Premission #5 - KB-50J ready to go

Pretty cool, Ron.

What'd cost to fill that puppy up ?

I wonder if they give green stamps? or a 5 cent discount for cash?

I was told that the total mission cost in 1960 dollars was $9000 for 8 hours. That included all of the RF-101C aircraft and fuel as well as people involved from our unit. The Colonel let that slip out when he was "discussing" a screwup by one of the pilots with said pilot.

PE

Wow, the Martin Mars water bomber costs about that per hour. But, take inflation compounded for 49 years, .......
Anyway, nice photos!

I knew that B-29's were kept in service quite some time after WWII. They saw action in Korea as bombers; I didn't realize they'd become aerial tankers, but it makes sense.

Few people know that the B-29 was the single most expensive weapon system of WWII; its development cost $3B, compared to the $2B spent on the Manhattan Project.

Mike;

I was told that that was not a B-29, but built from the ground up with all new engines, internal structure and electronics. It also had the 2 jet engines on pylons added and a new fuel system to deliver 2 fuels at the same time.

Aerodynamically it was upgraded to reach just about supersonic speed to keep up with the fighters, and it was designed to be a shirt sleeve environment in a fully pressurized cabing. Well, see the shirt sleeves in the photos....

We wore no masks, while the fighter pilots, did although they could pressurize as well and did take off their masks for some pictures. I got one of my roommaate with his mask off and a big grin on his face.

So, I never heard anyone refer to this as a B-29. Oh, and having seen a B-29, this plane was quite a bit larger. There was also a B-50 bomber that was out just before the B-52 made it obsolete.

PE