Convair B-36
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The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" was a strategic bomber
built by Convair
and operated solely by the United States Air Force
(USAF) from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever made. It had the longest wingspan
of any combat aircraft ever built (70m), although there have been larger military transports. The B-36 was the first bomber capable of delivering any of the nuclear weapon
s in the US arsenal from inside its two bomb bays without aircraft modifications. With a range greater than 9700 km (6,027.3 mi) and a maximum payload of 33000 kg (72,752.5 lb), (and thereby having the ability to carry both the United States' atomic fission and fusion weapons
), the B-36 was the world's first manned bomber with an unrefueled intercontinental range.
. At the time it appeared there was a very real chance that Britain might fall
to the Nazi 'Blitz'
, making a strategic bombing effort by the United States Army Air Corps
(USAAC) against Germany impossible with the aircraft of the time. The U.S. would need a new class of bomber that could reach Europe
from bases in North America, necessitating a combat range of at least 5700 miles (9,173.2 km), the length of a Gander, Newfoundland
–Berlin
round trip. The USAAC therefore sought a bomber of truly intercontinental range, similar to the Nazi RLM's own ultra-long-range Amerika Bomber
program.
The USAAC opened up a design competition for the very long-range bomber on 11 April 1941, asking for a 450 mph (724.2 km/h) top speed, a 275 mph (442.6 km/h) cruising speed, a service ceiling of 45000 ft (13,716 m), beyond the range of ground-based anti-aircraft fire, and a maximum range of 12000 miles (19,312.1 km) at 25000 ft (7,620 m). These proved too demanding—far exceeding the technology of the day—for any short-term design, so on 19 August 1941 they were reduced to a maximum range of 10000 mi (16,093.4 km), an effective combat radius
of 4000 mi (6,437.4 km) with a 10000 lb (4,535.9 kg) bombload, a cruising speed between 240 and 300 mph (386.2 and 482.8 km/h), and a service ceiling of 40000 ft (12,192 m), above the maximum effective altitude of all of Nazi Germany
's anti-aircraft Flak guns, save for the rarely deployed 12.8 cm FlaK 40
heavy Flak cannon.
Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation (later Convair) and Boeing Aircraft Company took part in the competition, with Consolidated winning a tender on 16 October 1941. Consolidated asked for a $15 million contract with $800,000 for research and development, mock-up, and tooling. Two experimental bombers were proposed, the first to be delivered in 30 months, and the second within another six months. Originally designated Model B-35, the name was changed to B-36 to avoid confusion with the Northrop YB-35
.
Throughout its development, the B-36 would encounter various delays. When the United States entered World War II on 7 December 1941, Consolidated was ordered to slow down the B-36 project and increase production of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The first mockup was inspected on 20 July 1942, following six months of refinements. A month after the mockup inspection the project was moved from San Diego, California to Fort Worth, Texas, which set back development several months. Consolidated changed the tail from a twin-tail to a single, thereby saving 3,850 pounds, but this change would delay delivery by 120 days. The tricycle landing gear system's initial main gear design, incorporating huge single wheels that would quickly be found to cause significant ground pressure problems, only allowed the B-36 to land at just three airports in the United States (Fort Worth, Eglin Field, Florida, and Fairfield-Suisun Field (now Travis AFB) in California), mandated that Consolidated design a four-wheeled truck-type wheel arrangement for the main gear instead, which distributed the pressure more evenly and reduced weight by 1,500 lb. Changes in the United States Army Air Forces
(USAAF) requirements would add back any weight saved in redesigns, and cost more time. A new antenna system needed to be designed to accommodate an ordered radio and radar system. The Pratt & Whitney engines were redesigned, adding another 1,000 lb.
, and the B-36 began its development in earnest again. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson
, in discussions with high ranking officers of the AAF, decided to waive normal Army procurement procedures, and on 23 July 1943 ordered 100 B-36s before the completion and testing of the two prototypes. The first delivery was due in August 1945, and the last in October 1946, but Consolidated (now renamed Convair) delayed delivery. The aircraft was unveiled on 20 August 1945, and flew for the first time on 8 August 1946.
After the Cold War
began in earnest with the 1948 Berlin Airlift and the 1949 atmospheric test of the first Soviet atomic bomb, American military planners sought bombers capable of delivering the very large and heavy first-generation atomic bombs. The B-36 was the only American aircraft with the range and payload to carry such bombs from airfields on American soil to targets in the USSR. (Storing nuclear weapons in foreign countries was, and remains, diplomatically sensitive and risky).
The B-36 was arguably obsolete from the outset, being piston-powered, particularly in a world of super-sonic jet interceptors, but its jet rival, the Boeing B-47 Stratojet, which did not become fully operational until 1953, lacked the range to attack the Soviet homeland from North America and could not carry the huge first-generation hydrogen bomb. Nor could the other American piston bombers of the day, the B-29 or B-50
. Intercontinental ballistic missile
s (ICBMs) did not become effective deterrents until the 1960s. Until the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress became operational in the late 1950s, the B-36, as the only truly intercontinental bomber, continued to be the primary nuclear weapons delivery vehicle of the Strategic Air Command
(SAC).
