Top secret radio silent missions were flown off the coasts of the USSR, China, and Cuba, from the early 1950s to mid-1960s, collecting and recording information about early warning and defensive systems. Intelligence analysts used this information to determine the most vulnerable locations for the SAC bomber force to penetrate in case of war.
After service 53-4299 was located at Smoky Hill AFB in Salina, Kansas where the condition of the aircraft deteriorated. In 1999 the National Museum of the USAF (then called the USAF Museum) obtained the airplane and restored it to its historic look, although non flyable. It took three years to restore.
(During this time the Museum Director gave me unlimited access to the restoration area because I had flown 53-4299 while in the 55th SRW (Special Reconnaissance Wing). Over the three years of restoration, I took about 300 pictures of the different stages of work.)
The photo above shows 53-4299 on March 14, 2003, the day it was being moved from the restoration hangar to the display area (photo taken June 20, 2003), while here is a photo of the pilot's cockpit.
Ted Black pictured 53-4299 also inside the museum on July 31, 2011.
The only other surviving "H" model (53-4296) is on display at the USAF Armament Museum in Eglin, Florida, but it's not true to historic configuration. It is the last B-47 to serve and later was used as a test bed. For this purpose an FB-111 nose was retrofitted, but at the conclusion of the test an "E" model radome was installed instead of the original "H" configuration."
Additional photos of 53-4296 taken by Ted Black at the USAF Armament Museum in June, 2010, show the "E" nose radome, and the electronics packages
in the rear empenage and below the cockpit area, the latter on ERB "H" models only.