@ Tucson, AZ
March 2018
Among the many large aircraft in the Pima Air & Space Museum collection is this KB-50J Superfortress. A postwar update of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the B-50 was fitted with more powerful engines, stronger structure, a taller tail fin, and other improvements. The design was originally designated B-29D but was changed to B-50 to obtain contracts as a “new” airplane. For the tanker role, KB-50s had reinforced outer wing panels to allow for simultaneous air-refueling of three aircraft by the probe and drogue method, and defensive armament was removed. The first KB-50 flew in December 1955 and by 1957, all aerial refueling squadrons had their complement of KB-50s. KB-50Js saw the addition of two J47 jet engines, with 117 being converted. Some were deployed to Thailand and flew refueling missions in the early years of the Vietnam War until retirement in 1965 due to metal fatigue and corrosion. This would also be the last piston-engined bomber built by Boeing for the US Air Force. First flown in 1947, with 370 produced, the B-50 was in USAF service until 1965.
