Lucky Lady II

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The Lucky Lady II (below) is refueled by a KB-29M
Lucky Lady II after landing at Carswell Air Force Base near Fort Worth

Lucky Lady II was the name of a Boeing B-50 that made a non-stop flight around the earth for the first time from February 26 to March 2, 1949 . At the beginning of the Cold War , the US Air Force wanted to demonstrate that it could strike anywhere in the world.

The flight route of the Lucky Lady II
Lucky Lady II 2002 in the Planes of Fame Museum

execution

The record machine was a specially converted Boeing B-50A long -range bomber (USAF serial number 46-0010) of the 43rd Bomb Group of the US Air Force . They were refueled four times on the flight using the British Hose and Drogue system , with the tanker supplying the receiver via a hose that has a basket at the end. The hose then snaps into a socket on the receiving aircraft.

  • The flight lasted 94 hours in total.
  • The start and end point was Carswell Air Force Base near Fort Worth in Texas .
  • The flight distance was around 37,000 km.
  • The aircraft was refueled four times in the air: over the Azores , Saudi Arabia , the Philippines and Hawaii .

The current (2017) whereabouts of the Lucky Lady II is unclear.