Located at the Museum of Flight are a large number of static aircraft on display. One of them is a Boeing WB-47E Stratojet. The Museum of Flight website contains a
The B-47 Stratojet remains one of the most important aircraft ever designed by The Boeing Company. More than fifty years ago, the B-47 emerged as the world's first large multi-engine swept-wing airplane -- a design configuration that became the standard for all modern jetliners. In addition to its 35-degree swept wings, the B-47 featured pod-mounted engines and "bicycle" landing gear, which marked a daring departure from existing aircraft designs. In all, 2,042 B-47s were produced by Boeing, Lockheed, and Douglas.
During the Cold War in the 1950s, the B-47 became the backbone of the Strategic Air Command's medium bomber fleet. Aside from its lasting contribution to aircraft design, the B-47 will be remembered as a primary deterrent to nuclear war at a time when that possibility was most threatening.
After serving with SAC from 1953 to 1963, the Museum's Stratojet was redesignated as a WB-47 and flew weather reconnaissance missions with the U.S. Navy into the 1970s.
This aircraft loan courtesy of the National Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola, Florida.
Flight Fact No. 14
The Boeing B-47 Stratojet flew very high and fast for its day and was utilized for long trips, though its design came with some challenges. If the nose of the B-47 was brought up, the wing angle was increased and put the pilot at risk of stalling because the air was so thin at flying altitude. However, if the nose was lowered, the plane would approach the speed of sound, which was only a few knots-per-hour apart from its stalling speed. Since autopilot wasn’t capable of that level of speed control accuracy, these planes were hand flown for trips that lasted many hours, providing a tedious challenge for the pilots who could not vary their speed more than 10 to 15 knots per hour.