Convair touted the B-36 as the "aluminum overcast", a so-called "long rifle" giving SAC truly global reach. While General Curtis LeMay
headed SAC (1949–57), he turned the B-36 arm, through intense training and development, into an effective nuclear delivery force, forming the heart of the Strategic Air Command. Its maximum payload was more than four times that of the B-29, even exceeding that of the B-52. The B-36 was slow and could not refuel in midair, but could fly missions to targets 3,400 mi (5,500 km) away and stay aloft as long as 40 hours. Moreover, the B-36 was believed to have "an ace up its sleeve": a phenomenal cruising altitude for a piston-driven aircraft, made possible by its huge wing area and six 28-cylinder engines, putting it out of range of all piston fighters, early jet interceptors, and ground batteries.
saw it as a costly bungle, diverting congressional funding and interest from naval aviation
and aircraft carrier
s in general, and carrier–based nuclear bombers in particular. In 1947, the Navy attacked congressional funding for the B-36, alleging it failed to meet Pentagon requirements. The U.S. Navy held to the preeminence of the aircraft carrier in the Pacific
during World War II, presuming carrier-based aircraft would be decisive in future wars. To this end, the Navy designed the , a "supercarrier
" capable of launching huge fleets of tactical aircraft or nuclear bombers. It then pushed to have funding transferred from the B-36 to the USS United States. The Air Force successfully defended the B-36 project, and the United States was officially cancelled by Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson
in a cost-cutting move. Several high-level Navy officials questioned the government's decision, alleging a conflict of interest because Johnson had once served on Convair's Board of Directors. The uproar following the cancellation of United States was nicknamed the "Revolt of the Admirals
".
The furor, as well as the significant use of aircraft carriers in the Korean War
, resulted in the design and procurement of the subsequent Forrestal
class of supercarrier
s, which were of comparable size to the United States but with a design geared towards greater multirole use with composite air wings of fighter, attack, reconnaissance, electronic warfare
, early warning and anti-submarine warfare
aircraft. At the same time, heavy manned bombers for the Strategic Air Command
were also deemed crucial to national defense and, as a result, the two systems were never again in competition for the same budgetary resources.
The B-36 took shape as an aircraft of immense proportions. It was two-thirds longer than the previous "superbomber", the B-29. The wingspan and tail height of the B-36 exceeded those of the Antonov An-22
, the largest ever mass-produced propeller-driven aircraft. Only with the advent of the Boeing 747
and the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, both designed two decades later, did aircraft capable of lifting a heavier payload become commonplace.
The wings of the B-36 were large even when compared with present-day aircraft, exceeding, for example, those of the C-5 Galaxy, and enabled the B-36 to carry enough fuel to fly very long missions without refueling. The widest point around the chord
of the wing was seven and a half feet thick containing a crawlspace that allowed crew access to the engines. The wing area permitted cruising altitudes well above the operating ceiling of any 1940s-era piston and jet-turbine fighters. All versions of the B-36 could cruise at over 40,000 ft (12,000 m). B-36 mission logs commonly recorded mock attacks against U.S. cities while flying at 49,000 ft. In 1954, the turret
s and other nonessential equipment were removed, resulting in a "featherweight" configuration believed to have resulted in a top speed of 423 mph (700 km/h), and cruise at 50,000 ft (15,000 m) and dash at over 55,000 ft (16,800 m), perhaps even higher.
The large wing area and the option of starting the four jet engines gave the B-36 a wide margin between stall speed (VS) and maximum speed (Vmax) at these altitudes. This made the B-36 more maneuverable at high altitude than the USAF jet interceptors of the day, which either could not fly above 40000 ft (12,192 m), or if they did, were likely to stall out when trying to maneuver or fire their guns. However, the Navy argued that their McDonnell F2H Banshee fighter could intercept the B-36, thanks to its ability to operate at more than 50,000 ft (15,000 m). The Air Force declined the Navy's invitation to a fly-off between the Banshee and the B-36. Later, the new Secretary of Defense, Louis A. Johnson
, who considered the U.S. Navy and Naval Aviation essentially obsolete in favor of the U.S. Air Force and Strategic Air Command, forbade putting the Navy's claim to the test.
The propulsion system alone made the B-36 a very unusual aircraft. All B-36s featured six 28-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-4360 'Wasp Major' radial engine
s. Even though the prototype R-4360s delivered a total of 18000 hp, early B-36s were slow and required long takeoff runs. The situation improved with later versions delivering 3800 hp apiece. Each engine drove an immense three-bladed propeller, 19 ft (5.8 m) in diameter, mounted in the pusher configuration
. This unusual configuration prevented propeller turbulence from interfering with airflow over the wing, but also led to chronic engine-overheating due to insufficient airflow around the engines, resulting in numerous in-flight engine fires.
