THE B-52 AND THE B-47

[Music] washing a B-52 is no ordinary job there are 17,43 ft to cover on the outside alone and that's equivalent to approximately 64 automobiles within just a few hours after the airplane reached the modification position where it would remain for the entire period of rework the area had become a beehive of activity one crew removed the eight jet [Music] engines another began dismantling control surfaces the landing gears were [Music] removed the B-52 was beginning to lose its identity but there was a sound purpose behind it all this was the first time this new bomber was to undergo such extensive thorough maintenance the first opportunity to get beneath the surface and find out how it was holding up after 686 hours of the most strenuous flying possible before this airplane is ready for redelivery 119 changes will have been accomplished and 9 technical orders complied with requiring approximately 3,500 separate jobs probably the most extensive single modification to be incorporated is the major change in in the B-52 Wing trailing Edge structure this change replaces the conventional structure with bonded panels and honeycomb construction to eliminate deterioration of the trailing Edge as a result of Sonic vibrations produced during full power engine runup a condition which becomes extremely critical when water injection is employed the first major engineering responsibility for the B-52 bomber came to Boeing witcha in 1956 with the assignment for design and development of a new Wing as part of the B-52 model Improvement program constructed of extruded panels embodying an integrated stiffener this new configuration will become a self-contained fuel tank or in the vernacular a wet Wing eliminating the self-sealing cells presently used the panels measuring some 80 ft in length are the largest single Extrusion ever produced mockups such as this representing a section of the new Wing were used extensively for engineering evaluation and testing to determine the feasibility of the new design in simple terms the new Wing will provide a greater area for fuel storage and at the same time affect a notable weight reduction both factors will result in increased range and performance for the B-52 the installation in 1956 of this 100,000l Boeing developed fatigue testing machine marked another step toward increasing versatility in the Witchita engineering Test Facilities greater versatility also was achieved in electronic Computing a year ago the Boeing analog computer an electronic flight simulator look like this today after extensive rework and modernization by by Boeing witcha engineering a vastly improved system is available for electronically solving many complex flight problems on both B52 and b47 [Music] airplanes the new design incorporates an automatic potentiometer readout system and a unique hold condition which permits the freezing of a problem in the computer for any desired length of time a centralized computer console from which all problems can be controlled and monitored and a complete patch boo system which allows problems to be patched up in 30 to 45 minutes compared to weeks and months required on the old computer all these features add up to one thing greatly increased utility and eight times greater computer [Music] accuracy amid all this activity coincident with the beginning of a new production era an equally colorful era was coming coming to an end on August 20th 1956 the last b47 was rolled from final assembly at the witcha plant this the 1,390 of these medium bombers symbolized a production program so efficient and so well organized and integrated that a record of 59 consecutive months of b47 ons scheduled delivery was established when the Air Force took delivery of the unit number 1,39 the witchar b47 production program was officially at an end by no means however did the b47 disappear from the flight lines or the factory since 1952 Boeing witch had been entrusted with full design responsibility for the b47 and from an engineering standpoint there was still much that could be done to improve and adapt the airplane for a wide variety of strategic uses at the beginning of 1956 project crossbow was approaching the flight test phase after months of design investigation and feasibility studies in the wind tunnel and flutter testing with both the b47 model and the actual crossbow airplane before the b-47s missile carrier capability could be conclusively proved however many hours of testing in the air would be necessary to to determine the performance characteristics and operating limits of the modified bomber proof testing throughout speed ranges up to maximum safe operating speed and at various altitudes and airplane attitudes had to be accomplished during these flight tests longitudinal stability of the airplane during high altitude high mock number flight and during low altitude gear down flight was evaluated data was obtained to determine the D associated with various crossbow missile configurations inflight flutter analyses were conducted to establish airplane missile plard air speeds and finally actual missile drops were made to ensure satisfactory separation and trajectory of the weapons at anticipated speeds and [Music] altitudes during all these and many other phases of the cross crossbow flight test program the b47 maintained satisfactory performance with no indication of adverse effects resulting from the structural changes that had been made or the added Mass being carried crossbow was proving Beyond any doubt the versatility of the b47 in adapting to many special purpose [Music] configurations by December mber 1956 the engineering and modification of two b-47e gravity bombers to a db 47 director bomber configuration had been completed these planes will be used for Air Force evaluation and suitability testing in the capacity of carrier vehicle for the Bell G63 guided missile meanwhile modifications required to convert 30 more b-47s to the DB configuration were being worked along with project epti the regular b47 modernization and Iran program current planning calls for 25 of these bombers to be fitted with the required db 47 equipment which is then removed