The B-47 had a fatal flaw, so terrible that it was to be hidden from their own crews leading to its demise. Do you know what it is?
Please subscribe to our channel and Support our work for $1 or more via Patreon : https://www.patreon.com/SgtVittie
NOTE : The Footage and Thumbnail of this video is the best closest representation to what happened. It is not the actual footage.
The B-47s Fatal Flaw
#b17 #history
Music Source
1. [ SA MUSIC TV ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAK2LoXTmoQ&ab_channel=SAMUSICTV
2. Miguel Johnson – Unexplored Moon” is under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 3.0) license / migueljohnson : Music promoted by BreakingCopyright: https://bit.ly/unexplored-moon-song
https://www.youtube.com/watchv=1lmgmCmhRSc&ab_channel=BreakingCopyright%E2%80%94RoyaltyFreeMusic
3. Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDT675Hrlxo&ab_channel=WhiteBatAudio
Background information on the B-47 Stratojet
https://www.boeing.com/history/products/b-47-stratojet.page
Historical Snapshot
B-47 Stratojet
The best way to tell about the performance of the Stratojet is to say that any good crew could have flown it. It took no unusual ability or education. Neither Scott Osler nor I deserve any credit for the flight. Rather, the credit should go to the men who carried out these visions on the drafting boards and the factory workers who made the visions a reality.
The Boeing B-47 was the country’s first swept-wing multiengine bomber. 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.
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.
Near the end of World War II, Boeing aerodynamicist George Schairer was in Germany as part of a fact-finding mission. At a hidden German aeronautics laboratory, Schairer saw wind tunnel data on swept-wing jet airplanes and sent the information home. Engineers then used the recently completed Boeing High-Speed Wind Tunnel to develop and design the XB-47, with its slender 35-degree swept-back wings.
Another innovation pioneered on the B-47 was the concept of placing the engines in pods (nacelles) suspended under the wings. A pod containing two General Electric J-35 engines (GE J-47 engines for all production models) hung from each wing inboard, and a single engine hung farther out. The B-47 had tandem bicycle-type landing gear under the front and back sections of the fuselage. Small outrigger wheels on the inboard engines kept the airplane from tipping over when it was on the ground.
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). Thrust reversers and antiskid brakes had not yet been developed, so a ribbon-type drag parachute reduced the B-47 landing speed.
Once airborne, the graceful jet broke speed and distance records; in 1949, it crossed the United States in under four hours at an average speed of 608 mph (978 km/h). The B-47 needed defensive armament only in the rear because no fighter was fast enough to attack from any other angle.
The B-47 medium bomber became the foundation of the Air Force’s newly created Strategic Air Command, and many were adapted for several specialized functions. One became a missile carrier, others were reconnaissance aircraft or trainers or carried remote controls for other aircraft. Between 1947 and 1956, a total of 2,032 B-47s in all variants were built. Boeing built 1,373, Douglas Aircraft Co. built 274 and Lockheed Aircraft Corp. built 385.
Technical Specifications
B-47E-IV
First flight Dec. 17, 1947 (prototype XB-47)
Model number 450
Classification Bomber
Span 116 feet
Length 107.1 feet
Gross weight 133,030 pounds
Top speed 607 mph
Max. range 4,990 miles
Ceiling 40,500 feet
Combat radius 2,358 miles
Power Six 7,200-pound-thrust GE J-47-GE-25 turbojet engines
Accommodation 3 crew
Armament Two 20 mm cannons, 25,000 pounds of bombs
The B-47 Stratojet is one of the most important aircraft ever designed by The Boeing Company. It was the world’s first large swept-wing aircraft, ushering in a long line of jet bombers and civil transports.
Read more here – https://www.museumofflight.org/exhibits-and-events/aircraft/boeing-wb-47e-stratojet
source
B-29s Fatal Flaw : https://youtu.be/TuKceC2Nxbo
B-17s Fatal Flaw : https://youtu.be/bBNBdvYoptY
I'm also an 8 percenter! These videos are very well done and much appreciated.
The tanker in the photo is a KC-97. You might be thinking of the rare KB-50
Excellent research and video!
I always wondered, with as many B-47s as they built, why they had such a short service life.
well done and thank you!
It did make sense to say they died in the line of duty. The US felt it was at war during the Cold War and many families lost loved ones.
Weird. If this takes place in 1958 and they served "20 years ago in WWII", then the numbers don't add up because WWII was in 1941 to 1945 (for the United States) or, 1939 at the earliest.
A friend told me that when the Cuban Missile Crisis was heating up,he was a young mechanic. He was ordered to grab his toolbag and squeezed into a B-47 going South towards Florida. He was scared but managed to retire air force. Respect!
👍👍
Great video!
US lies about faulty Boeing aircraft ? No way….. </Sarcasm>
I'm helping to increase the percentage. I had no idea that many 47s were lost and why. Dam.
No wonder why the B-47s kept "blowing up"; I don't think even B-52 crews would risk toss bombing during the Cold War days and even today toss bombing should be a job for fighter jets.
Certainly raises my concern over what other "secrets" there are with complex military systems. Thank you for the video.
There was never a failure like this in the British V-Bomber fleet. or with Canberras and Buccaneers which also used the 'toss bomb' manouvre. perhaps the USAF should have followed its Canberra-B57 acquisition with that of Victors and Vulcans too! These actually had fighter like aerobatic capabilities. Incidentally, the Valiant bombers showed wing-spar cracking because of low level operations and the RAF retired them all, even those operating as tankers at altititude , immediately.
