Boeing B 47 Stratojet B 52 Stratofortress Origins And Evolution

The famous B-52 Stratofortress has been in service with the USAF for more than 65 years and its iconic shape is known and recognized all over the world. Yet the B-52 and its predecessor, the B-47 Stratojet, started out looking very different indeed. Each aircraft was the end product of a lengthy design process which saw numerous configurations studied - with plenty of diversions taken and missteps made along the way. In Boeing B-47 Stratojet and B-52 Stratofortress: Origins and Evolution, aerospace engineer Scott Lowther reviews and explains the many different projects put forward for these two iconic aircraft, including a wide variety of rare and forgotten designs. Providing full-page diagrams, a wealth of new artwork and accurate data, the book will be useful for model makers interested in new and unique projects, aerospace engineers curious about the process of design evolution and those interested in these fascinating aircraft.

A potrayal of the B-47 Stratojet. It takes you along on test flights, gives you the controls of nuclear-armed B-47s, and walks you into hangars to meet the crews whose work made the B-47 fly and fly again. It contains illustrations, including revealing technical diagrams, photographs and interviews with figures in aviation history.

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 WWII 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 while 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.

This volume examines three key strategic Jet bombers of the Cold War -- Boeings B-47 Stratojet, B-52 Stratofortress, and Britain's Avro Vulcan. The B-47 was the USAF's first important jet bomber. The mighty B-52 has been the stalwart of the Strategic Air Command since the late 1950s and saw action in Vietnam and Desert Storm.

Conceived in 1948, first flown in 1952 and projected still to be in front-line service in the 21st century, the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is one of the most extraordinary aircraft in history. Here is the book to do justice to the story of the development and operational career of this legendary bomber. The book features a comprehensive history of the development of the U.S. heavy bomber, and intensive discussion of the Boeing B-47 and its effect upon the B-52 design, and perhaps more important than either of these today, the enormous number of modifications and changes which have kept the aircraft viable. The important contributions of the Strategic Air Command, with its concepts of the dedicated crew, rigorous training and ceaseless evaluation is well covered, and special attention is given to the B-52's role in the Vietnamese conflict. The book is reinforced with over 200 photographs and drawings, and includes a comprehensive set of appendices. The material for the book was derived almost entirely from the primary sources--the men who designed, built, flew, maintained and improved them and the documents created at the time. The author, a former B-52 and B-47 pilot himself, conveys the spirit of the B-52--the men and the missions behind the hardware, as well as a superbly detailed analysis of the aircraft itself.

Except in a few instances, since World War II no American soldier or sailor has been attacked by enemy air power. Conversely, no enemy soldier orsailor has acted in combat without being attacked or at least threatened by American air power. Aviators have brought the air weapon to bear against enemies while denying them the same prerogative. This is the legacy of the U.S. AirForce, purchased at great cost in both human and material resources.More often than not, aerial pioneers had to fight technological ignorance, bureaucratic opposition, public apathy, and disagreement over purpose.Every step in the evolution of air power led into new and untrodden territory, driven by humanitarian impulses; by the search for higher, faster, and farther flight; or by the conviction that the air way was the best way. Warriors have always coveted the high ground. If technology permitted them to reach it, men, women andan air force held and exploited it-from Thomas Selfridge, first among so many who gave that "last full measure of devotion"; to Women's Airforce Service Pilot Ann Baumgartner, who broke social barriers to become the first Americanwoman to pilot a jet; to Benjamin Davis, who broke racial barriers to become the first African American to command a flying group; to Chuck Yeager, a one-time non-commissioned flight officer who was the first to exceed the speed of sound; to John Levitow, who earned the Medal of Honor by throwing himself over a live flare to save his gunship crew; to John Warden, who began a revolution in air power thought and strategy that was put to spectacular use in the Gulf War.Industrialization has brought total war and air power has brought the means to overfly an enemy's defenses and attack its sources of power directly. Americans have perceived air power from the start as a more efficient means of waging war and as a symbol of the nation's commitment to technology to master challenges, minimize casualties, and defeat adversaries.

Conceived in 1948, first flown in 1952 and projected still to be in front-line service in the 21st century, the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is one of the most extraordinary aircraft in history. Here is the book to do justice to the story of the development and operational career of this legendary bomber. The book features a comprehensive history of the development of the U.S. heavy bomber, and intensive discussion of the Boeing B-47 and its effect upon the B-52 design, and perhaps more important than either of these today, the enormous number of modifications and changes which have kept the aircraft viable. The important contributions of the Strategic Air Command, with its concepts of the dedicated crew, rigorous training and ceaseless evaluation is well covered, and special attention is given to the B-52's role in the Vietnamese conflict. The book is reinforced with over 200 photographs and drawings, and includes a comprehensive set of appendices. The material for the book was derived almost entirely from the primary sources--the men who designed, built, flew, maintained and improved them and the documents created at the time. The author, a former B-52 and B-47 pilot himself, conveys the spirit of the B-52--the men and the missions behind the hardware, as well as a superbly detailed analysis of the aircraft itself.

Convair B-36: A Comprehensive History of America's "Big Stick" is a collaborative effort edited and co-authored by Meyers H.Jacobsen exploring the history of one of SAC's air giants, the six-engine Convair B-36. From the origins of the use of six engines on bombers from around the world, along with the history and development of SAC and the use of its numbers of B-36's, this book will give the reader a greater amount of information than has ever before been published on the Convair B-36. Included with the technical and historical aspects of the B-36′s use in SAC, are first hand anecdotes and accounts from the men who serviced, flew, and proudly served in SAC under Curtis LeMay. There are also detailed sections on the electronic countermeasures and various armament configurations applied in the B-36, as well as chapters containing information on B-36 attrition, and detailed accounts of the survivors that exist to this day. A wonderful book for aircraft historians, modellers, and SAC enthusiasts.