The B-50C was an advanced version of the B-50, designed to squeeze the maximum amount of performance that could possibly be gotten from the basic Superfortress design. The B-50C was to be powered by four new R-4360-43 turbo-compound engines. The turbo-compound engines were sometimes referred to as Variable Discharge Turbine (VDT) engines, and had also been considered for the B-36. The change to turbocompound engines required a complete redesign of the airframe, with a wider wingspan and a longer fuselage. The takeoff weight of the B-50C was estimated to be 207,000 pounds, almost 50,000 pounds greater than that of most other B-50s.
An early B-50A was set aside to serve as a prototype for the YB-50C. The mockup of the B-50C was completed by November of 1948. 43 production aircraft (14 B-50Cs and 29 RB-50Cs) were ordered. In late 1948, the Air Force concluded that the B-50C was sufficiently different from the B-50A and B which preceded it that a new bomber model number of B-54 was assigned.
However, fiscal year 1949 was a difficult time for the American defense budget, with large cuts being forced by financial exigencies. The B-54 offered little or no growth potential since it squeezed the maximum possible amount out of an already obsolescent design. In addition, it promised to be quite expensive. The B-54 was fitted with an outrigger landing gear which required wider taxiways than those which existed at operating bases, and its introduction into service would require a massive program of base reconstruction. It was discovered that jet engines could not be installed on the B-54 without completely redesigning the wings. The new K-1 bombing system could not be installed without sacrificing a belly turret or without a drastic alteration in the aircraft's fuselage.
Air Force Secretary W. Stuart Symington and General Vandenberg both supported the B-54 project, but General Curtis LeMay vigorously opposed it and argued for the cancellation of the B-54 in favor of more B-36s. The development of the B-36D with auxiliary jet pods fitted underneath the outer wings promised superior performance in speed, altitude and range, and, pending the availability of the B-52, General LeMay argued that the B-36 provided the best option for strategic deterrence. However, Secretary Symington and General Vandenberg were reluctant to terminate the B-54 since the loss of the B-54 and the procurement of more B-36s would alter the medium/heavy bomber mix that had been recently approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As an alternative, Secretary Symington proposed that some additional B-50s be substituted for the B-54. General LeMay was unhappy with this proposal as well, and countered with an argument that if it were not possible to replace all programmed B-54s by B-36s, the best alternative would be to secure additional B-47 medium bombers. After balancing all factors involved, the Board of Senior Officers agreed with General LeMay and recommended that the B-54 project be dropped in favor of the procurement of more B-36s and that the production of the B-47 Stratojet should be accelerated. The Board's recommendations were approved by Secretary Symington and General Vandenberg on April 5, 1949, and the B-54 project was formally cancelled. The partially-built YB-50C was also cancelled.
Serials of B-50C/B-54:
46-061 Boeing YB-50C Superfortress - Project cancelled
49-200/206 cancelled contract for Boeing B-54A - originally
designated B-50C
49-207/229 cancelled contract for Boeing RB-54A - originally
designated RB-50C
49-1757/177O Cancelled contract for Boeing B-54A
originally designated B-50C
49-1771/1799 Cancelled contract for Boeing RB-54A
originally designated RB-50C
Sources:
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American Combat Planes, Third Enlarged Edition, Ray Wagner, Doubleday,
1982.
-
Post World War II Bombers, Marcelle Size Knaack, Office of Air Force
History, 1988.
-
Boeing Aircraft Since 1916, Peter M. Bowers, Naval Institute Press,
1989.
- United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.
