In spite of the large numbers of B-47s built, none of them ever ended up in the service of foreign air forces. There is, however, one significant exception--a B-47 loaned to the Royal Canadian Air Force as a flying testbed for the Orenda Iroquois turbojet.
In 1956, the USAF loaned B-47B serial number 51-2059 to the Royal Canadian Air Force for use as a flying test bed for the advanced 20,000 lb.s.t. Orenda Iroquois turbojet. A pair of Iroquois engines were to power the projected Avro CF-105 Arrow long-range interceptor, which was currently under development in Canada.
After delivery, the RCAF turned the plane over to Canadair Ltd to complete the required modifications. A separate pod for the test engine was installed on the starboard side of the rear fuselage underneath the horizontal tail. The pod was 30 feet long and about 6 feet in diameter The company assigned its own model number of CL-52 to the project. The CL-52/B-47B flew in RCAF markings, but retained the last three digits of its USAF serial number, which followed the prefix "X" to become the RCAF serial number.
The CL-52 spent a total of 31 hours in the air with the Iroquois engine. Most flights were routine, but on its only full-power flight the Iroquois engine suffered a fan blade failure which damaged the elevator and rudder of the CL-52. The aircraft, however, landed safely.
The first five Arrows (RCAF serials 25201 through 25205) were all powered by Pratt & Whitney J75 turbojets for the initial flight tests. The first Iroquois-powered Arrow was to be number 25206, which was being readied for its first flight when the entire Arrow/Iroquois project was cancelled by the Canadian government on February 20, 1959.
Following cancellation of the Arrow/Iroquois program, all Arrow airframes were ordered to be scrapped, including those in partially-completed state on the production line. All that survives today is the front end of Arrow 25206 plus a couple of outer wing panels on display at the National Aviation Museum of Ottawa. A pair of Iroquois engines still survive, one in the National Aviation Museum and the other at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario.
After the termination of the Arrow/Iroquois program, the Iroquois engine was removed from the CL-52 and the aircraft was returned to the USA in August of 1959. The plane was scrapped at Davis Monthan AFB shortly thereafter.
Sources:
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American Combat Planes, Third Enlarged Edition, Ray Wagner, Doubleday,
1982.
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Post World War II Bombers, Marcelle Size Knaack, Office of Air Force
History, 1988.
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The Boeing B-47, Peter Bowers, Aircraft in Profile, Doubleday, 1968.
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Boeing Aircraft Since 1916, Peter M. Bowers, Naval Institute Press,
1989.
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United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and
Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.
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Avro Arrow, The Arrowheads, Boston Mills Press, 1992.
- Boeing B-47 Stratojet--Variant Briefing. Bill Yenne, International Air Power Review, Vol 6, 2002.
