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This Incredible Plane: Boeing B-47 Stratojet

Frank Ayers — Thu, 09 May 2024 12:43:49 +0000

Little known or remembered today, the Boeing B-47 Stratojet paved the way for the modern jet airliner. You might consider its history the next time you take an airline flight.

As you look out the terminal window at jet-powered rides, note the elegant profile, swept wings, and sleek tail surfaces of the aircraft on the ramp. Settling into your seat, examine the tightly cowled engine pods, multiple ailerons and spoilers, and smooth upper surface of the wing.

Have you ever wondered when all these elegant design features made their debut? The answer is December 17, 1947. On the 47th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first powered flight—and the 15th anniversary of the Douglas DC-3’s initial jaunt—a radical prototype, the XB-47 Stratojet, took to the air for its first flight. Aviation has never been the same.

However, the story really kicks off in 1943. As it began deploying fleets of B-17 and B-24 bombers to bases all over England, the Army Air Corps looked in its crystal ball and saw that the U.S. was woefully behind in the development of jet airplanes. Soon, four legendary aircraft companies were awarded contracts to develop four- and six-engine medium jet bombers. Three of these designs retained a conventional straight wing with engines embedded in the wing.

However, after the war in Europe ended in 1945, Boeing engineer George Schairer traveled overseas to learn of the advanced aerodynamics research done by German engineers and scientists. He immediately called home to Seattle and told the Boeing design team to brace for some major changes.

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The XB-47 Stratojet that emerged featured 35-degree swept wings mounted at shoulder height on the fuselage. The six General Electric J47 engines were mounted in pods slung below the wing to ease engine access and keep the wing surface clean. The inboards were mounted in pairs of two and the outboards singly. The tail surfaces were swept, and when combined with the ultra-smooth fuselage, the XB-47 looked like it came right out of a science fiction novel.

Because of the requirement for a large bomb bay, the landing gear consisted of twin tandem bicycle-gear trucks mounted fore and aft on the fuselage and two outriggers located in the inboard engine pods. The two pilots sat above the fuselage in a fighter-style bubble canopy, and the navigator/observer sat in the partially glazed nose. Defensive armament consisted of just two radar-aimed cannons, operated by the copilot and located in the tail.

Why only two guns in the tail? When the B-47 made its debut, it could fly higher and faster than any fighters of the day.

However, it was the first large swept-wing aircraft. Following the dictum that “experience is a hard teacher as it often gives the test before the lesson,” the B-47 was developed carefully. The prototype suffered from a serious case of Dutch roll, a motion caused by a yaw condition inherent in swept-wing aircraft. The incorporation of a yaw damper, now commonplace, solved the problem. The prototype also pitched up at high speed, triggered by the stalling of the outer wing section. This was solved by adding vortex generators, now ubiquitous on modern jet aircraft.

By early 1949, it was time to let the world know what the Boeing engineers had created. The XB-47 flew from Moses Lake, Washington, to Washington, D.C., at an average speed of 606 mph, covering 2,289 miles in 3 hours and 46 minutes. This flight spelled the end for the competing designs, and eventually more than 2,000 B-47 Stratojets were built in various configurations, a production number now considered unheard of for a jet bomber.

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But the B-47 was not without its problems. Pilots who had grown up on piston-powered World War II aircraft had to adapt to this new jet, which demanded to be flown exactly by the numbers. With a moment’s inattention, the sleek B-47 could easily accelerate beyond its maximum design speed with disastrous results. At 40,000 feet, the aircraft introduced its pilots to the concept of coffin corner, where the gap between stall speed and maximum Mach number is quite small. Slow down and enter a stall; speed up and risk Mach tuck as the nose may pitch down uncontrollably.

The B-47’s flexible wing, great for high-speed flight, introduced the concept of aileron reversal. At 450 knots at low altitude, the ailerons, located at the wing tips, acted like trim tabs and simply twisted the thin wing without turning the airplane. The only way to restore control was to slow down. Next time you look out at the wing of a modern airliner, note that ailerons are placed both at the tip for low-speed flight and at the wing root for high-speed flight.

