Boeing B-50 SUPERFORTRESS: US Air Force bomber that was afraid of Russia

The B-50, which first climbed into the air in 1947, was equipped with more powerful Pratt & Whitney engines and improved its design, including a more massive wing and increased vertical stabilizer. Focus translated the article of the former security officer of the Air Force Christian D. Orra on the contribution of the B-50 SuperForTress to the development of the US Air Force. There are many fighters in the US military aviation, whose names have been passed from generation to generation.

The name Thunderbolt was inherited from the P-47 Thunderbolt times of World War II to A-10 Thunderbolt II, which last year celebrated its 50th anniversary. The name Lightning moved from the P-38 Lightning times of World War II to the Fifth Lightning II F-35 Lightning Stealth Flower. The name Phantom was originally used to refer to a relatively little-known FH-1 Phantom, and then passed the famous F-4 Phantom, which faithfully served American pilots from Vietnam's war in Persian Gulf of 1991.

But when it comes to American heavy bombers, there is only one name that was transmitted as follows: SuperFortress. The first was the cult B-29 Superforess of World War II. His successor was the B-50 SuperFortress, a battle bird we are talking about today. The Boeing B-50 SuperForTress made its first flight on June 25, 1947 and officially arrived next year-an interesting moment, given that his B-29 namesake was still in order.

Similarity between two "Superfoots" is not accidental, as explained by the Archival Information Bulletin of the US Air Force National Museum: "Boeing B-50a SuperFortress appeared as a result of the program started in mid-1943, when Pratt & Whitney proposed to adapt B-29 Radial engines R-4360… Although the end of World War II put an end to most production contracts, the army still needed a long bomber capable of carrying atomic weapon… Boeing engineers redefined B-29 under the engines of Pratt & whitney -44.

This aircraft renamed the B-50A. The technical characteristics covered a crew of 10 or 11 people, the length of the fuselage 30 meters, wingspan 43 meters, a height of 9. 95 meters, a weight of 39. 7 tons and a maximum run weight of 76. 4 tons. The maximum flight speed was 619 km/h, the flight range - 8 611 km, and the operational ceiling - 11. 2 km. The weapons consisted of twelve machine guns of the 50th caliber and one 20mm gun, not to mention a stunning amount of useful load of 9 tons.

The B-29 is not so well known to the general public, but its heir B-50 has entered the history of aviation, having served almost seven years as the main atomic bombard of the strategic air command (SAC). He became the last bomber with a piston engine built for the US Air Force. In the bomber configuration, he was replaced by B-47 Stratojet and removed from SAC weapons until 1958, although the WB-50 version lasted until 1964.

Interestingly, the B-50 has never been used for bombing missions during the Korean War-the B-29 was satisfied for these purposes of the Air Force. In that conflict for photo intelligence, the version of the RB-50 aircraft was used. And finally, Lucky Lady II, that is, B-50A-5-Bo with a serial number 46-010, made the first non-shirting around the world, ending it for 94 hours 1 minute between February 26 and March 2, 1949.

The B-50 glider also served as a Boeing C-97 Stratofreight Military Latter, which, as noted by Airliners. net, "was the basis of the US Air Force Air Force (MATS) in the early 1950s: 800 aircraft for use as cargo aircraft and airfilling. " Moreover, fans of the late great writer Klava Cassler and his series "Dirk Pitt" are known C-97 as a plane "Vixen 03" from the same novel, whose accident is moving the story of the book during the prologue.

The cover of the original edition of the Viking Press in 1978, as well as early editions in the soft cover of Bantam Books, shows the canonical C-97, but in the current edition in the soft cover of the Bantam publishing house. Also, for all respect for Cassler's memory, he repeatedly calls the Stratocruiser plane, which was actually the name of the magnificent civilian Air Airliner Boeing 377 derived from the C-97. Proper designation of a military aircraft - Stratofreight.

Of the 370 built B-50 SuperFortress, only five are preserved today, with none of them not suitable for flights and all of them are in the museums of the state. First of all, Lucky Lady II fuselage is carefully stored in the Museum of Glory aircraft in Chino, California.

As for fully preserved aircraft, the KB-50J option is in the Pima Aviation and Aviation and astronautics Museum in Tucus, Arizona; KB-50J-at the Museum of Air Mobility Command at the Air Base, Delaware; WB-50D-at the US National Museum of Air Force at the Wright Patterson, Ohio; And finally, Flight of the Phoenix ("Fenix ​​flight"), which is also honored to be the last flew, B-50 Superfortress-at the Castle Air Museum in Atoter, California. Christian D.

ORR is a former Air Force Safety Officer, a Federal Police Employee and a private military contractor (he worked in Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany and Pentagon). Chris has obtained a bachelor's degree in international relations at the University of Southern California (USC) and a master's degree in intelligence research (with specialization in the study of terrorism) at US military university (AMU).