| The Boeing B-47 Stratojet was the first large scale bomber to incorporate a swept wing design with jet propulsion. The B-47 was built for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command as part of the United States nuclear deterrent during the early stages of the Cold War. The first flight of the B-47 was on December 17, 1947. The pressurized nose section of the B-47 houses the tandem pilot’s stations, the crew passageway, radar and bombing equipment, and the bombardier/navigator station. The bombardier/navigator station, also known as the “second station”, was located in the nose of the aircraft. Surrounding the navigator seat was a large number of control panels, which included the Navigation Instrument Panel, the B-1 Primary Bombing Computer, Line of Sight Control Panel, P-38 Camera Control, A-1 Bombing Tracking Computer, and the F-1 Polar Navigation Control. A built-in navigation table allowed the navigator to spread out charts and maps during the mission. Over 2,100 B-47s were produced, and the last of the B-47s were phased out of the United States Air Force inventory by the end of 1965. |
