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B-49 Alternate HistoryFlying Wing Alternate HistoryThe release of the AMT/ERTL X/YB-35 and YB-49 kits sparked a thread of"what-if" speculations on the rec.models.scale newsgroup. Here'ssome of the best: The Beginner's Guide to the B-49A Brief Operational HistoryBy Glen Broman, former AC49E PIC and Squadron Gunnery Officer PART I: THE EARLY YEARSOn 25 June, 1946, an aircraft unlike anything seen before, or since,rose from the Northrop Company airfield. The first flight of theXB-35 proved the concept of the flying wing was viable and began thecareer of the world famous B-35/49 family that wrote a magnificentchapter in the annals of aviation history. The XB-35 attained amaximum speed of 391 MPH and the fuselage provided 4,000 square feetof lifting area. The aircraft carried 18,000 gallons of fuel and had arange of 10,000 miles with a 41,200 pound bomb load. The 4thPrototype YB-35A carried a defensive armament of 20 .50 calibermachine guns. During fighter defense capability trials, MAJ Fritz,"Bubba" Witkowski, the F-51 pilot who flew most of the aggressorflights, when asked why he failed to press his attacks against theXB-35 replied, " Hell sir, Y'all ever tried to bite a porcupine in thebutt?". Problems with the reduction gears and propeller governors ledto the development and adoption of the Curtiss-Wright YT 49-W-1Turboprop engine with 10,000 HP. Adoption of these engines increasedthe speed to 450 MPH and increased the bomb load to 50,000 pounds.The B-35 carried a crew of nine plus a relief crew of six. On the 1st of June, 1945, a contract was issued to Northropfor a jet engined version to be powered by eight Allison J35-A-5engines of 4,000 pounds thrust. The eight jet version weighed 88,100pounds with a normal loaded weight of 205,000 pounds. On the 21st ofOctober 1947, the XB-49 took to the skies. (This was aircraft number42-102367, now in the National Air and Space Museum) Top speed of theXB-49 was 520 MPH with a service ceiling of 42,000 feet.. The 17,545gallons of fuel gave a range of 4,450 miles with a 36,760 pounds ofbombs. Unfortunately, the second prototype YB-49 crashed at MurocField. This aircraft was piloted by MAJ Glen Edwards, after the crashMuroc was renamed Edwards AFB. This setback did not alter the resultsof the fierce fly-off between the Convair challenger, the ungainly andill-fated YB- 36A. Northrop was issued a contract for seriesproduction of the B-49A bomber. The contract also called for a sixjet powered version, the YRB-49A, which flew on May 4th, 1950. The six5,000 pound thrust Allison J35-A-19 engines improved the speed andservice ceiling. The B-49A had a wingspan of 172 feet, a length of 53feet and a height of 20 feet. The testing which followed proved the soundness of the radicaldesign and more production contracts were awarded to Northrop and the"Stratowing" eventually formed the backbone of the Strategic AirCommand for the next thirty years. The first order for 10 B49As wasfollowed by an order for 398 B49Bs with eight GE J47-GE-11 and -23engines with 5,800 pounds of thrust with a top speed over 600 MPH anda bombing range of 3,000 miles. The first B49C flew on January 30th,1953 with 8 J47-GE-25A engines with 6,000 pound of thrust and tworadar directed 20mm guns in the tail cone and carried improvedavionics. Top speed was 630 MPH with a cruising speed of 496MPH. TheB49D (and RB49D) was the first "wet wing" version with the wing itselfforming the fuel cell. The B49D had a range of 10,000 miles and alsocarried the new Pratt and Whitney J57-P-3 jets with 9,000 pounds ofthrust which increased the service ceiling to 50,000 feet and gave arate of climb of 2,400 feet per minute. The B49D also was the first tocarry two North American GAM-77 Hound Dog missiles. Of course, theHound Dog equipped B49Ds were nicknamed "Elvis's" by their crews. Rapid development of the B49 followed with improvements inengines, avionics and weapon systems. The following is a list of mostof the significant versions of the B49. B49E: Only two built, used as a launch vehicle for the X-15flight test program at Edwards AFB. RB49F: This was a photo-recon version only. Due to thesensitive nature of this aircraft's mission, the Air Force has neverreleased anything other than grainy photographs of this aircraft andthe pictures of the wreckage of the aircraft shot down over Russia in1962 that Kruschev released during his stormy visit to the UN reallyamount to nothing more than a pile of aluminum. B49G: This was a Pratt and Whitney J57-P-43-W poweredversion. The six 13,700 pounds of thrust each