Valom 72121 North American B-45C Tornado

The North American B-45 Tornado was an American Cold War tactical bomber. The prototype flight took place in 1947. A year later, the machine entered the line and was withdrawn from it in 1959. In total, about 145 copies of this aircraft of all versions were built. The drive was provided by four motors General Electric J47-GE-13/15 turbojets . The plane reached the maximum speed of 930 km / h, and its maximum range was 3060 kilometers. The machine was armed with two 12.7 mm M3 machine guns and could carry a bomb load of up to 9,980 kilograms.

The first analytical work on a jet bomber for the US Air Force began as early as 1944, with the news of the appearance of the German Arado Ar-234 aircraft. After 1945, it was also assumed that the new bomber would not only be jet propelled, but would also be capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The result of these works and the materialization of assumptions was the B-45 Tornado. An airplane that had a good range and a high flight altitude, but also extremely unreliable and emergency. In an effort to eliminate the accumulating design problems and flaws of the aircraft, three versions were created. The first (B-45A) had new Allison engines, which reduced the failure rate of the aircraft. Later, the B-45C version appeared with a clearly reinforced structure of the airframe and the cabin. It also had specific fuel tanks at the ends of the wings. The last version is the RB-45C, a reconnaissance machine. These planes were not liked by the pilots, however, and despite the appearance of three different versions, each of them was plagued with some constant flaws. Ultimately, this type of aircraft was replaced in line by the B-47 Stratojet.