You can thank the lessons learned from the B-47 for that innovation. However, they came at a high cost: Approximately 10 percent of the B-47 fleet—203 aircraft and, sadly, 464 flight crewmembers—were lost to accidents. All completely unacceptable today, but at the time, it was the price of progress into the jet age.

If the B-47 is the mother jet, who are its famous children? The legendary Boeing B-52, which may fly for nearly 100 years, was the first to benefit. But the real winner was the Boeing 367-80, or known simply as the “Dash 80.” Boeing bet the company on developing the world’s first successful jet airliner, and the Dash 80 begat the 707, which begat the 747, which begat the 787. They all sported the same 35-degree swept wings, pod-mounted engines, and swept tail feathers as the B-47. Oh, yes, and a yaw damper, vortex generators, and various other innovations learned from the Stratojet.

So, as you take your seat for the next airline trip, look around you. Note the basic configuration of your Boeing or Airbus. It is little changed from the original Boeing 707 and the Dash 80, and you can thank Schairer, the groundbreaking engineers and skilled aircrews, and the incredible Boeing B-47 Stratojet for that.

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Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in the Nov/Dec 2023 issue of Plane & Pilot magazine.

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This Incredible Plane: T-38 Talon

Frank Ayers — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 14:08:35 +0000

Name a 60-year-old airplane that has trained more than 50,000 pilots, is the ride of choice for NASA astronauts, and looks just as elegant as any of the latest supersonic jets on the ramp today. That describes the Northrop T-38 Talon.

Slender, graceful, supersonic, and highly maneuverable all apply here. Yet, the T-38 has managed to be forgiving enough to allow aspiring young U.S. Air Force pilots, with a little more than 100 hours flight time in their logbooks, to solo in it in just 10 to 12 hours. All of this may explain its more than 60 years of service training pilots in a wide variety of additional roles. So where did this story begin?

The year is 1953. The Air Force is in the middle of developing the Century Series of jet fighters, beginning with the F-100 Super Sabre and progressing through a line of ever larger, more powerful, and faster aircraft, the lone exception being the lightweight and very powerful F-104 Starfighter. Northrop Aviation, having become aware of the small-but-powerful General Electric J-85 jet engine, decided a true lightweight fighter propelled by two of these 3,000-pound thrust (with afterburner) engines was in order. The company felt its low- cost “hot rod” might outperform the Century Series fighters and not break the U.S. Treasury while doing it.

The airplane that emerged, designated the N-156, set the design for the more than 2,500 F-5 “Freedom Fighters” that would serve for nearly six decades with air forces around the world. The design featured two J-85 engines (with afterburner) mounted in tandem within a removable tail cone. The aircraft featured modest low-aspect-ratio wings, large all-moving stabilators, and an elegant single vertical tail. The cockpit section, mounted forward of the split inlets, was relatively roomy, well laid out, and featured outstanding visibility around the slender nose section. Despite its success as an export fighter, the F-5 didn’t match it at home, serving primarily in the aggressor role. However, the design became an immediate contender to replace the aging T-33 Shooting Star (itself a derivative of the original single-seat Lockheed P-80) in the 1958 U.S. Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) advanced trainer competition.

The subsequent airplane, the T-38A Talon—bereft of the F-5’s armaments, hardpoints, and war paint—featured a slightly lengthened nose section, gleaming white paint, and a tandem canopy. These modifications turned the relatively stubby F-5 into a graceful beauty, often dubbed the “White Rocket.” These good looks were matched by the Talon’s stunning performance. In 1962, a T-38A wrested the 3,000-, 6,000-, 9,000-, and 12,000-meter records for absolute time to climb from the significantly more powerful F-104 Starfighter. To be fair, an F-4 Phantom reclaimed these records a month later, but it took the combined thrust of the two 18,000- pound J-79 engines to beat the little Mach 1.3 T-38.