and shipped to an Air Force storage Depot for installation at a future date these airplanes themselves are then delivered to the Air Force in the b-47e OR gravity bomber configuration actual launchings of the G63 Rascal from a DB 47 configuration airplane were conducted during the year to evaluate the ability of control equipment to guide the missile to its [Music] Target early in 1956 15 RB 47e airplanes had been modified and delivered to the Air Force as RB 47k models incorporating special equipment for electronically Gathering and recording weather data these airplanes will be used to collect weather information vital to the successful planning and culmination of hundreds of b47 and B52 Global training missions flown daily by the Strategic Air Command as the b47 continued to prove its metal other modification possibilities were under investigation with the addition of two ECM pods suspended from the fuselage the basic b47 configuration became a prototype external ECM pod aircraft these external pods will have Provisions for carrying ether ECM or chaff dispensing equipment the design construction installation ground and flight testing of this prototype were accomplished at Boeing witcha as one of the major b47 programs in 1956 in the Wind Tunnel still another version of the b47 was being ready for its first flight to provide information required in the development of a prototype high-speed high altitude tactical tanker from a b-47e airplane basic modifications in this instance will include an additional Bombay tank for increased fuel loading capacity and the enlargement of wing tip tanks to accommodate refueling equipment consisting of a 155 horsepower air turbine the independent hydraulic system which it powers and which in turn will drive the refueling reel and fuel transfer pump with an operating range covering a 1,000 Mi radius the tanker version of the b47 designated the KB 47 will be equipped to formate with two fighter aircraft simultaneously and will be capable of offloading a maximum of 50,000 l of fuel at the rate of 600 Gall per minute from each Wing tank other than the kc-135 the KB 47 will be the only other airplane capable of fulfilling refueling requirements of the Tactical Air Commands Century series [Music] fighters in 1956 Boeing's long-standing policy of encouraging and subsidizing individual inventiveness once again Justified itself work with a collection of test tubes beers copper tubing and this specially built vacuum still three chemists from the engineering research and development section were able to solve the problem of Rome deterioration due to high temperatures the solution was in the development of a high temperature laminating resin capable of withstanding extreme Ram temperature increases due to high speed this new laminate is not only usable in the fabrication of supersonic aircraft ROMs but ideally suitable for missile warheads and for potting or enclosing critical electronic components in the high-speed aircraft the year was further notable by the installation and operation of boing witch's first supersonic wind tunnel installed primarily to support research and development on high-speed air inlets for jet engines this tunnel will become a permanent facility for future model investigation and Associated boundary layer research the tunnel will handle models of up to 4 in in diameter and will attain speeds up to Mach 3 in its present configuration with slight modifications this speed can be increased to Mach 4 and a future major revision is being planned to bring air velocity up to Mach 6 in conjunction with tunnel operations all test runs are covered with highspeed SAR and movies employing an optical system for photographing normally invisible shock and expansion waves movies of this type permit an analysis of airflow patterns around the test model late in 1956 field service engineering ordered the first in a series of hundreds of photographs which will be used as the basis of a complete revision to the b47 E RB 47e and RB 47h maintenance handbook through stop action photographs of actual work in progress the new handbook will greatly simplify maintenance information by pictorially presenting a step-by-step sequence of operations presenting the easiest and best methods of Performing all major maintenance on the b47 model and our b47 model airplanes by this simplified approach to maintenance the Air Force will realize better maintenance in a shorter period of time with fewer and less qualified Personnel during the 12-month period of 1956 Boeing and Air Force Crews logged a total of 3,544 hours along performing production and experimental flight tests on the B52 and b47 multi-jet bombers these hours representing a total of 1,95 flights were spent in meticulously checking out systems and Equipment analyzing performance airplane stability all essential to the ultimate delivery of a highquality Dependable aircraft of the latest configuration an additional 506 flights requiring 1,144 hours were flown by support aircraft such as the Boeing KC 97 stratotanker that completed 79 aerial refueling contacts to keep the mighty bombers in the air altogether more than 2 million miles were flowing or a distance equivalent to 85 flights around the world [Music] in review 1956 that Boeing witch has presented a picture of intense activity and indisputable progress but such activity and progress is by no means unique 1956 was a typical year with typical problems and typical Solutions little different from many other years in the long and colorful history of the Boeing airplane company what took place in 1956 is representative of Boeing's constant and Relentless drug to keep a breast of the latest advancements in the state of the art representative of man's insatiable thirst for knowledge as he directs his tireless efforts to lay be the scientific fundamentals that permit men to fly higher and faster and to pinpoint a Target miles below and outside the range of his own Vision representative of the years of constant progress that have culminated in a fighting team Second To None the b47 medium bomber and the B52 Global bomber first line of defense in the Strategic Air Command [Music]