When most people think of the old school Cold War bombers, the B-52 Stratofortressalso known as “BUFF (Big Ugly Fat……”) is probably the first one that comes to mind, especially since he’s still making waves and getting names after all these decades.
You could also think of the B-47 Stratojetwhich was the first pure-reaction strategic bomber and received its fair share of Hollywood fame thanks to the 1955 film Strategic Air Command starring Jimmy Stewart.
You can also think of the gigantic B-36 Peacemaker, which had the largest wingspan of any combat aircraft in history. Yet relatively little is thought of the B-45 Tornado.
It’s a shame, because the B-45 Tornado made history in more ways than one.
Let’s not give this warbird his proverbial moment in the sun.
Preparing the Tornado
The North American B-45 Tornado – NOT to be confused with the Panavia Tornado fighter-bomber that carried out daring low-altitude air raids against airfields in Saddam Hussein during Operation Desert Storm and suffered horrific losses in the process – made its maiden flight on St. Patrick’s Day 1947 – six months before the US Air Force became an independent branch of the service – and entered into operational service with the US Air Force on April 22, 1948.
Built by North American Aviation (NAA) – most famous for producing the B-25 Mitchell medium bomber and P-51D Mustang fighter plane during World War II -, the B-45 made history in several respects:
- It was the first American four-engined jet bomber to take flight.
- It was the first US-produced jet bomber.
- The B-45 was the first jet bomber capable of carrying an atomic bomb.
- The B-45 Tornado was the first multi-engine reconnaissance aircraft capable of mid-air refueling.
The Tornado’s specifications – courtesy of the Boeing Historical Snapshot information page – include a fuselage length of 89 feet – making it a light bomber by modern standards – a wingspan of 75 feet 11 inches and a gross weight of 82,600 lbs.
Top speed was 575 miles per hour, with a service ceiling of 45,000 feet, powered by four General Electric J47A water-injected jet engines.
The payload was over 20,000 pounds of bombs, while the self-defense armament consisted of two .50 caliber M3 machine guns mounted on the tail turret.
The aircraft had a four-man crew, consisting of the pilot, co-pilot, bombardier-navigator, and tail gunner.
B-45: Operational history
The B-45 served as both a bomber and reconnaissance aircraft – designated the RB-45 for the latter role – during the Korean war.
Unfortunately, in the process, the Tornado made history in an unenviable category on December 4, 1950, when the Soviet pilot of the MiG-15 “Fagot” Aleksandr F. Andrianov shot down an RB-45C over Red China, thus marking the first successful interception of a jet bomber by a jet fighter. None of the four crew members of the RB-45 lived to tell the tale.
Both the B-45 bomber and reconnaissance variants of the RB-45 ended up serving in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) fleet from 1950 to 1959. A total of 143 aircraft were built.
The only foreign customer to use the Tornado was the UK. In July 1951, three RB-45s were leased to the Royal Air Force (RAF), after which the aircraft and their carefully selected crews formed ‘Special Duty Flight’ at RAF Sculthorpe, which carried out Operation Ju Jitsu, consisting of daring deep-sea reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union to gather electronic and photographic information. These special flights lasted from 1952 to 1954.
As the RAF Sculthorpe Heritage Center information page notes, “due to rising tensions between West and East, President Truman prohibited any form of overflight, so the SAC turned to Britain for help. The RAF, eager to prove its worth in the “Special Relationship”, agreed to crew the RB-45s on loan from the United States. The cover story was that the RAF was evaluating the air refueling capabilities of the RB-45. Both countries needed vital information on the RB-45s. The RAF was evaluating its air refueling capabilities. Both countries needed vital information on Soviet infrastructure, defenses, and attacks… Only Colonel Hack Mixson, commander of the 91st [Ala de Reconocimiento Estratégico], [el jefe de escuadrón John] Crampton y [el jefe de escuadrón Rex] Sanders knew the true nature of the operation.”
Where are you now
A total of three Tornadoes survive today, all as static exhibits (rather than airworthy specimens): one at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California; one in the Korean War Gallery of the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, Ohio; and one at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland, Nebraska.