The T-38 entered service as the Air Force advanced trainer in 1961 and continues in that role today, even as it is being replaced by the Boeing-Saab T-7 Red Hawk. More than 1,000 examples were constructed between 1961 and 1972. During those 60 years, the Air Force has been one of the few armed services in the world to turn loose its senior flight students in a supersonic jet.

Northrop T-38 Talons from Beale AFB and Randolph AFB on the ramp at MCAS Miramar, California. [Adobe Stock]

Over its lifetime, there have been many variants of the T-38, but the Air Force has primarily relied on three. In addition to the basic T-38A, an AT-38B variant was developed for “fighter lead in training” at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. The B variant adds a basic gunsight and weapons pods to the airframe to help pilots make the transition from UPT to advanced fighter maneuvers. More recently, nearly 500 T-38A models were modified by the Boeing Co. to the T-38C configuration. These modifications increased the power and reliability of the original J-85 engines, enlarged the engine inlets to help the engines breathe better, strengthened the wings and tail feathers, and modernized the cockpit with digital/head-up display (HUD) technology.

And then there is the T-38N. In the early days of NASA, astronauts flew a variety of military jets to remain proficient, including the aging F-102 Delta Dagger. However, it quickly became clear that a cost-effective airframe for astronaut travel and proficiency was needed. Enter the Talon. Since 1961 NASA has operated a fleet of as many as 32 T-38N variants. These T-38s have been upgraded with weather radar, modern flight management systems, and improved communication systems to allow for their frequent travel in the National Airspace System.

And the N models sport the space agency’s iconic paint scheme, featuring the NASA stripe down the fuselage and logo on the tail. During the space shuttle years, the T-38N was the primary means of transport for astronauts from Houston to Cape Canaveral in Florida. Every prelaunch press conference was conducted in front of a covey of gleaming NASA T-38s lending their stunning good looks to the occasion. And finally, no image of the space shuttle landing test program would be complete without a pair of T-38s flying chase.

A pair of T-38 Talons permanently ready to launch at Johnson Space Center in Houston. [Adobe Stock]

For most people, the most iconic representation of the T-38 is the livery of the Air Force Thunderbirds. During the early 1970s gas shortages, the T-38 fit the bill as an economical yet high-performance demonstration aircraft. From 1974 until a tragic accident in 1982 during practice that claimed the lives of the four diamond pilots, the Air Force Thunderbirds flew the T-38 in flight demonstrations around the country. Additionally, SR-71, U2, B1, B2, and B-52 pilots, among others, flew the T-38 as a low-cost way to keep their edge.

So, this prompts the question: What is it like to fly the T-38? The more than 50,000 pilots who have flown the aircraft would tell you it flies as well as it looks. With the power to perform beautiful, 6,000- foot loops, a 720-degree-per-second roll rate, and 170-knot final approach speed, the airplane responds to the pilot’s slightest commands with immediate response. And hats off to T-38 instructor pilots (IPs). Since the T-38 does not feature the “stadium seating”—the instructor seat mounted well above the student’s—of more modern trainers, T-38 IPs master landing from the back seat without actually being able to see their touchdown point. And landing is the best part—just aim about 500 feet short of the runway threshold, and at the last second, pull back slightly on the stick, and the Talon will smoothly touchdown at the cruise speed of a Cirrus SR20 every time.

As mentioned, the Talon is scheduled to remain in service until the end of the decade, while its successor, the Boeing-Saab T-7 Red Hawk, comes online. When they finally retire, maybe more will find their way into private hands, just like the P-51 Mustangs that grace the air show circuit. So, next time you are at an airshow, look for this incredible plane lighting up the sky.

This article first appeared in the August 2023 print edition of Plane & Pilot.

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20th Anniversary of Final Scheduled Concorde Flights

Jeff Berlin — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 16:16:25 +0000

“Paris is always a good idea.”

