The Boeing B-47 "Stratojet" was developed in the post-WWII nuclear age. The main mission of the B-47 was to drop nuclear weapons on the Soviet Union and its citizens. However, design challenges kept the B-47 from being implemented in large numbers. The bomber used a swept-wing design developed by Nazi laboratories, and jet engine technology that had yet to be successfully incorporated into a heavy bomber. The jet engines were originally not strong enough for a fully-loaded B-47 to take off on its own power. The remedy this, the Air Force used Rocket Assisted take-Off (RATO) to get is new bombers off the ground on short runways. Even with workarounds such as these, the Air Force lost almost 10% of all B-47s ever produced to crashes. As jet engine technology improved, RATO was no longer necessary, but by that time the B-52 was being implemented as the new nuclear bomber. B-47s continued to be used by the Strategic Air Command (SAC) for weather and atmosphere testing. The B-47 here at the Kansas Aviation Museum was used by SAC for measuring radioactivity in the atmosphere.

Type: Medium Bomber

Powerplant: J-47-GE-25

Max speed: 606 mph

Ceiling: 40500’

Range: 4000 miles

Gross Weight: 206700 lbs

Weapons: 10000 lb of bombs, 2 20mm cannon

Span: 116’

Length: 108’

Height: 28’