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KB-29 Superfortress Tanker Flight Line
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
BI22468
Boeing ID
p12830
Type
Image
Size
5996px × 4796px 27MB
License type
RM
Keywords
1940s
abundance
adults
airplanes
bombers
clear skies
close-ups
copy space
day
exteriors
flight lines
fuel systems
full body views
ground crews
ground shots
historic production status
male
military
military livery
military personnel
monoplanes
perspective lines
photos
propeller planes
propulsion systems
repetition
right side views
structural systems
sunshine
tail rudders
tails
tankers
tarmac
text
two people
unpainted
vintage / retro
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