engine delivers allowsthe B49G to reach an altitude in excess of 60,000 feet with a speed of650 MPH plus.. The B49G was equipped with the ASG remote fire controlsystem and the ASB-9 bombing system. RS49G: This was a reconnaissance/strike version powered by sixGE YJ93-GE-3 continuous afterburning engines. The RS49G was the firstversion to reach sustained Mach 2 flight. It was, however, hamperedoperationally by extremely short legs, having an unrefueled range ofapproximately 40 city blocks. B49H: This version carried a Low Light Television (LLTV)mounted in a blister under the nose. This was the first low levelpenetration model with a new strengthened wing. It carried one ASG-2120mm gatling gun in the tail pod and carried four Douglas GAM-87ASkybolt missiles externally under the wing, later versions carried theShort Range Attack Missile (SRAM). B49J: The "Wild Weasel" version was equipped with fourteendifferent ECM transmitters, carried over 6,000 pounds of chaff, fourQuail decoy missiles and twelve High Speed, Anti- Radiation Missiles(HARM). B49K: The B49K was equipped with eight AGM 68B Air-LaunchedCruise Missiles (ALCM) and was powered by four GE F101 engines with"30,000 pound plus" of thrust and terrain following radar. Top speedwas 760 MPH. This version was sacrificed as part of the SALT I andSALT II negotiations with the Russians but many of the systems andengines were retrofitted to other models. AC49E: The AC49 was born of necessity in the war torn skiesover South Vietnam. The first attempts consisted of eight surplusASG-21 20mm gatling guns. It was wildly successful and really pissedoff the NVA. The AC49E was the definitive version that incorporatedearly stealth technology, having the radar cross section of a Pigeon,and carrying four turret mounted GAU-8 30mm cannon, two 40mm cannon, asoft recoil 203mm (8 inch) cannon and 36 Maverick missiles in tworotary launchers. KC49A: This was the first "wet wing" tanker version with theextended tail boom. The KC49R was the final version with theconformal "fuel canoe". The KC49 was nicknamed the "Manta" due to itsshape with the refuelling probe extended and was unofficially calledthe "Aluminum Bladder" by its crews. EC49Q: This was an offshoot of the Wild Weasel. The firstoperational test of this aircraft in Nevada in 1978 resulted in amajor power blackout over most of the Midwest. The Air Force coverstory claimed that the blackout was actually caused by a UFO. EC49 "AWACS": This experiment was not successful but was,without a doubt, the most spectacular version ever built. PART II: OPERATIONAL USE AND FOREIGN VARIANTS: The last B49 was delivered in 1963. A total of 800 (includingKC49 versions) were built in the United States and possibly another300 were built under license in the United Kingdom, Australia andCanada. After 1975, only about 350 B49 airframes remainedairworthy. These mostly consisted of G/H/and J models. The finalB49J Wild Weasels were retired from the USAF in 1993. The 141st BG ofthe Washington Air National Guard at Fairchild AFB turned in theiraircraft and were declared operational in their new B2s in late 1995. The B49 got its first baptism of fire flying recon missionsduring the Cuban missile crisis but it really reached its zenith inSouth-East Asia. B49s flew 126,615 sorties over Vietnam, losing 29aircraft, only 17 to hostile action. B49 tail guns accounted for twoMIG-21s. The B49D used in SEA had hard points under the wing andcarried 42 750 pound bombs or 84 500 pound bombs of either size on thehardpoints. The B49H was first used for low level penetrations ofNorth Vietnamese airspace during LINEBACKER II and flew over 700sorties against the Hanoi-Haiphong area with amazing accuracy atnight. Despite going "downtown" at low level, only two were lost toground fire and one was lost to a really tall Banyan tree. The B49continued to serve as a faithful warrior in the cold war but did notsee action again until Desert Storm. Early on the morning of 16January, 1991, after Army AH-64 Apaches had blasted a hole in theIraqi forward radar line in Kuwait, six B49J Wild Weasel radarsuppression aircraft blew through the hole at low level and led theCoalition air armada into Iraq while frying the Iraqi search andacquisition radars. Desert Storm B49Js were equipped with 24 HARMSwith 18 in a rotary launcher in the bomb bay and four wingtip mountedAIM-9L Sidewinders for local defense. A B49J is credited withdestroying two MIG 23s in the landing pattern at Ras Suliemanairfield in Iraq. One was destroyed by a Sidewinder missile and thepilot of the second MIG was observed staring intently