The Boeing B-47 "Stratojet" made its first flight in 1947 and represented a milestone in aviation design and history. The swept wing design, backed up by wind tunnel tests of German scientists during the war, inspired Boeing aerodynamics engineer George Schairer. Innovations that included engines mounted in pods under the wings formed the basis for all large bombers and passenger aircraft afterwards. It was a major leap in modern large aircraft design. The B-47 was the backbone of the Strategic Air Command nuclear deterrent force and it's numbers made it a force to be reckoned with. The six engines of early models needed rocket assist packs to get the bird in flight but once in the air it's performance was rated by the test pilot Robbins, "The best way to tell about the performance of the Stratojet is to say that any good crew could have flown it. It took no unusual ability or education. Neither Scott Osler nor I deserve any credit for the flight. Rather, the credit should go to the men who carried out these visions on the drafting boards and the factory workers who made the visions a reality." — Robert Robbins,1949. The downside, the "Stratojet" was plagued by crashes, 203 crashes and 464 fatalities (about 10% of it's inventory!) Totally unacceptable by today's standards. Excellent B-47 model by the master aircraft model craftsman, Pedro Caparros, available free at Sharecg with some texture re-work. Thank you, Pedro! Republic F-84 Thunderchief chase plane free from 3dWarehouse by Sletch2003 with some additional texture work. Pilots are M3 figure with cobbled flight gear. Figures set up in Sketchup, C4d, and PoserPro; composed, some texture adjustments, lighting, and render in Vue6Infinite; finish in Ps Cs3