In article ,
(BUFDRVR) writes:
Cruising around, fully loaded (albeit a smaller load than a BUFF or Bone)
at
40K+ and .90 mach.

Nope. B-47E SAC: Max. Spd, 606 mph (M0.84) @ 16,300 ft.; 557 mph (M0.842) @
38,550 ft.; Max. cr. spd

Hmmm, I stand corrected, I thought the -47 was faster than a BUFF at
altitude...apparently not.

One of the things they learned with teh B-47 was that there is, indeed
such a thing as too high a wing loading for efficient cruising. At
36,000', a B-47 would efficiently cruise at arounf 435 KTAS, or about
235 KIAS. Not too bad, but the airplane stalled at arounfd 165 KIAS,
so the Induced Drag was still a pretty serious factor. (B-47 Wing
Loadings were arounf 150 lbs/ft^2) Even the H model B-52s don't come
close to that.


The Immelmanns were done from the deck while making LABS tosses, starting in
1957.

Well, I've seen a picture (I'll try to find it) of a B-47 nearly inverted and
while exact altitude is difficult to determine, there's no visable terrain in
the shot....which has always left me the impression they were at least 20K.

Hmm. It could be that they were topping out that high. IIRC, when
they were doing the LABS drops, they were entering the pullup at aound
420 KIAS, and pulling up at 2 - 2 1/2 Gs. It's still impressive,
nonetheless.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster