Travis Butler
Well-Known Member
(All pics from the Strategic Air & Space Museum, unless otherwise noted.)
Once upon a time, there was a plane called the B-45 Tornado...
20240902-SDIM2378 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Sigma fp, Konica Hexanon 28/3.5
Right after World War II, the US Air Force was pushing hard to bring their bomber fleet into the Jet Age. Boeing, coming off its hits with the B-17:
20240902-SDIM2462 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Vivitar 28/2.5 (Kiron)
And the B-29:
20240902-SDIM2309 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Vivitar 28/2.5 (Kiron)
Came up with a really whizzy wave-of-the-future design, the B-47:
20230708-SDIM6293 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Konica Hexanon 35-70/3.5-4.5, from the Kansas Aviation Museum; the SA&S B-47 was too crowded to get a good shot of:
20240902-SDIM2359 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Konica Hexanon 28/3.5
But because the B-47 was so futuristic, the Air Force wanted a backup, just in case it didn't work out. North American Aviation was no slouch, having created the classic P-51 fighter and B-25 Mitchell:
20240902-SDIM2416 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Hexanon 28/3.5
So they got the nod to create a more traditional jet bomber design with the B-45.
It was indeed less whizzy, with traditional straight wings instead of the swept wings of the B-47. Sadly, it also ended up stodgy.
20240902-SDIM2379 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Hexanon 28/3.5
Even pudgy, when you look at details like the thick jet nacelles, compared to the elegantly slender mounts on the B-47:
20240902-SDIM2417v1.dng by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Hexanon 28/3.5
The nose isn't really its fault - this was a reconnaissance version, and it needed the extra bulged nose to fit cameras - but it certainly didn't help its looks. (Reminds me of a pug dog.)
And so the B-45 proved an also-ran. During this visit, the museum was treating it like one, too, crowding various displays around it and leaving it stuck far away in a corner.
20240902-SDIM2380 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Hexanon 28/3.5
20240902-SDIM2417 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Hexanon 28/3.5
North American's bad fortune continued with the XB-70 a decade later, one of the most beautiful planes ever to me - but developed at a time when it looked like the manned bomber was about to become obsolete, so it became a research program with only two planes built... and one of them was lost in a tragic accident.
A decade after that, and after North American's merger with Rockwell International, the Air Force decided the manned bomber wasn't so obsolete after all, and North American Rockwell got to try again with the B-1:
20240902-SDIM2524 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Vivitar 28/2.5 (Kiron)
20240902-SDIM2515 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Vivitar 28/2.5 (Kiron)
And this time, after some waffling, they finally had a hit.
20240902-SDIM2530 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Hexanon 28/3.5
Once upon a time, there was a plane called the B-45 Tornado...
20240902-SDIM2378 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Sigma fp, Konica Hexanon 28/3.5
Right after World War II, the US Air Force was pushing hard to bring their bomber fleet into the Jet Age. Boeing, coming off its hits with the B-17:
20240902-SDIM2462 by Travis Butler, on FlickrVivitar 28/2.5 (Kiron)
And the B-29:
20240902-SDIM2309 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Vivitar 28/2.5 (Kiron)
Came up with a really whizzy wave-of-the-future design, the B-47:
20230708-SDIM6293 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Konica Hexanon 35-70/3.5-4.5, from the Kansas Aviation Museum; the SA&S B-47 was too crowded to get a good shot of:
20240902-SDIM2359 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Konica Hexanon 28/3.5
But because the B-47 was so futuristic, the Air Force wanted a backup, just in case it didn't work out. North American Aviation was no slouch, having created the classic P-51 fighter and B-25 Mitchell:
20240902-SDIM2416 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Hexanon 28/3.5
So they got the nod to create a more traditional jet bomber design with the B-45.
It was indeed less whizzy, with traditional straight wings instead of the swept wings of the B-47. Sadly, it also ended up stodgy.
20240902-SDIM2379 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Hexanon 28/3.5
Even pudgy, when you look at details like the thick jet nacelles, compared to the elegantly slender mounts on the B-47:
20240902-SDIM2417v1.dng by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Hexanon 28/3.5
The nose isn't really its fault - this was a reconnaissance version, and it needed the extra bulged nose to fit cameras - but it certainly didn't help its looks. (Reminds me of a pug dog.)
And so the B-45 proved an also-ran. During this visit, the museum was treating it like one, too, crowding various displays around it and leaving it stuck far away in a corner.
20240902-SDIM2380 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Hexanon 28/3.5
20240902-SDIM2417 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Hexanon 28/3.5
North American's bad fortune continued with the XB-70 a decade later, one of the most beautiful planes ever to me - but developed at a time when it looked like the manned bomber was about to become obsolete, so it became a research program with only two planes built... and one of them was lost in a tragic accident.
A decade after that, and after North American's merger with Rockwell International, the Air Force decided the manned bomber wasn't so obsolete after all, and North American Rockwell got to try again with the B-1:
20240902-SDIM2524 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Vivitar 28/2.5 (Kiron)
20240902-SDIM2515 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Vivitar 28/2.5 (Kiron)
And this time, after some waffling, they finally had a hit.
20240902-SDIM2530 by Travis Butler, on Flickr
Hexanon 28/3.5