Beginning with the B-36D, Convair added a pair of General Electric J47-19
jet engine
s suspended near the end of each wing; these were also retrofitted to all extant B-36Bs. Thus the B-36 came to have 10 engines ("six turnin' and four burnin' ", as said by American airmen), more than any other mass-produced aircraft. The jet pods greatly improved takeoff performance and dash speed over the target. In normal cruising flight, the jet engines were shut down to conserve fuel. The two pods with four turbojets and the six piston engines combined gave the B-36 a total of 40,000 hp for short periods of time.
The B-36 had a crew of 15. As in the B-29, the pressurized flight deck and crew compartment were linked to the rear compartment by a pressurized tunnel through the bomb bay. In the B-36, one rode through the tunnel on a wheeled trolley, by pulling oneself on a rope. The rear compartment featured six bunks and a dining galley, and led to the tail turret. The B-36 also tested the experimental Boston Camera
.
The XB-36 featured a single-wheel landing gear
whose tires were the largest ever manufactured up to that time, 9 ft 2 in (2.7 m) tall, 3 ft (1 m) wide, and weighing 1,320 lb (600 kg), with enough rubber for 60 automobile tires. These tires placed so much weight per unit area on runways, the XB-36 was restricted to the Fort Worth airfield adjacent to the plant of manufacture, and to a mere two USAF bases beyond that. At the suggestion of General Henry H. Arnold
, the single-wheel gear was soon replaced by a four-wheel bogie
. At one point a tank-like tracked landing gear was also tried on the XB-36, but proved heavy and noisy and was quickly abandoned.
s could carry up to 86,000 lb (39 metric tons) of bombs, more than 10 times the load carried by the World War II workhorse, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, and substantially more than the entire B-17's gross weight. The B-36 was not designed with nuclear weaponry in mind, because the mere existence of such weapons was top secret during the period when the B-36 was conceived and designed (1941–46). Nevertheless, the B-36 stepped into its nuclear delivery role immediately upon becoming operational. In all respects except speed, the B-36 could match what was arguably its approximate Soviet counterpart, the Tu-95, which began production in January 1956 and at the time of this writing is still in service. Until the B-52 came on line, the B-36 was the only means of delivering the first generation Mark-17 hydrogen bomb, 25 ft (7.5 m) long, 5 ft (1.5 m) in diameter, and weighing 42,000 lb (19,000 kg), the heaviest and bulkiest American aerial nuclear bomb ever. Carrying this massive weapon required merging two adjacent bomb bays.
The defensive armament consisted of six remote-controlled retractable gun turrets, and fixed tail and nose turrets. Each turret was fitted with two 20 mm cannon
s, for a total of 16 cannons. Recoil
vibration from gunnery practice often caused the airplane's electrical wiring to jar loose or the vacuum tube
electronics to malfunction, leading to failure of the aircraft controls and navigation equipment. This contributed to the crash of B-36B 44-92035 on 22 November 1950.
The Convair B-36 was the only aircraft designed to carry the T-12 Cloudmaker, a gravity bomb
weighing 43600 lb (19,776.6 kg) and designed to produce an earthquake bomb effect.
The first prototype XB-36 flew on 8 August 1946. The speed and range of the prototype failed to meet the standards set out by the Army Air Corps in 1941. This was expected, as the engines required (Pratt & Whitney R-4360s) were not yet available, and the lack of qualified workers and materials needed to install them prevented Convair from achieving its goals.
A second aircraft, the YB-36, flew on 4 December 1947. It featured a redesigned high visibility bubble canopy
, which was later adopted for production. Altogether, the YB-36 was much closer to the production aircraft. Additionally, the engines used on the YB-36 were a good deal more powerful and more efficient.
The first of 21 B-36As were delivered in 1948. They were admittedly interim airframes, intended for crew training and later conversion. No defensive armament was fitted as none was ready. Once later models were available, all B-36As were converted to RB-36E reconnaissance models. The first B-36 variant meant for normal operation was the B-36B, delivered beginning in November 1948. This aircraft met all the 1941 requirements, but had serious problems with engine reliability and maintenance (changing the 336 spark plugs was a task dreaded by ground crews), and with the availability of armaments and spare parts. Later models featured more powerful variants of the R-4360 engine, improved radar, and redesigned crew compartments.
The four jet engines raised fuel consumption, thus reducing range. Meanwhile, the advent of air-to-air missile
s rendered conventional gun turrets obsolete. In February 1954, the USAF awarded Convair a contract reducing the weight of the entire B-36 fleet by implementing a new "Featherweight" design program in three configurations:
The six turrets eliminated by Featherweight I reduced the aircraft's crew from 15 to 9. Featherweight III enabled a longer range and an operating ceiling of at least 47,000 ft (14,000 m), features especially valuable for reconnaissance missions. The B-36J-III configuration (the last 14 made) featured a single radar-aimed tail turret, extra fuel tanks in the outer wings, and landing gear allowing the maximum gross weight to rise to 410,000 lb (190,000 kg). Production of the B-36 ceased in 1954.
