"Peter Stickney" wrote in message
...

Actually, that doesn't hold up, at least in the B-52/B-47 matchup.
B-47s were horrendously underpowered. A heaviweight B-47, on a
standard day, without JATO, would be using something on the order of
11,000' of runway. The equivalent B-52C/D (The worst for takeoff),
would be off the ground in 8,000'.

Hmm. At one point, for about 10 years, there were 90 B-47s at
Pease. with about 12,000' or runway. It's rather amazing that Great
Bay didn't get filled up with B-47s running off the runway during
rejected takeoffs.

Data from the Standard Aircraft Characteristics, B-47E-IV, and
B-52C/D.


Nevertheless, the runway was lengthened in 1959-60, between B-47/KC-97 and
B-52/KC-135 operations at Schilling, and long before the B-70 would have
been operational.