| WB-47E was the designation
assigned to converted B-47Es used for weather reconnaissance. They had nose mounted
cameras that recorded cloud formations and they carried air sampling and data recording
equipment in place of nuclear weapons. The weather service received the first of 34
WB-47Es on March 20, 1963. They were modified by Lockheed-Marietta. The WB-47Es began to
be replaced by WC-130 and WC-135 aircraft in 1965, but total phase-out took another 3
years. The last WB-47E - actually the last operational B-47 in the Air Force inventory -
was delivered to Davis-Monthan AFB on October 31, 1969. |