The B-36, including its GRB-36, RB-36, and XC-99 variants, was in service as part of the USAF Strategic Air Command
from 1948 through 1959. The B-36 never dropped a bomb or fired a shot in active service.
The B-36 was too large to fit in most hangar
s. Moreover, even an aircraft with the range of the B-36 needed to be stationed as close to the enemy as possible, and this meant the northern continental United States, Alaska, and the Arctic
. As a result, most "normal" maintenance, such as changing the 56 spark plug
s (always at risk of fouling by the leaded fuel of the day) on each of its six engines, or replacing the dozens of bomb bay
light bulbs shattered after a gunnery mission, was performed outdoors, in 100 °F (37.8 °C) summers or -60 °F winters, depending on the location. Special shelters were built so that the maintenance crews could enjoy a modicum of protection while working on the engines. Often, ground crews were at risk of slipping and falling from icy wings, or being blown off the wings by a propeller running in reverse pitch.
The wing root
s were thick enough, at 7 ft (2.1 m), to enable a flight engineer
to access the engines and landing gear
by crawling through the wings. This was possible only at altitudes not requiring pressurization
.
The Wasp Major engines also had a prodigious appetite for lubricating oil, each engine requiring its own 100 gal (380 l) tank.
, which increased carburetor icing
. The design of the R-4360 engine tacitly assumed that it would be mounted in the conventional tractor configuration
—propeller/air intake/28 cylinders/carburetor—with air flowing in that order. In this configuration, the carburetor is bathed in warmed air flowing past the engine, and so is unlikely to ice up. However, the R-4360 engines in the B-36 were mounted backwards, in the pusher configuration—air intake/carburetor/28 cylinders/propeller. The carburetor was now in front of the engine and so could not benefit from engine heat, and also made more traditional short term carburetor heat
systems unsuitable. Hence, when intake air was cold and humid, ice gradually obstructed the carburetor air intake, which in turn gradually increased the richness of the air/fuel mixture
until the unburned fuel in the exhaust
caught fire. Three engine fires of this nature led to the first loss of an American nuclear weapon
, described below.
The B-36 was not a particularly enjoyable aircraft to fly. Its overall performance, in terms of speed and maneuverability, was never considered sprightly. Lieutenant General James Edmundson likened it to "...sitting on your front porch and flying your house around." Despite its immense exterior size, the pressurized crew compartments were relatively cramped, especially when occupied for 24 hours by a crew of 15 in full flight kit.
War missions would have been essentially one-way, taking off from forward bases in Alaska
or Greenland
, overflying the USSR, and landing in Europe
, North Africa
(Morocco
), or the Middle East
. Ironically, recollections of crew veterans reveal that while crews were confident of their ability to complete a mission if called upon to do so, they were less confident of surviving the weapon delivery itself. Their concerns were a function of the relatively low speed of the aircraft coupled with the extreme destructive power of the bombs they were carrying, resulting in the aircraft still being within blast range once the bombs detonated on target. These concerns were borne out by the 1954 Operation Castle
tests, in which B-36s flew near detonations in the 15-megaton range, at distances believed typical of wartime delivery, and experienced extensive blast damage.
The B-36 was employed in a variety of aeronautical experiments throughout its service life. Its immense size, range and payload capacity lent itself to use in research and development programs. These included nuclear propulsion studies, and "parasite" programs in which the B-36 carried smaller interceptors or reconnaissance aircraft.
In May 1946, the Air Force began the Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft (NEPA) project which was followed in May 1951 by the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion
(ANP) program. The ANP program required that Convair modify two B-36s under the MX-1589 project. One of the modified B-36s studied shielding requirements for an airborne reactor to determine whether a nuclear aircraft
was feasible. The Nuclear Test Aircraft (NTA) was a B-36H-20-CF (serial number 51-5712) that had been damaged in a tornado at Carswell AFB on 1 September 1952. This aircraft, designated the XB-36H (and later NB-36H), was modified to carry a , air-cooled nuclear reactor
in the aft bomb bay
, with a four-ton lead disc shield installed in the middle of the aircraft between the 1,000-kilowatt reactor and the cockpit. A number of large air intake and exhaust holes were installed in the sides and bottom of the aircraft's rear fuselage to cool the reactor in flight. On the ground, a crane would be utilized to remove the 35,000 pound reactor from the aircraft. To protect the crew, the highly-modified cockpit was encased in lead and rubber, with a 1 feet (30.5 cm) leaded glass
windshield
. The reactor was operational but did not power the aircraft; its sole purpose was to investigate the effect of radiation on aircraft systems. Between 1955 and 1957, the NB-36H completed 47 test flights and 215 hours of flight time, during 89 of which the reactor was critical.
