Earning Their Keep Over Korea
The RB-45C first served with the 95st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron in Korea. The first Tactical Air Command (TAC) RB-45Cs arrived in the Far East in the fall of 1950. RB-29s were being jumped by MiG-15s and were unable to complete their missions. RB-45Cs evaded the MiGs at first but they soon required their own fighter escort. In January of 1952, the 91st Squadron was ordered to paint their RB-45Cs black and switch over to night operations exclusively. But by the spring of 1952 the RB-45Cs were completely withdrawn from the Korean theatre.
Put Out to Pasture
All of the RB-45Cs assigned to SAC were flown by the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing’s 322nd, 323rd and 324th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadrons. The SAC RB-45Cs also flew several long-range reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union during the mid-1950s. By the end of the 1950s, all B-45s had been removed from active service- some replaced by Douglas B-66 Destroyers and others by Boeing B-47 Stratojets. However, a few continued to act as test aircraft into the early 1970s.
Tornado Trivia
On 29 July 1952, Major Lou Carrington and his crew from the 91st Reconnaissance Wing flew an RB-45C nonstop from Alaska to Japan in 9 hours and 50 minutes. Carrington and crew won the 1952 Mackay Trophy for this accomplishment. Their RB-45C was refueled by KB-29 tankers twice during their trans-Pacific flight.
One RAF Operation Jiu-Jitsu mission nearly ended in disaster. On 17 April 1952, three RB-45Cs were ordered to depart from Germany, overfly Kiev in Russia, and recover at Sculthorpe. The aircraft were tracked by ground radar and came under antiaircraft fire while flying at 36,000 feet. The mission was aborted, and fortuitously so as Soviet night fighters had been sortied with orders to hunt down the RB-45Cs.
Tornadoes have appeared in cameo roles in several movies over the years. The 1953 Paramount feature The War of the Worlds, the 1953 United Artists film The Magnetic Monster, and the 1955 classic Strategic Air Command all include footage of B-45s. B-45s also starred in the Buck Danny comic book series Planes Without Pilots.
The last production B-45A (AF Serial 47-096) became the sole JB-45A after it was modified for use as an inflight engine testbed. The test engine was attached to a retractable pylon mounted inside the modified bomb bay. Once airborne, the test engine was lowered into the slipstream and air started.
One B-45C (AF Serial 48-009) became the single JB-45C after it too was modified for use as an engine test bed for Pratt & Whitney J57 and J75 turbojet engines. Like the JB-45A, the aircraft had the test engine attached to a pylon mounted in the bomb bay. When in flight, the test engine was lowered into the slipstream and air started.
