nice plane, and video, but how expensive was that newspaper run?? - all night flight, + the tanker, for the morning news!!- that paper boy would be pissed off, just got done by a B47 !!!, and with 2 seconds to spare!!!

A go-around must have been a handful.

Saw one of these in Altus Oklahoma

02:34 - 707/KC-135 production line.

Pride....

Only an Air Force officer would throw cigarette butts on the ground !

Interstate 95 In Georgia somewhere there is B47 parked on the side of the highway In front off a National Guard HG...

If i could time travel back to 1947 with blueprints for a modern turbofan engine.

Who flew the original test flights? Tex Johnson?

The captions are as amusing as is the simplistic mono chromic narrator. Good looking a/c.....

Time was registered using cigarette butts in the pre-Surgeon General era.

From what I remember the CEP's of the radar bombing system were terrible, something like 1,500 to 3,000 feet. The optical sight I don't know

Six engines and it still needs RATO to take off.

Why do the men from that generation have the same speech and voice patterns? Just curious.

100 th. A & E Sq.--"Comm/Nav"----509th Bomb Wing ---Pease AFB, Portsmouth, NH----64-65

The instructor needs a nicotine patch.

god bless america

Why show the K-25 building at the beginning?

We had Bomber Bases in Africa?

C'est pas possible qu'un tel avion puisse exister , tant il est beau et rapide , je devrais pas dire avion mais flèche d'argent , et dire qu'il a inspirer les Boeing que nous cotoyons du 707 au 787. Pas de doutes , il est à classer dans la categories des avions de legende , ceux qui ont marqués l'histoire et surtout l'histoire de l'aviation . Merci à Boeing , mais aussi à l'USAF et au SAC, ainsi qu'à ceux qui ont réalisé ce reportage !

Interesting. They had what we now today as a Joystick, but didn't even have a word for it back then.

"Observers", not "bombardiers"...