Boeing B-47 Stratojet Multi-Variant History Package for FS9

[Mick]

David and I have really outdone ourselves this time. Here is our latest release:

Boeing B-47 Stratojet Multi-Variant History Package for FS9

This package celebrates the service career of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet, one of the most important U.S. Air Force aircraft of the 1950s and 1960s, and the plane that set the pattern for generations of later bombers and jet transports. Included are twenty models, depicting the XB-47, B-47A, B-47B early and late, TB-47B, WB-47B, XB-47D turboprop, B-47E early and late, EB-47E Air Force and Navy, WB-47E, QB-47E, RB-47E, NRB-47E, RB-47H early and late, and RB-47K, three panels, two sound sets, and thirty-four authentic skins depicting the B-47 in the colors and markings of the Strategic Air Command, Military Air Transport Command, Air Training Command, Air Research & Development Command, Air Materiel Command, Air Proving Ground Command, Systems Command and the U.S. Navy.

I might add that it also celebrates David's service working on real B-47s when he was in the Air Force.

Here are a couple of the planes in the package. With apologies to the late Herr Galland for swiping the title of his memoirs, here are "The First And The Last"

First, the first XB-47 prototype, first flown in December 1947:

Attachment 82513

And the last, an EB-47E operated by McDonnell-Douglas for the U.S. Navy as an electronic aggressor and for ECM testing. It made the last flight of an operational Stratojet thirty years later, in December 1977.

Attachment 82514

[Mick]

Here's an interesting one.

Yes, the B-47 had a combat record. While the Strategic Air Command's bombardment wings were practicing the command's motto, "Peace Is Our Profession," the strategic reconnaissance wings were engaged in a low key but deadly shooting war with the Communist bloc. At least two RB-47s were shot down and others were attacked and damaged.

April 27, 1965 B-47H 53-4290 killed an attacking North Korean MiG-17 that, apparently directed by an inept radar intercept controller, flew into the tail turret's 30 degree cone of fire and was last seen trailing smoke and fire as it spun down into either the sea or a low cloud deck, depending on which witness statement is correct. The RB kept its recorders humming throughout the engagament and the wing's official history says the kill was confirmed by communications intelligence intercepts. 53-4290 survived the battle and returned safely to base in Japan, but was shot up so badly that it never flew again.

The pods hung from the rear fuselage and the outer wing panels are part of the Silver King upgrade.

Attachment 82515

[Mick]

Here's one we don't see much written about.

Some sources say that the XB-47D was never meant to be anything but a test bed for those big turboprop engines. Another says that a production turboprop B-47 was considered seriously. Compared with regular jet B-47s, it would've had similar speed and altitude capability and much better range, and lack of range was the Stratojet's worse failing - wags said that the B-47 would be the perfect bomber for a war against Canada or Mexico. Whetever the Air Force really thought, only two XB-47Ds were built and they did valuable work as test beds.

Attachment 82516

[Mick]

The Military Air Transport Service's Airways and Air Communications Service had two updates B-47Bs, one only briefly and 51-2120 for a long time. Its mission was to test high altitude navigation aids to help the Federal Aviation Administration adapt its system for the new jet transports coming into service. Since it would be operating in airspace crowded with slower propliners when near major airports, the plane took on a series of progressively eye-catching liveries.

First it looked like any other high visibility Stratojet with International orange nose, rear fuselage band and wingtips. The typical MATS fin band read, "AACS," which stood for Airways and Air Communications Service. We didn't paint it because we have other Stratojets in that same basic livery.

Next 51-2120 lost the orange nose and gained big orange flashes on the fuselage and fin, much like those seen in red on some other AACS planes. But the fin band now read "AFCS" and the fuselage titles read, "Air Force Communications Service." Here's 51-2120 in that livery:

Attachment 82519

Then things became a bit curious. Next, 51-2120 acquired a new paint job and a name. But first, note that the fin band now reads "AACS" again. We don't know what happened to the Air Force Communications Service, but the Airways And Air Communications Service was back in business.

Whatever the proper name of the service, MATS was so pleased with their shiny new Stratojet that the held a command-wide contest to pick a name for it, to be painted on her nose when she received her new overall white livery. The winning name was, "Navaider." But something else curious happened:

Attachment 82520

Somehow, when her new name was painted on her nose, it was spelled, "Sweet Marie." We don't know if that name was inspired by the Bob Dylan song, "Absolutely Sweet Marie," but the song and the airplane were contemporaries, so maybe...

[Mick]

"Sweet Marie" was a fancy dresser, but this is what the majority of MATS Stratojets looked like:

Attachment 82521

[Mick]

Not all of them though! The Air Weather Service wasn't averse to color. The sole WB-47B, prototype for a fleet of WB-47Es, started out looking like the plane in the post above, except that she retained the early, more extensive anti-flash white undersurfaces from her time as a SAC bomber. First she gained some flashy red trim:

Attachment 82522

After a while the trim was repainted in International orange and it became more extensive around the nose and rear fuselage.

