The Double Bubble Cargo Bomber - C-97 Stratofreighter

the c-97 strata freighter was a heavy military cargo aircraft made out of former bomber designs such as the boeing b-50 and b-29 super fortresses the iconic state-of-the-art b-29 was the only aircraft that used nuclear weapons during combat and was also responsible for dropping the atomic bombs on hiroshima and nagasaki it was such a successful aircraft that boeing decided to develop more versions out of its base design one of them was the c97 straddle freighter which had a unique look with a larger diameter fuselage upper lobe and a smaller one in the lower lobe making for a double bubble section the c97 was first flown in 1945 and soon proved to be a highly successful aircraft and even though 77 models were rolled out a whopping 811 of its kc-97 tanker variant eventually became the backbone of the strategic air command's early cold war [Music] missions after flying for the first time in 1942 the b-29 super fortress heavy bomber quickly became a staple of the allied fight against the axis powers in world war ii this renowned foreign engine plane was the progenitor of a series of boeing bombers tankers reconnaissance transport and trainer aircraft around the time that the first operational b-29 took to the skies boeing began considering a cargo aircraft using the aircraft's wings tail engines and lower fuselage combined with an upper fuselage from another model this double lobe-shaped idea was quite distinctive from other boeing aircraft the us army air force was impressed with the company's innovative proposals and ordered three prototypes the c-97 a long-range heavy military cargo aircraft derived from the b-29 and the b-50 was the last aircraft in which boeing president philip j johnson participated before he passed away the aircraft shared many design elements from both models including the wings and tail the strider freighter was designed towards the end of world war ii its most iconic feature was a double bubble fuselage consisting of two intersecting circular sections in which the 74 foot long upper deck had a larger diameter than the lower one it was designed as a large aircraft with a long wingspan four engines and a traditional tail in addition the aircraft flight deck was placed in an elevated position at the front of the structure but from the 10th aircraft onward all c97s were assembled with the taller fin and rudder from the b-50s super fortress the aircraft's cargo was accessed through a set of clamshell style doors under its tail where two retractable ramps would be used to drive in the load with the total useful payload of 35 000 pounds the aircraft could carry two regular trucks towed artillery light tracked vehicles six infantry or up to 69 medical patients with staff its power was provided by four pratt whitney r 4360b wasp major radial piston engines with 3 500 horsepower the stratosphere could reach a top speed of 375 miles per hour and cruise at up to 300 miles per hour with a maximum height of 35 000 feet and a massive 4300 mile range its empty weight was 82 500 pounds and it ballooned to 175 000 with a full load the shredder freighter was also the first mass-produced air transport to have cabinet pressurization making long-range missions more comfortable for its standard four-person operating crew it first flew on november 9th 1944 and a month later it set a transport airplane speed record by flying an average speed of 383 miles per hour between seattle and washington dc with 20 000 pounds of cargo operational history the boeing c97 strider freighter entered service in 1947 during the beginning stages of the cold war a period marked by the rapid development of heavy transport aircraft one of its first international missions was its participation in the berlin airlift in which the western allies flew american and british air forces over berlin and dropped supplies such as fuel and food the aircraft was operated by the first strategic support squadron and suffered a landing gear accident by the time it was repaired the soviet blockade had been lifted the straddle freighter also served during the korean war where it was primarily used to shuttle combat casualties forming the backbone of the united states air force's military airlift transport service during these escapes the aircraft often flew at treetop altitudes to avoid the enemy the c97 would then serve in africa participating in the biafran airlift in the late 1960s delivering relief supplies during the nigerian civil war despite its successful career only 77 c97 strider freighters would be built before the world's first strategic long-range airlifter the douglas c-124 globemaster ii took over in the 1950s debugging between 1951 and 1956 a new variant known as kc-97 was developed the strato tanker was explicitly built for in-flight refueling and a total of 811 aircraft were produced as a transport aircraft the boeing c97 could carry up to 68 500 pounds of cargo in contrast the strato tanker was capable of offloading fifteen thousand gallons of fuel the kc-97 used the flying boom refueling system a telescoping tube with movable flight control surfaces that a boom operator extended and inserted into a receptacle on the receiving aircraft after its introduction all subsequent u.s air force contracts were for tankers as they were capable of serving as a heavy cargo aircraft without the need to remove the refueling gear soon after the kc-97 became a staple of the strategic air command the united states air force major command responsible for cold war control of nuclear forces this straddle freighter variant is considered an instrumental factor in providing the organization with intercontinental capability however because of the aircraft's slow cruising speed and low cruising altitude the air force had to come up with a way for the strato tanker to refuel jet engines to achieve this the aircraft would perform a tobogganing maneuver where the refueling connection would be made at a higher altitude and the bomber and tanker would fly down together enabling the tanker to pick up more speed in the process the kc-97 carried afghas aviation fuel to power piston engines and also carried jet fuel for jet engine aircraft by 1957 the tanker was slowly phased out by another boeing model the kc-135 strata tanker a jet-powered aircraft with greater capacity the last kc-97 and the first kc-135 actually rolled out of the boeing assembly plant on the same date still the stratotanker remains in service to this day 67 years after its introduction and it is expected to fly until at least 20 30. [Music] other variants in 1964 some of the kc97 models were returned to tanker configuration for the air national guard with two added jet engines to increase speed and altitude while also making this massive tanker more compatible with jet aircraft although the last of the us air force's kc-97 tankers were retired in 1973 they remained in use with the air national guard and the air force reserves until the late 1970s in addition to the kc-97 variants the strider freighter also has a civilian derivative the 377 a luxurious trans-oceanic airline that was operated by pan am airlines this aircraft was eventually acquired and modified by nasa to carry even larger loads it became known as guppy pregnant guppy and super guppy and one of the models is still used by nasa today with a capacity of 34 000 pounds meanwhile several countries also had c97s in their inventory the spanish air force acquired several models during the aircraft's prime years and the israeli defense forces adapted the shredder freighter's airliner variant back into our cargo transport aircraft when they were unable to afford their preferred c-130 angel of deliverance only one full-size c97 remains airworthy the strider freighters serial number 52271 known as angel of deliverance has been owned and operated by the berlin airlift historical foundation since 2002. according to its founder tim chop the idea of repairing the angel of deliverance to fly it again often seemed inconceivable quote if you had to choose between a sharp stick in the eye or restoring a c97 to airworthy condition you might want to choose the stick because it would be less painful in 2012 as the aircraft was finishing its first round of repairs hurricane sandy damaged the hangar and delayed the renovations finally in november of 2017 the boeing c97 shredder freighter flew one more time the aircraft took off from floyd bennett field in brooklyn stopped in new jersey to refuel and then continued its journey to its new temporary home in reading pennsylvania as was common with early cold war era aircraft the strider freighter did not see many years of service but its legacy lives on with the angel of deliverance nasa's super guppy and its presence in many countries air forces thank you for watching our dark skies video don't forget to subscribe and hit the bell icon to be notified of all our newest content and if you have a specific aircraft in mind that you'd like to see in a future video please let us know in the comments below

Channel: Dark Skies

Views: 158,889

Rating: 4.9683018 out of 5

Keywords: aviation, airplanes, aircraft, air force, history, documentary, history channel, documentary channel, dark docs, dark skies, boeing, c97, c-97, flight, airplane, aviation videos, usaf

Id: ExjMwxQf7f4

Length: 9min 2sec (542 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 24 2021