I suspect the soviet union was very well informed about all this problems.
Fun fact: the wolf's favorite food is the potato!
I am still not sure how this exploding was corrected or if it was ?
I always wondered why the B-47 and B-58 were not used in Vietnam. Now I know why. Thank you.
Metal fatigue then. The not dissimilar to the Vickers Valiant that suffered from it too, just seems like the USAF wasn't too bothered about losing over 100 crewmen…
That explains why the B-47 was withdraw from service so quickly
For all it's fatal short comings the B47 was a beautiful looking Aircraft in its Design an makes a great Model..Great vid an Sub'd.
The other information derived from this Video is that the Air Crews were treated as disposable. the Politics were more important than the highly trained and valuable Air Crews.
Nice to hear 170 Air Force staff were basically murdered. Never trust your government or believe it.
While design flaws can be fixed,it sounds likely to me that the problem wasn't only a design flaw,it was the stupidity of the heads of SAC in requiring a bomber to maneuver after dropping bombs in such a way as only a fighter could do.
What brilliance!
Metal fatigue crashes/failures were a common problem in all first-generation jet bombers and commercial passenger aircraft. The North American B-45 Tornado and De Havilland Comet, or a mix of props and jets Convair B36, etc … all had their service lives shortened by crashes/failures revolving around metal Fatigue. The B47 was an especially infuriating case because the USAF put their B47 crew's lives needlessly at risk. Because the USAF was fully aware of the reckless/excessive training of Toss bombing Techniques with Nukes in the B47 would result in the loss of crewmen and aircraft. I have another book on the B47, (in a declassified document) Boeing did a paper studying the feasibility of using Nuclear Toss Bombing tactics with the B47 and Boeing refused to "sign off or authorize" using the B47 for toss bombing attacks of any kind (Nukes, conventional, or dummy bombs) due to the well document airframe weakness B47 had when place under repetitive moderate to high G force loads. The #1 cause of the B47 explosive in-flight airframe failures, the B47 had very severe "Coffin Corner" issues at their normal high operating altitudes. The B47 max/min air speed spread at high altitude (30000 ft+) was less than 15 knots, which was at the time beyond the control capabilities of the fairly primitive autopilot systems of the 40s thru 1970s. In the B47 going too fast could quickly cause max G loads that produce explosive airframe failure or too slow could produce a snap stall or spin that instantly exceeds the B47 max G with zero chance of recovery in either case. So the B47 was very hands-on with hands on the stick and throttle from the moment of takeoff to landing. Producing tremendous crew fatigue in even the most mundane flights not to mention Toss Bombing exercises. The B47's explosive airframe failures was happening at alarming rates even before the Nuclear Toss Bombing tactics and avionics were installed /used due to destructive metal fatigue from normal everyday service flights due to coffin corner issues. Everything on B47 was comprised so it could be the fastest, highest flying, medium NUCLEAR bomber in the world. The B47 was literally on the bleed edge of airframe design in the 40s/ 50s, and the aircrews paid the price with their lives.
Yes, pilots tried to fly it like a fighter and pulled the wings off. Also, all military jets used JP-4 fuel which is very flammable unlike the Jet A that civilian jets use. JP-4 is 50% kerosene and 50% gasoline whereas Jet A is pure kerosene.
Didn't the B-47 also have a problem with the fuel pumps cavitating when inverted resulting in loss of power?
I guess this is why I see a B-47 on the school grounds in Altus, OK and other places these days.
My dad was a crew chief on the first B47. He was stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson Az.
Waisting them to buy B-58 instead, and them waising in low-flight to buy FB-111.
I believe the F16 also had a design flaw regarding chaffing in a wiring harness. It was also covered up by the Pentagon for some time.
Another great story told well! Thanks bud!!
The B58 also had serious design flaws as did the F 104 .
The B47 also was extremely pitch sensitive and would easily cause them to destroy themselves .
The "Mike Bottle " project was done At Tinker AFB here in Midwest City Okla. My late uncle was a big part of this "secret" repair. Told me all about it when I was a young boy.
So what is new? As a SAC US Air Force pilot of the 70s and 80s, it was always a dangerous occupation, 24/7 365 days a year. How could you get to fly upside down in a HOT jet and get paid for it. It was worth it and I would gladly do it again.
"Most advanced" it's literally a F-86 but huge.
My dad was a B-47 crew chief. He told me he was afraid to fly in it when they went TDY to overseas bases. Not being part of the combat crew, he still had to accompany the plane when it went TDY. He never said much more about why he didn’t trust it.
Ethics and morality were sadly lacking back then and evidently today too.
I read how corrupt the FBI is, Gering involved with politics and see no difference between the F'd up decisions the military and politicians make, then or now.
We're supposed to be the good guys but at 65 years old, I've lost all belief in that.
The B-47 did what? This doesn’t sound right
Structural failure of the main spars resulted in breakup up of the center section where the fuel tanks were. It's one of the reason why the lay down procedures were implemented.
They didn't call us Crewdogs' for nothing.
the flaw was exposed in the film Strategic Air Command as fuel leaks at high altitude and cold climates.
The government lied to us back then just like today.
Coverups like this remind me of what the Russians still do. It is a terrible way to treat our military personnel. It is one of the ways our people in the services do not get the full protection of "liberty and justice for all". Shameful.