KB’s

A thirsty FJ Fury of VMF 214 nuzzles up to a friendly KB-50.

“Miss Bea” (49-355), a KB-50J of the 622nd AREFS, England AFB.

48-0063, a J-model of the 431st AREFS pulls a pair of FJs and an F8U.

Another shot of “Miss Bea”.

“Pogo” a K-model of the 427th AREFS, Langley AFB.

The term “One of the unsung aircraft…” is often misapplied, but it sticks like glue to the B-50 and its variants. Developed and produced by Boeing at a time when they would rather have been developing and producing jet bombers, the B-50 – basically a well-improved B-29 – was easily overshadowed by more sleek and futuristic designs such as the B-47. And, of course, it would always be comingled/confused with its more famous older brother, the aforesaid B-29. This was aided by the fact the B-50 never even got its own nickname; it too was the “Superfortress”. Apparently, Boeing and the USAF were not interested enough to even come up with a moniker for their new bomber.

Nearly 400 B-50s were built, the majority of which were converted into tankers. Their operations mostly confined to supporting fighter aircraft, the KB-50 became the mainstay of many an Air Refueling Squadron (AREFS) in the 1950s . They soldiered on until 1965, afterwards, they were soon forgotten.  Alas, only five B-50s have survived. 

Note: Back in the early 1980s, we had an old-timer (at age 40, he seemed ancient) in our USAF maintenance squadron who had worked on KB-50s late in their careers. Patiently puffing (always) on his cigarette, he explained to the youthful ignoramuses in his charge just what a KB-50 was. “Really not much different looking than a B-29” said he. In fact, he recalled that many of the parts were interchangeable.

As previously stated, truly an unsung (and ignored) aircraft (even by those who worked on them).