Boeing B-50 Superfortress
This is the Boeing B-50 Superfortress, a post-war design based on the highly successful B-29. Improvements included more powerful engines, wing modifications plus a larger tail. This was the last piston-powered bomber produced by Boeing for the USAF. Later, as jet-powered bombers began to replace the propeller aircraft, the B-50 was repurposed to serve as an aerial refueling tanker. In addition, some of the B-50s were modified for use as hurricane hunters and other weather reconnaissance missions. In fact, such aircraft had an important role during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when they monitored the weather around Cuba to plan photo-reconnaissance flights. They were retired in 1965 due to metal fatigue and corrosion.
Size: 7004px × 4669px
Location: Tucson, AZ
Photo credit: © B. David Cathell / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: -50, aerial, air, aircraft, airplane, arizona, az, bdavid, boeing, bomber, crisis, cuban, engine, force, hunter, hurricane, kb-50j, missile, museum, pima, piston, reconnaissance, refueling, space, superfortress, tanker, tucson, usaf, weather