Other experiments involved providing the B-36 with its own fighter defense in the form of parasite aircraft
carried partially or wholly in a bomb bay. One parasite aircraft was the rather miniscule McDonnell XF-85 Goblin
, which docked using a trapeze system. The concept was tested successfully using a B-29 carrier, but docking proved difficult even for experienced test pilots. Moreover, the XF-85 was seen as no match for contemporary foreign powers' newly-developed interceptor aircraft in development and in service, consequently, the project was cancelled.
More successful was the FICON project
, involving a modified B-36—called a GRB-36D "mothership"—and the RF-84K, a fighter modified for reconnaissance
, in a bomb bay. The GRB-36D would ferry the RF-84K to the vicinity of the objective, whereupon the RF-84K would disconnect and begin its mission. Ten GRB-36Ds and 25 RF-84Ks were built and saw limited service in 1955-1956.
Projects TIP TOW and Tom-Tom
involved docking F-84s to the wingtips of B-29s and B-36s. The hope was that the increased aspect ratio
of the combined aircraft would result in a greater range. Project TIP TOW was canceled when the combination of one of the two EF-84Ds and a specially modified test EB-29A crashed, killing everyone on both aircraft. This accident was attributed to one of the EF-84Ds flipping over onto the wing of the EB-29A. Project Tom-Tom, involving RF-84Fs and a GRB-36D from the FICON project (redesignated JRB-36F), continued for a few months after this crash, but was also canceled due to the violent turbulence
induced by the wingtip vortices
of the B-36.
One of the SAC's initial missions was to plan strategic aerial reconnaissance on a global scale. The first efforts were in photo-reconnaissance and mapping. Along with the photo-reconnaissance mission, a small electronic intelligence (ELINT) cadre was operating. Weather reconnaissance was part of the effort, as was Long Range Detection, the search for Soviet atomic explosions. In the late 1940s, strategic intelligence on Soviet capabilities and intentions was scarce. Before the development of the Lockheed U-2
high altitude spy plane and orbital reconnaissance satellites, technology and politics limited American reconnaissance efforts to the borders, and not the heartland, of the Soviet Union
.
One of the essential criteria of the early postwar reconnaissance aircraft was the ability to cruise above 40000 feet (12,192 m), a level determined by knowledge of the capability of Russian air defense radar. The main Russian air defense radar in the 1950s was the American supplied SCR-270
, or locally made copies, which were only effective up to 40000 feet (12,192 m) – in theory, an aircraft cruising above this level would remain undetected.
The first aircraft, which put this theory to the test, was the RB-36D specialized photographic-reconnaissance version of the B-36D. It was outwardly identical to the standard B-36D, but carried a crew of 22 rather than 15, the additional crew members being needed to operate and maintain the photographic reconnaissance equipment that was carried. The forward bomb bay in the bomber was replaced by a pressurized manned compartment that was filled with fourteen cameras. This compartment included a small darkroom where a photo technician could develop the film. The second bomb bay contained up to 80 T-86 photo flash bombs, while the third bay could carry an extra 3,000 gallon droppable fuel tank. The fourth bomb bay carried ECM equipment. The defensive armament of 16 M-24A-1 20 mm cannons was retained. The extra fuel tanks increased the flight endurance to up to 50 hours. It had an operational ceiling of 50,000 ft. Later, a lightweight version of this aircraft, the RB-36-III, could even reach 58,000 ft. RB-36s were distinguished by the bright aluminium finish of the camera compartment (contrasting with the dull magnesium of the rest of the fuselage) and by a series of radar domes
under the aft fuselage, varying in number and placement. When developed, it was the only American aircraft having enough range to fly over the Eurasian land mass from bases in the United States, and size enough to carry the bulky high resolution cameras of the day.
The standard RB-36D carried up to 23 cameras, primarily K-17C, K-22A, K-38, and K-40 cameras. A special 240-foot focal length camera was tested on 44-92088, the aircraft being redesignated ERB-36D. The long focal length was achieved by using a two-mirror reflection system. The camera was supposedly capable of resolving a golf ball at an altitude of 40000 feet (12,192 m). This camera is now with the National Museum of the United States Air Force
at Wright Patterson AFB.
The first RB-36D (44-92088) made its initial flight on 18 December 1949, only six months after the first B-36D had flown. It initially flew without the turbojets. The 28th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing based at Rapid City AFB (later renamed Ellsworth AFB), South Dakota
received its first RB-36D on 3 June 1950. Due to severe materiel shortages, the new RB-36Ds did not become operationally ready until June 1951. The 24th and last RB-36D was delivered in May 1951. A total of 24 RB-36Ds were built. Some RB-36Ds were later modified to the featherweight configuration, in which all but the tail guns were removed. The crew was reduced from 22 to 19. These aircraft were redesignated as RB-36D-III. Modifications were carried out by Convair from February 1954 to November 1954.
