American postwar aircraft

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Boeing B-50 Superfortress

B-50 Superfortresses from Strategic Air Command deployed to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, for 90-day rotations to support operations in Korea.

Heavy long range bomber B-50 Superfortress was deployed from the earlier war bomber B-29 Superfortress. KB-50s were B-50 bombers modified as aerial tankers, generally after they had become surplus to Strategic Air Command requirements. These alterations involved the removal of armament and the installation of additional fuel tanks and probe-and-drogue equipment to permit the aerial refueling by hose of up to three fighter-type aircraft at one time. KB-50s went into service with the Tactical Air Command (TAC) in 1957. As the performance of operational jet fighters increased, a J47 jet engine was installed under each wing on some KB-50s to boost speed while refueling and to increase altitude capability. Hayes Aircraft Corporation converted 136 tankers in this manner (KB-50Js and -Ks). Deliveries of these improved tankers to TAC began in early 1958. They were replaced by jet KC-135 tankers in the mid-1960s, but a few were still available in 1965 for use in Southeast Asia for emergency refueling of fighters over hostile territory.

General characteristics
Primary function	Long range heavy bomber
Power plant	Four radial piston Pratt & Whitney R-4360-35 engines
Length	99 ft		30,2 m
Wingspan	141.2 ft		43 m
Wingarea	1,720 sq. ft		159.8 sq. m
Weight	empty	84,714 lb	38,426 kg
	max. takeoff	173,000 lb	78,472 kg
Combat ceiling	35,650 ft		10,900 m
Speed	cruising	244 mph	393 km/h
	max.	395 mph	635 km/h
Rate of climb	sea level	620 ft/min	189 m/min
	combat (max. power)	2,200 ft/min	671 m/min
Combat radius	2,396 miles		3,856 km
Total mission time	20 hours
Maximum load (bombs)	28,000 lb		12,700 kg
Crew	Eight (pilot, co-pilot, engineer, radio-electronic countermeasures operator, left-side gunner, right-side gunner, top gunner, tail gunner)
Armament	13x .50-caliber machine guns
Date deployed	1945
Number built	370

NOTICE: The B 50 that is shown on this page is an RB 50 with the 1370th Photo Mapping Wing, Turner AFB, Ga from 1959 untill the middle to late 60s.
The wing was assigned to the MATS Command at the time. We had operations in many parts of the world taking pictures for map making and electronic measuring of distance for maps etc.
Robert Cassube

Jirka Wagner