FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0851.PDF
20 June 1958 867 Republic F-105B Thunderchief. Below, Northrop N-156F. several versions to serve a variety of functions. All are powered by asingle Pratt and Whitney J75 turbojet, rated at about 23,500 lb maximum thrust with afterburner. The aircraft was originally planned in 1952 as a successor to theF-84F fighter/bomber, and the first YF-105A flew on October 22, 1955. Since then the design has been completely altered to improve all aspectsof performance. The basic aeroplane follows traditional Republic lines but is characterized by such features as great size (for a single-seater),an internal weapons bay, spoilers, aft petal speed brakes and unique supersonic engine intakes with swallowed oblique shocks controlled byhydraulically actuated wedges. Like all American combat aircraft the 105 was planned from the outsetas a weapon system; the system is WS-300A, for which another aircraft, the unsuccessful F-107, was also tendered. The basic version, and theonly variant so far released for service, is the F-105B, a single-seat day fighter/bomber. This is intended "to deliver nuclear weapons andheavier loads of conventional bombs and rockets at extremely high speeds over long ranges." Standard equipment includes a flight-refuellingprobe and a T-171 multi-barrel 20 mm gun fed by a two-belt system at 6,000 rds/min. Fire control is governed by a General Electric(LMEED) MA-8 system, which includes radars, an automatic lead- computing sight, a toss-bombing computer and what are described as"other portions to handle all methods of attack." Eclipse-Pioneer supply a central air-data computer and three vertical-scale flight instruments(A.S.I., V.S.I, and altimeter) in the WADC Phase II panel. Power- plant is the J75-P-3, but the P-5 engine will be retro-fitted when available. Later variants include the 105C tandem trainer, the 105D single-seatday fighter/bomber with extra radar and the 105E two-seat all-weather fighter/bomber and mission-profile trainer, all powered by the upratedP-10 engine and the A.W. version having a monopulse radar by N.A.A. Autonetics. The JF-105B is a systems test vehicle "reflecting the changefrom the original photo-reconnaissance to other reconnaissance methods." Total production orders stand at $347m, representing about 180 aircraft.Approximately 600 were to have been ordered—all for the U.S.A.F. Tactical Air Command—but the programme is at present being stretched out to a lower production rate. It is possible that the 105 may besupplied to NATO air forces; it may even be built in Europe, perhaps with a European engine.F-105B.- Span, 34ft llin; length, 63/t lin; height, 19/r Sin; gross weight, over 30,000 Ib; max. speed, about 1,400 m.p.h. BOMBERS AND STRIKE Boeing B-47 Stratojet Some 1,500 of these familiar six-jet aircraftare serving with the U.S.A.F., the majority with medium bomb wings of S.A.C. Chief versions are the B-47E, RB-47E reconnaissance aircraft,ETB-47E multi-purpose trainer and radar aircraft, B-47K photo and weather reconnaissance aircraft and the DB-47E equipped to launcha GAM-63 Rascal missile (picture, page 852). Most of the 47s have now become, in the words of a U.S.A.F. general, "somewhat tired" fromtheir arduous flying for several years. About 1,400 are being strengthened by their original builders (Boeing Wichita, Lockheed Marietta andDouglas Tulsa) to fit them for further years of such duties as low-altitude missions and toss bombing. Boeing B-S2 Stratofortress As the spearhead of the U.S.A.F. StrategicAir Command, the B-52 is an aeroplane of the first importance. It is the only truly competitive delivery system capable of penetrating to anypart of any country from a U.S.A.F. base. Its production has involved firms in every one of the 48 states and has so far absorbed some$5,000,000,000, to which must be added about half as much again for airfields and supporting services.The basic vehicle was described, with a cutaway drawing, in our issue of November 15 last. On the enormous wing are hung four nacelleseach housing a pair of Pratt and Whitney J57 turbojets of some 13,000 lb (wet) thrust each. In most aircraft now in S.A.C. squadrons fuel ishoused in cells along the wing and top of the fuselage and in large underwing tanks, to a total of 29,000 to 32,000 Imp. gal. The crew ofsix comprise two pilots, navigator, bomb-aimer and countermeasures operator grouped in the two-deck pressurized nose, and a gunner in apressurized tail compartment fitted with fourO.SOin guns (two 20 mm in early B-52s) controlled by an advanced monopulse radar and opticalsystem. The bomb bay, which lies between the fore and aft steerable trucks of the landing gear, can accommodate any U.S.A.F. store; and,for reconnaissance missions, the bay doors can be removed and a special capsule inserted containing a battery of cameras and two operators. The YB-52 flew in April 1952. First delivery from Seattle took placein 1955, and second-source output from Wichita started at the end of that year. Some 350 have now been built, the current rate of 15 permonth being lower than originally programmed and stretching out pro- duction to enable a greater proportion of the total order to be of improvedversions. Major versions include the B-52C (weight rise to 450,000 lb, built atSeattle, convertible bomber/reconnaissance), the B-52D (bomber only, Wichita and Seattle), the E (improved systems), the F (new systems,Sundstrand-driven alternators instead of distributed bleed-air power, more powerful engines) and, about to fly, the G. The B-52G is the mostadvanced sub-type, and it differs in having a "wet" integral-tank wing, a
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