In 1951 RB-36Ds, with a range of 9300 miles (14,966.9 km), began probing the boundaries of the Soviet Arctic and were rather disturbed to find their on-board equipment indicating that they had been detected by Soviet radar - so much for the theory. However, detecting aircraft on ground-based radar was one thing, intercepting them was far more difficult. A number of overflights of Soviet bases in the arctic, particularly the new nuclear weapons test complex at Novaya Zemlya
, were made by RB-36 aircraft operating from RAF Sculthorpe
in England
. RB-36s performed a number of rarely acknowledged reconnaissance missions and is suspected of having carried out numerous penetrations of Chinese
(and Soviet
) airspace
under the direction of General Curtis LeMay
.
In early 1950, Convair began conversion of the B-36As to the reconnaissance configuration. Included in the conversions was the sole YB-36 (42-13571). These converted examples were all redesignated RB-36E. The six R-4360-25 engines were replaced by six R-4360-41s. They were also equipped with the four J-47 jet engines that were fitted to the RB-36D. Its normal crew was 22, which included five gunners to man the 16 M-24A-1 20 mm cannon. The last conversion was completed in July 1951. Later, the USAF also bought 73 long-range reconnaissance versions of the B-36H under the designation RB-36H. 23 were accepted during the first six months of 1952, the last were delivered by September 1953. More than a third of all B-36 models were reconnaissance models.
Advances in Soviet air defense systems meant that the RB-36 became limited to flying outside of the borders of the Soviet Union, as well as Eastern Europe. By the mid 1950s, the jet-powered Boeing RB-47E was able to pierce Soviet airspace and conduct a variety of spectacular overflights of the Soviet Union. Some of these flights probed deep into the heart of the Soviet Union, taking a photographic and radar recording of the route attacking SAC bombers would follow to reach their targets. The risks involved in mounting these dangerous sorties over some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth speaks volumes for the courage and skill of the crews involved. Flights which involved penetrating mainland Russia were termed SENSINT (Sensitive Intelligence) missions. One RB-47 even managed to fly 450 miles (724.2 km) inland and photograph the city of Igarka in Siberia.
As with the strategic bombardment versions of the B-36, the RB-36s were phased out of the SAC inventory beginning in 1956, the last being sent to Davis-Monthan in January 1959.
With the appearance of the Soviet MiG-15
in combat over North Korea
in 1950, USAF propeller-driven bombers were rendered obsolete as strategic offensive weapons. Although the MiG-15 had limited range and lacked radar, the swept-wing Soviet jet carried heavy-caliber weapons and could fly faster and higher than the F-80C and F-84G, the B-29’s straight-winged jet fighter escorts. During daylight, the MiG-15 could attack the propeller-driven B-29s with impunity, forcing the United States to switch the B-29 to night raids.
The B-36, along with the B-29/B-50 Superfortresses in the USAF inventory in the early 1950s, were all designed during World War II, prior to the jet age. It would take a new generation of swept-wing jet bombers, being able to fly higher and faster to effectively defeat the defense of the MiG-15 or subsequent Soviet-designed interceptors if the Cold War
escalated into an armed conflict between the United States and Soviet Union.
With the end of fighting in Korea, President Eisenhower
, who had taken office in January 1953, called for a "new look" at national defense. His administration chose to invest in the Air Force, especially Strategic Air Command
. The Air Force retired nearly all of its B-29/B-50s to be replaced by the new Boeing B-47 Stratojet. By 1955, the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress swept-wing strategic jet bombers would be entering the inventory in substantial numbers, and the B-36s began to be replaced.
In addition to the obsolescence of the aircraft, other factors leading to the phaseout of the B-36 were:
The scrapping of B-36s began in February 1956. Once replaced by B-52s, they were flown directly from operational squadrons to Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona
, where the Mar-Pak Corporation handled their reclamation and destruction. However, defense cutbacks in FY 1958 compelled the B-52 procurement process to be stretched out and the B-36 service life to be extended. The B-36s remaining in service were supported with components scavenged from planes sent to Davis-Monthan for scrapping. Further update work was undertaken by Convair at San Diego (Specialized Aircraft Maintenance, SAM-SAC) until 1957 to extend the life and capabilities of the B-36s. By December 1958, only 22 B-36s (all of them B-36Js) were still operational.
On 12 February 1959, the last B-36J (and the final J built by Convair-52-2827) left Biggs AFB, Texas, where it had been on duty with the 95th Heavy Bombardment Wing, and was flown to Amon Carter Field
in Fort Worth, where it was put on display. Within two years, all but five B-36s (which had been saved for museum display) had been scrapped at Davis-Monthan AFB.
XB-36
YB-36
YB-36A
B-36A
XC-99
B-36B
RB-36B
YB-36C
B-36C
B-36D
RB-36D
GRB-36D
RB-36E
B-36F
RB-36F
YB-36G
B-36H
NB-36H
RB-36H
B-36J
YB-60
. The YB-60 was deemed inferior to Boeing's YB-52, and the project was terminated.
