Experimental bomber returns home after six decades
Thu Sep 22, 2016 4:40 pm
From here -- http://www.edwards.af.mil/News/Article- ... ix-decades
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --
A historic aircraft with close ties to Edwards Air Force Base returned to its roots after more than six decades Monday morning.
The XB-47A Stratojet bomber, an icon of aerospace history, returned to Edwards Air Force Base at approximately 9 a.m., arriving disassembled on several flatbed trucks.
The aircraft entered the base on Rocket Site road, then proceeded across Rogers Dry Lake to its temporary home on North Base for reassembly and restoration by Air Force Flight Test Museum volunteers.
George Welsh, AFFT Museum director, said the restoration will be done in stages.
“The assembly and external restoration of the aircraft should take about one year,” he said.
Once the aircraft is assembled and cleaned up, it will be painted and ready for display at the museum. Then the restoration team can go to work refurbishing the internal areas of the plane – like the cockpit and bomb bays – that will be seen by the public.
“It will be an ongoing effort,” he said. “I think it would be really cool for visitors to see volunteers restoring the cockpit.”
The XB-47A was the precursor to the U.S. Air Force's strategic bomber aircraft family, to include the B-52 Stratofortress, B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit. Its multi-engine and swept wing profile were major innovations in post-World War II combat jet design, and contributed to the development of modern commercial jet airliners.
This XB-47 is the earliest survivor of the B-47 series and served as one of two experimental test airframes. The Air Force accepted the airframe December 1948 and logged almost 100 hours of test flights with the contractor, Boeing, and more than 237 for the Air Force. Testing included flight time at Edwards.
There were only two XB-47 prototype aircraft ever built, and both were test flown at Edwards. However the number one XB-47, 46-065, was disassembled and eventually scrapped by the Air Force in 1954, making the number two prototype, 46-066, the sole surviving XB-47.
After completing flight testing at Edwards from 1948 to 1954, tail number 46-066 spent the next six decades on static display at Chanute Air Force Base, Ill.
A flatbed truck hauling engines and other aircraft components of the XB-47A Stratojet enters the northern boundary of Edwards Air Force Base Sept. 19. The historic aircraft returned to Edwards Air Force Base after more than six decades on display at Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois. It will eventually be reassembled and displayed at the Air Force Flight Test Museum. (U.S. Air Force photo by Christopher Ball)
The fuselage of the XB-47A Stratojet heads south on Rocket Site Road toward Rogers Dry Lake and its temporary home at North Base. The aircraft arrived disassembled aboard several flatbed trucks Sept. 19. It is expected to be reassembled, refurbished, and displayed at the Air Force Flight Test Museum within the next year. (U.S. Air Force photo by Christopher Ball)
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --
A historic aircraft with close ties to Edwards Air Force Base returned to its roots after more than six decades Monday morning.
The XB-47A Stratojet bomber, an icon of aerospace history, returned to Edwards Air Force Base at approximately 9 a.m., arriving disassembled on several flatbed trucks.
The aircraft entered the base on Rocket Site road, then proceeded across Rogers Dry Lake to its temporary home on North Base for reassembly and restoration by Air Force Flight Test Museum volunteers.
George Welsh, AFFT Museum director, said the restoration will be done in stages.
“The assembly and external restoration of the aircraft should take about one year,” he said.
Once the aircraft is assembled and cleaned up, it will be painted and ready for display at the museum. Then the restoration team can go to work refurbishing the internal areas of the plane – like the cockpit and bomb bays – that will be seen by the public.
“It will be an ongoing effort,” he said. “I think it would be really cool for visitors to see volunteers restoring the cockpit.”
The XB-47A was the precursor to the U.S. Air Force's strategic bomber aircraft family, to include the B-52 Stratofortress, B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit. Its multi-engine and swept wing profile were major innovations in post-World War II combat jet design, and contributed to the development of modern commercial jet airliners.
This XB-47 is the earliest survivor of the B-47 series and served as one of two experimental test airframes. The Air Force accepted the airframe December 1948 and logged almost 100 hours of test flights with the contractor, Boeing, and more than 237 for the Air Force. Testing included flight time at Edwards.
There were only two XB-47 prototype aircraft ever built, and both were test flown at Edwards. However the number one XB-47, 46-065, was disassembled and eventually scrapped by the Air Force in 1954, making the number two prototype, 46-066, the sole surviving XB-47.
After completing flight testing at Edwards from 1948 to 1954, tail number 46-066 spent the next six decades on static display at Chanute Air Force Base, Ill.
A flatbed truck hauling engines and other aircraft components of the XB-47A Stratojet enters the northern boundary of Edwards Air Force Base Sept. 19. The historic aircraft returned to Edwards Air Force Base after more than six decades on display at Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois. It will eventually be reassembled and displayed at the Air Force Flight Test Museum. (U.S. Air Force photo by Christopher Ball)
The fuselage of the XB-47A Stratojet heads south on Rocket Site Road toward Rogers Dry Lake and its temporary home at North Base. The aircraft arrived disassembled aboard several flatbed trucks Sept. 19. It is expected to be reassembled, refurbished, and displayed at the Air Force Flight Test Museum within the next year. (U.S. Air Force photo by Christopher Ball)
Re: Experimental bomber returns home after six decades
Thu Sep 22, 2016 4:54 pm
hehehehe - that last photo is just begging to be in a caption contest . . ."PUSH"
Tom P.
Tom P.
Re: Experimental bomber returns home after six decades
Thu Sep 22, 2016 5:20 pm
... With a"46" serial number prefix. Wow. Imagine how futuristic the B-47 must have looked back then. It's still a good looking machine today!
Re: Experimental bomber returns home after six decades
Thu Sep 22, 2016 6:08 pm
PropsRule wrote:Wow. Imagine how futuristic the B-47 must have looked back then.
There's that great scene where Jimmy Stewart see's a B-47 for the first time in Strategic Air Command...I would imagine something like that.
Just think, they (the industry, not Boeing) were still building B-24s about two years before.
Re: Experimental bomber returns home after six decades
Thu Sep 22, 2016 7:03 pm
Another one from Chanute gets saved. 
A good thing. Now, whats still left at Chanute waiting to be "saved"?
A good thing. Now, whats still left at Chanute waiting to be "saved"?
Re: Experimental bomber returns home after six decades
Fri Sep 23, 2016 5:02 pm
I remember marching past that bird quite a few times during my short six week stay at Chanute for Aircrew Life Support technical school in 1986.