Six B-47 Bombers Fell Out of the Sky in Four Days — Their Own Wings Were Cracking

Six B-47 Bombers Fell Out of the Sky in Four Days — Their Own Wings Were Cracking

Summary and Key Points: The B-47 Stratojet is one of the least-celebrated Cold War bombers — and one of the most influential. To build it, Boeing drew on captured German swept-wing research, pairing those wings with a cylindrical fuselage and podded jet engines. B-47 Bomber. Image Credit: U.S. Air Force. -That formula proved so sound it shaped the KC-135 tanker, the Boeing 707, and nearly every airliner since, from the 737 to Airbus. The B-47 wa…