B47stratojetAssoc history Chapter 19

Clearly, aerial tankers with greater speeds would be required. In early 1953, two B-47Bs were allocated for tests with the British developed probe and drogue aerial refueling system. One was to be a tanker and the other a receiver. The converted aircraft were redesignated KB-47G and YB-47F respectively.

The YB-47F was a conversion of B-47B serial number 50-069. It was fitted with a probe in the nose for in-flight refueling via the probe and drogue system. Unfortunately, the probe and drogue refueling method did not prove to be effective for the B-47, and subsequent models were refueled by the established flying boom system. The speed problem was eventually solved by adding auxiliary jet engines to the piston-engined KB-50 and KC-97 tankers, which were used to provided additional bursts of speed during the refueling operations.