Boeing B-50 Superfortress - Operational History

Operational History

Boeing built 370 of the various B-50 models and variants between 1947 and 1953, the tanker and weather reconnaissance versions remaining in service until 1965.

The first B-50As were delivered in June 1948 to the Strategic Air Command's 43d Bombardment Wing, based at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. The 2d Bombardment Wing at Chatham AFB, Georgia also received B-50As; the 93d Bombardment Wing at Castle AFB, California and the 509th Bombardment Wing at Walker AFB, New Mexico received B-50Ds in 1949. The fifth and last SAC wing to receive B-50Ds was the 97th Bombardment Wing at Biggs AFB, Texas in December 1950. The mission of these wings was to be nuclear capable and in wartime to be able to deliver the atomic bomb on enemy targets if ordered by the President.

The 301st Bombardment Wing at MacDill AFB, Florida received some B-50As reassigned from Davis-Monthan in early 1951, but used them for non-operational training pending the delivery of B-47A Stratojets in June 1951. The B-50 was built as an interim strategic bomber to be replaced by the B-47 Stratojet, but delays to the Stratojet forced the B-50 to soldier on until well into the 1950s.

A strategic reconnaissance version of the B-50B, the RB-50 was developed in 1949 to replace the aging RB-29s used by SAC in its intelligence gathering operations against the Soviet Union. There were three different configurations produced, which were later redesignated RB-50E, RB-50F, and RG-50G respectively. The RB-50E was earmarked for photographic reconnaissance and observation missions; The RB-50F resembled the RB-50E but carried the SHORAN radar navigation system designed to conduct mapping, charting, and geodetic surveys, and the mission of the RB-50G was electronic reconnaissance. These aircraft were operated primarily by the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. RB-50Es were also operated by the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing as a replacement for RB-29 photographic reconnaissance aircraft flown over North Korea during the Korean War.

The vast northern borders of the Soviet Union were wide open in many places during the early Cold War years with little defensive radar coverage, with limited detection capability. RB-50 aircraft of the 55th SRW flew many sorties along the periphery, and where necessary into the interior. Initially there was little opposition from the Soviet forces as radar coverage was limited and, if the overflying aircraft were detected, the World War II era Soviet fighters could not intercept the RB-50s at their high altitude.

The deployment of the MiG-15 interceptor in the early 1950s made these flights exceedingly hazardous, with several being shot down by Soviet air defenses and the wreckage being examined by intelligence personnel. RB-50 missions over Soviet territory ended by 1954, replaced by RB-47 Stratojet intelligence aircraft that could fly higher near supersonic speed.

The B-47 Stratojet was manufactured in large numbers beginning in 1953 and eventually replaced the B-50Ds in SAC service; the last being retired in 1955. With its retirement from the nuclear bomber mission, many B-50 airframes were converted to aerial refueling tankers. The B-50, with more powerful engines than the KB-29s in use by Tactical Air Command, was much more suitable to refuel tactical jet fighter aircraft, such as the F-100 Super Sabre. KB-50s, and later KB-50Js with J-47 jet engines were used by TAC, and also by USAFE and PACAF overseas as aerial tankers. Some were deployed to Thailand and flew refueling missions over Indochina in the early years of the Vietnam War until being retired in March 1965 due to metal fatigue and corrosion.

In addition to the aerial tanker conversion, the Air Weather Service by 1955 had basically worn out the WB-29s used for hurricane hunting and other weather reconnaissance missions. Thirty-six former SAC B-50Ds were stripped of their armament and equipped for long-range weather reconnaissance missions. The WB-50 could fly higher and faster and longer than the WB-29. The WB-50 had an important role during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when it monitored the weather around Cuba to plan photo-reconnaissance flights. Although weather flying was considered a "peacetime" mission, the hazardous flying in hurricanes took their toll, and claimed 66 lives in 13 WB-50 accidents over their 10-year history in weather, also being retired in 1965 due to metal fatigue and corrosion.