Though Audrey Hepburn didn’t actually deliver that line in her 1954 film Sabrina, it’s widely attributed to her, and having lived in Paris for three years, I couldn’t agree more. To this day, I never need an excuse to go. I’d happily hop the pond to La Ville-Lumière for the opening of an envelope.

But on one day in April 2000, Paris became a great idea, an incredible idea, une très, très bonne idée—no, that’s not hyperbolic enough. On one April day, Paris became the best idea ever, as I booked myself on Air France Flights AF001 and AF002 aboard Concorde for a round trip from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (KJFK) to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport (LFPG).

To say a flight on Concorde (not “the” Concorde) was unlike one on any other commercial aircraft is an understatement. The delta-winged Concorde was a truly unique airplane and an extraordinary feat of aeronautical engineering, especially for its time. Incorporating groundbreaking technologies like fly-by-wire, it was as stunning and graceful as it was swift, scorching the stratosphere at altitudes high enough to make a flat-earther blush. On my particular flights, we got up to FL580 and Mach 2.02—faster than a bullet and high enough to plainly see the curvature of the Earth.

From its first flight a few months before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon to its first commercial flights in 1976—G-BOAA, London to Bahrain and F-BVFA, Paris to Rio de Janeiro via Dakar, Senegal—to its final flights 27 years later, Concorde captured hearts, minds, and dreams around the world. Coincidentally, F-BVFA is also the airplane I flew on from New York City to Paris. It is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

Tuesday, October 24 marks the 20th anniversary of the final scheduled commercial flights of Concorde. On that day, British Airways Concorde G-BOAG, as BA002, took off from JFK, with chief pilot Mike Bannister at the controls, and landed at London’s Heathrow Airport (EGLL) a scant few hours later, but not before “Alpha Golf” formed up with two other Concordes for a low formation pass over London.

Alpha Golf is now on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. On its way to retirement—because of course it did—G-BOAG set a New York-to-Seattle speed record of 3 hours, 55 minutes, 2 seconds, flying supersonic over Canada along the way. As one would expect, Concorde holds many speed records, including the fastest Atlantic crossing and New York to London in 2 hours, 52 minutes, 59 seconds.

The final scheduled passenger flight for an Air France Concorde came earlier in 2003 on May 31. That morning, Concorde F-BTSD, as AF001, departed JFK at 8:15 a.m. and landed at 4:30 p.m. local time in Paris. That airframe is on display near Paris at the National Air and Space Museum of France, located at Paris Airport-Le Bourget (LFPB) .

There are just three Concordes on display in the U.S. In addition to the two mentioned earlier, British Airways G-BOAD is preserved at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.

I recently caught up with both Bannister and John Tye, another British Airways Concorde captain, and asked them both what they thought about this anniversary.

“I was fortunate enough to fly that last flight from New York to London,” said Bannister. “Every time I go to Brooklands [Museum near London] and look at the stylish lines of our Concorde there, she still looks like she was designed only a few years ago, very 21st century. I also still find it difficult to get my mind around just how technically advanced she was—an aeroplane that could carry 100 passengers 1,350 miles per hour across the Atlantic in great safety. We did something then that can’t be done now.

“When we look at Concorde, there is nothing like it today. It’s amazing to think that the last flight was 20 years ago. It seems like yesterday, both literally and metaphorically.”

Tye wasn’t flying any of the final flights.

“I was at a beach bar in Barbados, rum and coke in hand and tears streaming down my face as I watched Mike land that last airplane,” Tye said. “On October 24, there will be a big crew reunion at Brooklands. All flight crew, cabin crew, ground staff, 196 people coming together. Concorde is an aluminum tube. It’s the people who brought her alive, made her so special. We were just the privileged ones who got to fly Concorde and get paid for it—absolutely astonishing.”

Look for more in 2024 from FLYING Media Group on Concorde. I will detail not only my own experiences flying on the airplane but also bring you along as we meet the pilots who flew Concorde and get into the weeds with them about what she was really like to fly.

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