I've just watched this movie on BBC2.
Flippin' 'eck, those B-47s were nice looking jets, weren't they?
I've just watched this movie on BBC2.
Flippin' 'eck, those B-47s were nice looking jets, weren't they?
Noisy too, especially on a RATO assisted take-off! ;-)
One thing I could never figure out as a kid was when they taxied why did they sound like someone driving along with the brakes on and no brake pads ?
Richard.
They did one of those in the movie. The jet didn't hang about! The RATO gear was triggered halfway through the take-off roll and the kick in the pants that it gave the jet was very impressive indeed.
Oh and another reason not to kick the BBC, especially BBC2 where it's not broken up either side of the news! No adverts! ;-)
Richard.
Richard I believe the sound was a chacteristic of what I think was called a expander tube braking system which was in use back then. There are probably some out there that can tell us if the B-47 had this style of braking system.
Mike
Richard Brooks wrote:
Ahhh! Thanks for that Mike.
Next question. On one of the open days at SAC Brize Norton I remember, as a kid stroking one of the tyres of a B-47 and getting stabbed by a thin hard piece of steel wire then noticing that there were many of them sticking out. My brother (who then went on to serve with the USAF in Vietnam) told me after asking one of the serving men, that it was something to do with static drain.
Is this true or was it to reduce wear and tear ?
Richard.
Just a telly tax...
There's the noise, but what about the filth? I remember that movie and the planes taking off left a lot of soot behind them. It was pretty impressive. B52's did that too, but more so!
--- Stephen
That sounds an awful lot like the woven steel cables wearing out of the rubber compound rather than any kind of anti-static device. Those are more often found on the wing and empennage tips where they can dissipate the static while in flight. It *could* have had something to do with grounding the aircraft, but rubber makes a pretty darned good insulator, and I wouldn't depend on anything short of a proper grounding cable. I think that serviceman was spinning a yarn for your brother.
I used to know a guy who was in a B-47 wing. He said that only the first two planes off could actually see the runway in a scramble.
Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.
I suppose we were used to it as kids! In the UK with smog, it was possible to play a game of hide-and-seek whereby you could stand maybe three feet away from your mate and not be seen, so a B-47 taking off was not as bad, even with the wind blowing towards you.
Richard.
Well, he bought it but got a deserved kicking up the arse of reality on camp whilst in service in the States.
He was spotted dropping a cigarette end and had to wrap the cigarette in newspaper, dig a hole 6 foot cubed then place the newspaper in the middle, fill the hole in then dig it out again.
That'll teach him to get taken in! :-)
Anyway, Strategic Air Command - great film and to hell with the companies who won't put these classics on DVD.
Richard.
My Dad was a Crew Chief on B-47, so I asked him. Here is his answer.
HI SON; The aircraft was equiped with the old expander tube type brake with was famous for it sound. The C-124 used the same type brake and they were much worse than the B-47. An expander tube is just what it sounds like, one tube that expands the push the pads out to make contact with the brake drum. They are slow to release that caused the sound. I hope this answard your question.
So, that is one mystery solved.
The early models of the B-52 used water injection on takeoff. That added thrust and soot. Water takeoffs were always a kick in the butt. The worst part was when the water ran out and the plane lost that added thrust. It could be quite a jolt if your pilot didn't react quickly enough.
Jim Williams B-52 Instructor Radar Navigator
wish i could find a diagram...
I don't know if this helps, but here is a pdf from Crane Aerospace with schematics of what they describe as the current incarnation of the braking system designed for the B-47.
what, water? please explain that to me. i understand the german mw50 ethanol but water in a jet? it seems crazy.
Not a diagram, but this should help:
that did it quite well, actually. now if i can find a photo, i will have everything. thank you very much!
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