at the B49J overhis left shoulder as his aircraft slammed into a telephone pole.CENTCOM granted the crew credit for both victories. During the 1980sseveral experiments had been conducted with Joint Army and Air ForceAttack Teams (JAAT) consisting of Army attack helicopters and AirForce A-10 and AC49s. The success of these missions led to thedeployment of the AC49E to Dhamamm in Saudi Arabia in December 1990.During one mission flown with AH-64s from the 101st AviationRegiment, the AC49E "Bad MoFo", piloted by CPT GR "Bad Attitude"Broman was credited with destroying an entire regiment of Iraqi T-72sof the "Hammurabi" division in a single pass. During one of hisbriefings, Gen Schwarzkopf referred to this mission as "the Mother ofall drive-by shootings". It is generally believed that, unless theU.S. goes to war with China, this record will never be broken. In 1962, the first Bomber Demonstration team was formed as aresult of successful lobbying by the Curtis LeMay faction in the AirForce. For the 1962-63 season, six B49Ds with the special red, whiteand blue Thunderbird painted on the aircraft were used and became acrowd favorite at air shows. Both the "Thunderbird" name andtrademark "fluer-de-lis" formation were later adopted by the Air ForceFlight Demonstration Team when the B49s were pulled back to SAC in1963-64 for upgrade. Only one appearance was made with the red, whiteand blue smoke generators on the B49 Thunderbirds, during SEAFAIR '62in Seattle. The tremendous volume of smoke caused it to rain for 193consecutive days and meteorologists claim that weather patterns overthe Puget Sound basin have been permanently affected. However, theresidents of Seattle have yet to notice the difference. The B49 became famous with the American public when a B49Efrom Edwards AFB was used in the remake of Orson Well's War of theWorlds. Who can forget the scene when the giant B49 drops thenuke on the Martians in California during the dramatic finale of the1959 film classic. Foreign and Naval variants: In 1962, an RB-49D crashed in Siberia after "accidentally"violating Soviet airspace 136 times. Unfortunately for the Americans,it pancaked in to the soft tundra and was recovered largely intact bythe Russians. The Soviets copied it and when the Russian jet poweredengines proved unsuccessful, the MIG design bureau designed a highperformance turbofan engine and mated them to the Tupolev airframe.Thus was born the TU-49 "Wingski". Contrary to popular belief, onlyone civil Wingski was ever made. It was used for head of state visitsto the West. The civil Wingski would make a slow pass over everywestern airfield displaying a huge USSR flag painted on its undersidebefore landing. The RAF built the B49 under license in the UK. The RAF calledit the Viking and it became the third aircraft in the famous V bombertriad with the Vulcan and Victor. The major variants were the B.MKIII (B49D) which was equipped with the "Blue Steel" missile and theB.MK IV Viking II (B49G) which was the version the RAF flew non-stopfrom RAF Greenham Common in the UK to completely shred the runway inPort Stanley during the Falklands war. The lead aircraft placed astick of 24 750 pound bombs directly down the center axis of therunway. B49N: This was the Australian version of the B49D. It wasnicknamed the "Boomerang" in RAAF service. Naval variants: The U.S.Navy, the RCAF and the FAA (later RAF)where the only major users of flying wings. All of the operationalnaval versions were B35 turboprop powered aircraft. PBT-1: This was the first ASW version. The final U.S. Navyversion was the PBT-9. Due to an apparent oversight, they were neverrenamed and should have carried the designation S-1. PB2T: This was an ASW B49B but was never adopted by the Navy. CB35B Basselope I: This was the AVRO built RCAF SAR and ASWversion. The CB35C was equipped with skis for Arctic researchmissions during the 1960s. CB35D Basselope II: This was the most numerous RCAF version inCanadian service. This ASW aircraft carried 10 Mark 34 torpedoes andhad an extended tail boom with MAD gear and sonobouy chutes. CB35F Basselope V: This was the PB2T-9 in Canadian service.Considered the definitive navalized version, it carried 24 Mark 46torpedoes and had improved MAD gear. It was claimed the sonar systemcould pick up a salmon fart from 20,000 feet. PART III: CAMOUFLAGE AND MARKINGS Air Force B49s carried the standard natural metal scheme inthe early '50s which was later replaced with the standard SAC whiteundersurfaces and the SAC logo which extended from the cockpit aft tothe wing trailing edge. The "Boys Book of Really