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5050 Santa Fe Drive • Atwater, California • 95301
North American B-45A Tornado
MUSEUM HOURS
May 1- October 31
9:00am - 5:00pm
November 1 - April 30
10:00am - 4:00pm
The museum is open
daily year round,
except for the
following days:
New Year's Day,
Easter,
Thanksgiving and
Christmas Day.
The North American B-45 was the first jet bomber put into production. Designed and built in the late 1940's, was one of America's first operational bombers to employ jet propulsion. Designed during 1944 and 1945, the straight-wing Tornado was the first jet bomber in service with the U.S. Air Force and was the first four-jet aircraft to fly in the United States.
Other versions include the longer-range B-45C with wing-tip tanks and the photoreconnaissance version, the RB-45C.
Rated as a light bomber by modern-day standards, it was the first four-jet aircraft to drop an atom bomb and the first to be refueled in midair.
The Tornado saw service for only ten years, from 1948 to 1958 and was meant as a replacement for the World War II B-25s and B-26s of the new Tactical Air Command. The B-45 never saw combat. A different version of the B-45, the RB-45C was used briefly as a reconnaissance aircraft in the early days of the Korean War. 40 B-45Cs were modified to carry nuclear weapons starting in 1950. After 1958, they were relegated to such duties as target tow aircraft, or control aircraft for drones, such as the Kawasaki KAQ-1 Drone also on display at Castle. Most were phased out of service by 1959.
The aircraft on display at Castle Air Museum is the eighth production Tornado built, making it the oldest jet on the Museum grounds. It was used by the U.S. Navy as a drone controller and later as a photographic ground target at the China Lake Weapons Center in California. It was recovered from the China Lake facility in pieces and restored to its present condition at Castle. It has the markings of the 84th Bomb. Squadron, 47th Bomb. Wing.
Specifications
Country of Origin: United States
Manufacturer: North American Aviation
Role/Function: Bomber
Serial Number: 47-008
Model Number/Mk. #: NA-130
Crew: 4
Power Plant: 4 - Allison J-35 turbojet engines with 4,000 lbs. of thrust each (first 22).
Maximum Speed: 580 mph.
Cruising Speed: 400 mph.
Service Ceiling: 45,000+ ft.
Range: 2,234 mi.
Weights: Empty: 45,694 lbs. Loaded: 82,600 lbs. Maximum: 110,000 lbs.
Wing Span: 89 ft.
Length: 75 ft. 3 in.
Height: 25 ft. 2 in.
Wing Area: 1,125 ft²
Armament: 2 - .50 caliber machine guns and 20,000 pounds of bombs.
Cost: $1,100,000.00
# Built: 143.
# in Current Service: None.
