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Conceptually similar
KB-29P and B-29 Superfortress In-Flight Refueling
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KB-29 Tanker Aerial Refueling F-84 Thunderjets
An entirely new career began for the B-29 Superfortress bomber when the Strategic Air Command decided to use aerial refueling to extend the range of bombers and fighters rather than ordering new, longer range bombers. In 1948, Boeing reactivated its Wichita Plant, nearly idle since the war ended, to convert B-29s into KB-29M tankers. The KB-29Ms had about 240 feet of hose and jettisonable tanks, holding about 2,300 gallons of fuel, installed in their bomb bays. However, hose-type aerial refueling required a slow airspeed and was difficult in poor weather. To solve these problems, Boeing developed the flying boom, an aerodynamically controlled swiveling and telescoping arm that a crew member, using cockpit-like flight controls, guided into a receptacle on top of the receiving aircraft's fuselage. In 1950, KB-29P tankers - B-29s equipped with the Boeing flying boom - began operation. The boom became the aerial transfer system of choice and was subsequently used in the KC-97 tankers, and, later, in the K-135C jet tankers. The development of aerial refueling techniques provided the Air Force with a fleet of fighters and bombers that could fly anywhere in the world without landing for fuel.
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Unique identifier
BI22472
Boeing ID
p12836
Type
Image
Size
5998px × 4796px 27MB
License type
RM
Keywords
1940s
air to air
airplanes
bombers
copy space
day
exteriors
fighters
flying
flying in formation
fuel systems
full body views
haze
historic production status
jets
maintenance
military
military livery
monoplanes
nobody
Non Boeing products
photos
product families
propeller planes
propulsion systems
refueling
right side views
sunshine
tankers
unpainted
vintage / retro
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