Big Planes" liststhree YB-35 and possibly one YB-49 aircraft completed in O.D. overneutral grey but the "Color Police Guide to Aircraft Markings" claimsthat this was really a misinterpretation of orthochromatic color film.Later B49Ds carried the standard SEA scheme with black undersurfaceswhich was gradually replaced by an all black scheme. Many of theaircraft engaged in low-level penetrations during LINEBACKER II in1972 carried a sporty sharkmouth on the undersides. Crews claimed itscared the hell out of NVA gunners. During the 1980s the aircraftwere all gradually repainted using the three tone grey schemesalthough several did sport the EURO I scheme in the Wisconsin and IowaAir National Guard. All AC49Es used in the Gulf were painted gunshipgrey with low viz markings and nose art although one wasexperimentally painted using RAF desert pink. Unfortunately, all ofthe squadron crews were too embarrassed to fly it during daylight. TheCB35B was painted with a high visibility yellow wing and Arctic redwing tips. Navy PBT and PB2T aircraft carried the standard glossy seablue scheme until they were gradually repainted in the gloss gull greyover white scheme in the early 1960s. The "Color Police Guide toAircraft Markings" capably covers most foreign variants with theexception of the TU-49 Wingski. Most TU-49s were in overall naturalmetal but the Byelorussian 4th Guards Bomber Regiment flew severalwith a dark green over light blue scheme with four prominent red starsduring the Moscow flypast commemorating the 25th anniversary of theend of the Great Patriotic War. It is not known if this scheme wasused operationally. It was rumored that it took a single five yearplan's worth of green paint to cover the Regiments aircraft. Theauthor is always interested in additional information on the B35/49and its variants and can be emailed at GRBroman@AOL.COM. Hopefully, I cangather enough for a Squadron/Signal Special. ROCAF B-49sby Wei-Bin Changwei-bin@geocities.com G.R. Broman's story on B49 variants is essentially correct.However, he missed an important chapter: The secret operations ofRB-49F over China flown by ROCAF pilots. As an ROCAF enthusiast, I amhappy to reveal this untold history. The following story is based onreported aircraft sightings in newpapers, my interviews with thepilots, and my own research on ROC government files. As ROCAF neveradmitted such operations, my story might contain some errors. In 1961, six RB-49F were secretly transported to Taiwan by sea.They were based at Taoyuan AB, serving along with the famous U-2.Like the U-2, these RB-49F were also operated by CIA, but pilots werechosen from ROCAF. Prior to the shipment of RB-49, 12 ROCAF pilotshad been secretly sent to Edwards AFB for training. Ten of themreturned to Taiwan in 1961 while the other two were recruited by USAFdue to their excellent skills. It was rumored that the RB-49 shotdown over Russia was co-piloted by one of the two. The unit that operated RB-49F was nicknamed "Black Bat." (FYI,the unit flying U-2 was called "Black Cat.") Its mission is to flyover China's nuclear test sites and take photographs. Reports thatU-2 were responsible for these missions were created by CIA to foolChinese and Russians. In fact, U-2 were only used as decoy since theyhad larger RCS than RB-49F. A typical mission involved an RB-49F anda U-2. After reaching the target area, the U-2 would fly circles toattract the attention from Chinese SAM radars, while RB-49F conductedits recon mission. Although several U-2s were shot down, none ofRB-49Fs flown by ROCAF was ever lost. The ten pilots all received the"Blue-sky-and-white-sun" medal, the highest honor a Taiwanese couldget. A photo showing these pilots with then President Chiang Kai-Shekwas released to the press by accident. Later the Ministry of NationalDefense claimed that these pilots were from the Black Cat squadron.However, the pilots in this photo were wearing a bat-shaped pin ontheir chests. All RB-49Fs were withdrawn to USA in either 1969 or1970. All pilots were also flown to USA and granted US citizenship.They are all protected by the Witness Protection Program. RB-49F based in Taiwan wore overall light gray with a black"shadow" of a fullsize U-2 painted on both sides. It is said thatSquadron/Signal has obtained a photo of ROCAF RB-49F and this photowill be included in the future "B-49 in Action." However, as I calledthem to verify it, CIA cut my phone connection and two agents came tomy apartment warning me to keep my butt off. So this is all I knowabout RB-49 in Taiwan. |
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