Boeing B-47 Stratojet Bomber (2024)

B-47 Concept and Design

The Boeing B-47 Stratojet was the first swept wing jet bomber and the first to be designed to carry nuclear weapons. The design of the B-47 relied on swept wing data captured from Germany after World War II.

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.

This medium bomber featured six jet engines, allowing it to fly at high subsonic speeds and at high altitudes. The B-47 needed defensive armament only in the rear because no fighter was fast enough to attack from any other angle. The first XB-47 rolled off the assembly line in September of 1947. The Stratojet entered service in 1951.

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).

A ribbon-type drag parachute and anti-skid brakes reduced the B-47 landing speed.

Technical Specifications

Wingspan: 116 feet
Length: 108 feet
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 230,000 pounds
Top Speed: 587 mph
Range: 4,000 miles
Ceiling: 38,000 feet
Power: Six General Electric J-47-GE-25 turbojet engines, with 7,200 pounds of thrust per engine; Jet-Assisted Take-Off using auxiliary rocket motors that are jettisoned after take-off
Crew Size: 3
Armament: Two .20 mm cannons in remote tail turret; 10,000-22,000 pounds of bombs

B-47 Stratojet Production Recap by Model Number

A total of 2,042 B-47s were built, forming the backbone of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) in the mid 1950s. Boeing built most of the B-47s, but others were assembled by the Douglas Aircraft Co. and the Lockheed Aircraft Corp. Shown below is a recap of B-47 production by model number.

Photographs of the B-47 Stratojet Assembly Line

Boeing's B-47 Stratojet assembly line

Stratojet wing assembly

B-47 Stratojet Deployment by the U.S. Air Force

The B-47, along with the B-52 Stratofortress, replaced the piston powered Convair B-36 in the SAC fleet.

The B-47A entered service in May of 1951 with the 306th Bombardment Wing (Medium) based at MacDill AFB in Florida. The 306th was intended to act as a training outfit to prepare future B-47 crews.

At its peak use in 1958, the USAF operated 28 B-47 bomb wings and four RB-47 reconnaissance wings, totaling 1,357 B-47s and 175 RB-47s. Several versions were high altitude reconnaissance aircraft and many were used for electronic reconnaissance.

The USAF phased out its last B-47 bombers in 1965, and the USAF retired its last Stratojet, a WB-47E, in 1969.

Boeing WB-47 Stratojet S/N 12115

U.S. Air Force B-47 in flight

The End of Service for the Boeing B-47 Stratojet

In mid-1960, B-47s began arriving at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona,for storage and ultimate scrapping.

Final phaseout of B-47 bomber wings began in 1963. In October of 1965, the Air Force initiated Project Fast Fly to coordinate the inactivation of the last five B-47 wings and supporting tanker squadrons. The last B-47 bomber variants were removed from service with SAC by 1966.

The last USAF operational aircraft, WB-47Es assigned to the Air Weather Service, were withdrawn in September 1969.

By the end of June of 1966, over 1,000 B-47s were in storage at the base. Hundreds of B-47s still remained in storage at Davis-Monthan in 1967 parked neatly in rows (see photo below).

The last flight of a B-47 occurred in June of 1986, when a B-47E S/N 52-0166 was flown from the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake to the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California.

Boeing B-47 Stratojet Surviving Aircraft

Of the more than 2,000 aircraft built for the Stratojet fleet, a total of only 21 B-47 aircraft have survived, been restored, and placed on display in locations across the United States. One additional B-47 is awaiting restoration at the Air Force Flight Test Museum, EdwardsAFB, California.

Included below is a list of surviving B-47 Stratojets, with model numbers, serial numbers and location.

S/N	Model	Location	Photo
53-2135	EB-47E	Pima Air and Space Museum, located next to Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona
52-0166	B-47E	Castle Air Museum next to the site of the former Castle AFB, Atwater, CA
53-2275	B-47E	March Field Air Museum March ARB, Riverside, CA
53-2104	B-47E	Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum, Pueblo, Colorado
53-2276	B-47E	Global Power Museum Barksdale AFB, Bossier City, LA
53-4299	RB-47H	National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH
53-4257	RB-47E	Charles B. Hall Airpark Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, OK
51-2360	WB-47E	Hill Aerospace Museum Hill AFB, Ogden, Utah
53-4296	RB-47H	USAF Armament Museum Eglin AFB, Fort Walton, FL
51-7066	WB-47E	Museum of Flight's Aviation Pavillion Seattle, Washington
51-2187	B-47E	Kansas Aviation Museum, Wichita, KS
51-2315	B-47B	Grissom Air Museum, Peru, IN
52-1412	B-47E	Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum, Ashland, NE
53-4213	B-47E	McConnell AFB, Wichita, KS
51-2120	B-47B	Whiteman AFB, Knob Noster, MO No public access - check with the base
53-2280	B-47E	National Museum of Nuclear History Albuquerque, NM
50-0062	B-47B	Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, Savannah, GA
51-7071	B-47E	Hightower Park, Altus, OK
52-0412	EB-47E	Dyess AFB Linear Airpark, Abilene, TX No public access - check with the base
52-0595	B-47E	Little Rock AFB, Jacksonville, AR
53-2385	B-47E	Clyde Lewis Park, Plattsburgh, NY
46-066	XB-47	Waiting restoration at the Air Force Flight Test Museum, Edwards AFB, CA No public access - check with Edwards AFB

B-47 at the Pima Air and Space Museum

B-47 at the Castle Air Museum

B-47 at the Museum of of the United States Air Force

B-47 at the Museum of Flight in Seattle

B-47 at the Hill Aerospace Museum

B-47 at the Pueblo Weisbrod Aerospace Museum

B-47 at the Air Force Armament Museum at Eglin AFB

B-47 at the Charles B. Hall Airpark at Tinker AFB

B-47E at the Barksdale AFB Global Power Museum

B-47 at the March Field Air Museum

B-47 at the Strategic Air Command and Space Museum

B-47 at the Grissom Air Museum

More B-47 Photos