Just as the C-97 was the transport variant of the B-50
, the B-36 was the basis for the Convair XC-99
, a double-decked military cargo plane that was the largest piston engined, land-based aircraft ever built, and the longest practical aircraft (185 ft/56 m) of its era. The sole example built was extensively employed for nearly a decade, especially for cross-country cargo flights during the Korean War
. In 2005, this XC-99 was dismantled in anticipation of its being moved from the former Kelly Air Force Base
, now the Kelly Field Annex of Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas
, where it had been retired since 1957. The XC-99 was subsequently relocated to the National Museum of the United States Air Force
at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
near Dayton, Ohio
for restoration, with C-5 Galaxy
transports carrying pieces of the XC-99 to Wright-Patterson as space and schedule permitted.
A commercial airliner derived from the XC-99, the Convair Model 37, never left the drawing board. It would have been the first "jumbo" airliner.
United States
Only four complete (and one stored) B-36 type aircraft survive today, from the 384 produced.
-rich airframe burned readily.
B-36s were involved in two "Broken Arrow" incidents. On 13 February 1950, B-36 serial number 44-92075, crashed in an unpopulated region of British Columbia
, resulting in the first loss of an American atom bomb
. The bomb's plutonium core was dummy lead, but it did have TNT, and it detonated over the ocean prior to the crew bailing out. Locating the crash site took some effort. Later in 1954, the airframe, stripped of sensitive material, was substantially destroyed in situ
by a U.S. military recovery team.
On 22 May 1957, a B-36 accidentally dropped a Mark-17 hydrogen bomb on a deserted area while landing at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Only the conventional trigger detonated, the bomb being unarmed. These incidents were classified for decades. See list of military nuclear accidents.
In 1955, the film Strategic Air Command
was released, starring James Stewart and June Allyson with Stewart playing a baseball star and his subsequent service in Strategic Air Command. The flying sequences (and sounds) of the B-36 dominate the film. This film remains as the only full-length film featuring this aircraft. As of 1 January 2011, this film is available for viewing on Netflix
.
The documentary Lost Nuke (2004) chronicles a 2003 Canadian expedition that set out to solve the mystery of the world's first lost nuclear weapon. The team traveled to the remote mountain British Columbia crash site of 44-92075
.
, some apocryphal, some containing a grain of truth.
Strategic bomber
A strategic bomber is a heavy bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of ordnance onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating an enemy's capacity to wage war. Unlike tactical bombers, which are used in the battle zone to attack troops and military equipment, strategic bombers are...
built by Convair
Convair
Convair was an American aircraft manufacturing company which later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Vultee Aircraft and Consolidated Aircraft, and went on to produce a number of pioneering aircraft, such as the Convair B-36 bomber, and the F-102...
and operated solely by the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
(USAF) from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever made. It had the longest wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
of any combat aircraft ever built (70m), although there have been larger military transports. The B-36 was the first bomber capable of delivering any of the nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s in the US arsenal from inside its two bomb bays without aircraft modifications. With a range greater than 9700 km (6,027.3 mi) and a maximum payload of 33000 kg (72,752.5 lb), (and thereby having the ability to carry both the United States' atomic fission and fusion weapons
Nuclear weapon design
Nuclear weapon designs are physical, chemical, and engineering arrangements that cause the physics package of a nuclear weapon to detonate. There are three basic design types...
), the B-36 was the world's first manned bomber with an unrefueled intercontinental range.
Development
The genesis of the B-36 can be traced to early 1941, prior to the entry of the U.S. into World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. At the time it appeared there was a very real chance that Britain might fall
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
to the Nazi 'Blitz'
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
, making a strategic bombing effort by the United States Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
(USAAC) against Germany impossible with the aircraft of the time. The U.S. would need a new class of bomber that could reach Europe
European Theatre of World War II
The European Theatre of World War II was a huge area of heavy fighting across Europe from Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 until the end of the war with the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945...
from bases in North America, necessitating a combat range of at least 5700 miles (9,173.2 km), the length of a Gander, Newfoundland
Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador
Gander is a Canadian town located in the northeastern part of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately south of Gander Bay, south of Twillingate and east of Grand Falls-Windsor...
–Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
round trip. The USAAC therefore sought a bomber of truly intercontinental range, similar to the Nazi RLM's own ultra-long-range Amerika Bomber
Amerika Bomber
The Amerika-Bomber project was an initiative of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, the Nazi Germany Air Ministry, to obtain a long-range strategic bomber for the Luftwaffe that would be capable of striking the continental United States from Germany, a range of about 5,800 km...
program.
