"Joe Osman" wrote in message
...
Peter Stickney wrote:

In article ,
Guy Alcala writes:
Cub Driver wrote:

SNIP

That sounds about right. The B-47 had the advantage of peacetime
development, but its engines were so slow to spool up that the plane
had to land under power with a parachute. Lacking the power, it would
crash if it had to go around.

This is not accurate. However, I once saw a British-produced video dealing
with the Comet/Nomrod in which this canard apparently first appeared. The
narration suggested that US jetengine was so deficient that the B-47
NEEDED JATO assist for ALL takeoffs, and confused the use of drag 'chutes
for reduced landing distances with a lack of power for a go-around.

The B-47 used six engines approximately the same as the four used for
supplementary power on B-36s; as fas as spool-up times are concerned, in the
typical useage by the B-36, the pilots would start and bring the four
engines up to speed even as the a/c was in its takeoff roll under the power
of its six piston engines. By the time the B-36 reached takeoff speed, all
four jets were at maximum thrust. Not a long spool-up time at all.