And the accident rates were downright horrendous. The B-47, for example, took peacetime losses that would be completely intolerable today. Over the B-47's lifetime, 203 aircraft were lost, killing 464 crewmen. In 1957 & 1958 alone, 49 B-47s were lost, killing 122 crewmen. We don't see anything like that today. It's a testament to better aircraft but also a warning about complacency. In military aviation today, you're a lot more likely to have a peacetime accident than in one forward-deployed. Of course, it's been a LONG time since we've fought a worthy opponent in that arena.