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Back to the Drawing Board
Besides the floating wingtips, the preliminary Boeing and North American designs had another factor in common :
both were rejected by the Air Force.
Upon seeing the concepts, Curtis LeMay is reported as saying :
"These aren't airplanes, they are three-ship formations."
At roughly 750,000 pounds fully loaded, 300,000 pounds more than the B-36 or B-52, there were no runways in the world that could support either proposed aircraft.
Additionally, many in the Air Force had grown wary of the floating panel concept after the 1953 TIP TOW crash.
In September 1956, a disappointed Air Staff recommended that both contractors
"return to the drawing board."
Besides the floating wingtips, the preliminary Boeing and North American designs had another factor in common :
both were rejected by the Air Force.
Upon seeing the concepts, Curtis LeMay is reported as saying :
"These aren't airplanes, they are three-ship formations."
At roughly 750,000 pounds fully loaded, 300,000 pounds more than the B-36 or B-52, there were no runways in the world that could support either proposed aircraft.
Additionally, many in the Air Force had grown wary of the floating panel concept after the 1953 TIP TOW crash.
In September 1956, a disappointed Air Staff recommended that both contractors
"return to the drawing board."