Attachment 82523

Finally, her undersides white was brought up to cover the vertical fin:

Attachment 82524

[anels9]

Thanks very much you two. very nicely done

[ian elliot]

Great package, great to have an RB, think i'll take a look over Cuba this afternoon

[Mick]

Here's a transitional sequence of bomber paint schemes.

The first B-47s weren't nuclear capable (something not reported at the time!) That's because the Atomic Energy Commission, which was in a charge of the bombs, refused to release information to the aircraft manufacturers about things like weight, dimensions, center of gravity, type and location of mounting lugs and so on - all the while insisting that it was the manufacturers' job to design their aircraft around the bombs. So earlier Stratojets didn't need any protection against nuclear flash, and they remained in overall natural metal like this one from the 306th Bombardment Wing, the first B-47 unit in the Strategic Air Command:

Attachment 82536

Note the briefly worn WW2/Korea style fin marking.

Once the B-47 became nuclear-capable, the Air Force saw a need to protect the planes from the intensive heat and flash from nuclear explosions. A flash protection scheme was developed that covered the undersides of the wings and stabilizers, the lower half of the fuselage and the portion of the fuselage under the wings and stabilizers in a special white anti-flash paint. This plane from the 320th Bombardment Wing displays that scheme:

Attachment 82537

That scheme didn't last long. David worked on B-47s for years and says he never saw one painted like that. One source suggests that the special paint adhered poorly and tells a story about a SAC wing commander who garnered kudos at an inspection for his well-maintained airplanes after he had his ground crews slather his bombers with house paint. Whether or not that's true, it wasn't long before a new, less extensive anti-flash scheme appeared. This plane from the 19th Bomb Wing shows it:

Attachment 82538

This is what most SAC bombers looked like for most of the type's service life.

[Mick]

Another colorful paint job:

When advances in the Soviet air defense system made high altitude bombing too dangerous, the Air Force decided to send in its bombers at low altitude using a bomb toss technique. The bomber would ingress at low altitude, pull up and release the bomb in an upward arc, follow through into a half Cuban eight, dive and escape at low altitude. It sounds dicey but the result was described as "surprisingly accurate." To test the maneuver a B-47E was painted up and used for testing:

Attachment 82539

No, those aren't windows along the side of the bomb bay. They were some kind of photographic markings.

After the tests were conducted by Boeing the plane was salvaged without ever being delivered to the Air Force. The junking of a brand new airplane after the tests might suggest that the maneuvers were too much for the B-47, but the technique was introduced and practiced by SAC's bomb wings. The B-47 was aerobatic and the bomb toss maneuver wasn't a problem. What was a problem was the stresses induced by the high speed, low altitude penetration and escape. Wings broke, planes crashed, and after an extensive and expensive modification program the problem continued. It didn't help when the Air Force replaced the bomb toss maneuver with a low altitude lay-down technique and the B-47 fleet was retired as soon as there were enough B-52s and B-58s to take over the nuclear attack mission. It's been reported that the issue was kept from Soviet intelligence so that the US could gain some worthwhile reciprocal trade-off in nuclear arms reduction agreements for the B-47 withdrawal.

[Mick]

A couple more colorful Stratojets.

When David suggested this project I thought it would be easy for me as a painter. I'd seen that colorful WB-47, but aside from that I figured all B-47s looked pretty much alike, some had white undersides and some not, but I didn't think they ever had much color. Wrong!

This QB-47E drone is one of the more garish Stratojets:

Attachment 82540

And there's this one from the Air Force Flight Test Center:

Attachment 82541

And the ECM test plane:

Attachment 82542

[anels9]

Mick, I’ve noticed some bleeding through of the model (you can see the sky/ground). I’ve emailed david but haven’t got anything back, maybe you could possibly email him on my behalf please

[this4dave2]

Alex:

I answered your email a couple of days ago.

Over the last 2 days as time allowed I have been checking various different models in the flightsim how ever i do not see what you described as model bleed through. Can you please take a screen shot of what you are seeing and send it to me.

the only thing i can see resembling what you are calling bleed through is in the Navigators compartment which is actually looking in a window on one side of the fuselage and out the window on the opposite fuselage side.

please clarify

David

[Mick]

Here's one more data point. I just looked at every skin on every model and couldn't see any bleed-through. This time I was looking for it, so it's not just that it slipped past me because I was concentrating on something else.

I also did an experiment with settings. I turned off reflectivity and saw that it only turns off reflections on reflective textures; it does not make the textures transparent. So that's not it. OK, so two data points.

No solution though...

[Mick]

A screenie might offer a clue...

[Mick]

A new entry has been added to Add-Ons Library, category FS 2004 Military - Jets

Description: This is a fix for a couple of little glitches on the engine pod textures in the B-47 History Package. Installs simply with just a couple clicks. Corrections by Mick.

To check it out, rate it or add comments, visit B-47 Package Texture Fix
The comments you make there will appear in the posts below.