Product Information

Boeing's swept-wing XB-47 won the Air Force's postwar bomber competition and swiftly transformed the XB-46 and the XB-48 into aviation footnotes. Six Allison J35-2 turbojet engines slung in pods beneath the swept-back wings gave the prototype Stratojet nimble performance, and helped to validate a design concept still widely used today.

Although uprated J47-GE-3s were soon substituted, the B-47 also carried mountings for 18 solid-fuel booster rockets in the aft fuselage to shorten the takeoff roll. Here, a XB-47 lifts off from Rogers Dry Lake with JATO assistance during Limited Heavy Weights Performance Tests at the Air Force Flight Test Center. Note the T-33 chase plane with its landing gear already retracted to keep up with the speedy B-47.