The USAAC opened up a design competition for the very long-range bomber on 11 April 1941, asking for a 450 mph (724.2 km/h) top speed, a 275 mph (442.6 km/h) cruising speed, a service ceiling of 45000 ft (13,716 m), beyond the range of ground-based anti-aircraft fire, and a maximum range of 12000 miles (19,312.1 km) at 25000 ft (7,620 m). These proved too demanding—far exceeding the technology of the day—for any short-term design, so on 19 August 1941 they were reduced to a maximum range of 10000 mi (16,093.4 km), an effective combat radius
Combat radius
Combat radius refers to the distance from an airbase that a warplane can reach, patrol there for a set amount of time and return to base with minimal fuel left, thus completing a combat mission...
of 4000 mi (6,437.4 km) with a 10000 lb (4,535.9 kg) bombload, a cruising speed between 240 and 300 mph (386.2 and 482.8 km/h), and a service ceiling of 40000 ft (12,192 m), above the maximum effective altitude of all of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's anti-aircraft Flak guns, save for the rarely deployed 12.8 cm FlaK 40
12.8 cm FlaK 40
The 12.8 cm FlaK 40, was a German World War II anti-aircraft gun built as the successor to the 88 mm gun. Although it was not produced in great numbers, it was one of the most effective heavy AA guns of its era....
heavy Flak cannon.
Experimentals and prototypes
Northrop YB-35
The Northrop XB-35 and YB-35 were experimental heavy bomber aircraft developed for the United States Army Air Forces during and shortly after World War II by the Northrop Corporation. It used the radical and potentially very efficient flying wing design, in which the tail section and fuselage are...
.
Throughout its development, the B-36 would encounter various delays. When the United States entered World War II on 7 December 1941, Consolidated was ordered to slow down the B-36 project and increase production of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The first mockup was inspected on 20 July 1942, following six months of refinements. A month after the mockup inspection the project was moved from San Diego, California to Fort Worth, Texas, which set back development several months. Consolidated changed the tail from a twin-tail to a single, thereby saving 3,850 pounds, but this change would delay delivery by 120 days. The tricycle landing gear system's initial main gear design, incorporating huge single wheels that would quickly be found to cause significant ground pressure problems, only allowed the B-36 to land at just three airports in the United States (Fort Worth, Eglin Field, Florida, and Fairfield-Suisun Field (now Travis AFB) in California), mandated that Consolidated design a four-wheeled truck-type wheel arrangement for the main gear instead, which distributed the pressure more evenly and reduced weight by 1,500 lb. Changes in the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
(USAAF) requirements would add back any weight saved in redesigns, and cost more time. A new antenna system needed to be designed to accommodate an ordered radio and radar system. The Pratt & Whitney engines were redesigned, adding another 1,000 lb.
World War II and after
Early in the war, the military refused to supply materials, tradespeople, and engineers to the project, which slowed work. As the Pacific war progressed, the United States increasingly needed a bomber capable of reaching Japan from its bases in HawaiiHawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, and the B-36 began its development in earnest again. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson
Henry L. Stimson
Henry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician and spokesman on foreign policy. He twice served as Secretary of War 1911–1913 under Republican William Howard Taft and 1940–1945, under Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the latter role he was a leading hawk...
, in discussions with high ranking officers of the AAF, decided to waive normal Army procurement procedures, and on 23 July 1943 ordered 100 B-36s before the completion and testing of the two prototypes. The first delivery was due in August 1945, and the last in October 1946, but Consolidated (now renamed Convair) delayed delivery. The aircraft was unveiled on 20 August 1945, and flew for the first time on 8 August 1946.
After the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
began in earnest with the 1948 Berlin Airlift and the 1949 atmospheric test of the first Soviet atomic bomb, American military planners sought bombers capable of delivering the very large and heavy first-generation atomic bombs. The B-36 was the only American aircraft with the range and payload to carry such bombs from airfields on American soil to targets in the USSR. (Storing nuclear weapons in foreign countries was, and remains, diplomatically sensitive and risky).
The B-36 was arguably obsolete from the outset, being piston-powered, particularly in a world of super-sonic jet interceptors, but its jet rival, the Boeing B-47 Stratojet, which did not become fully operational until 1953, lacked the range to attack the Soviet homeland from North America and could not carry the huge first-generation hydrogen bomb. Nor could the other American piston bombers of the day, the B-29 or B-50
Boeing B-50 Superfortress
The Boeing B-50 Superfortress strategic bomber was a post-World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller fin, and other improvements. It was the last piston-engined bomber designed by Boeing for...
. Intercontinental ballistic missile
Intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a long range typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery...
s (ICBMs) did not become effective deterrents until the 1960s. Until the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress became operational in the late 1950s, the B-36, as the only truly intercontinental bomber, continued to be the primary nuclear weapons delivery vehicle of the Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
(SAC).
Convair touted the B-36 as the "aluminum overcast", a so-called "long rifle" giving SAC truly global reach. While General Curtis LeMay
Curtis LeMay
Curtis Emerson LeMay was a general in the United States Air Force and the vice presidential running mate of American Independent Party candidate George Wallace in 1968....
headed SAC (1949–57), he turned the B-36 arm, through intense training and development, into an effective nuclear delivery force, forming the heart of the Strategic Air Command. Its maximum payload was more than four times that of the B-29, even exceeding that of the B-52. The B-36 was slow and could not refuel in midair, but could fly missions to targets 3,400 mi (5,500 km) away and stay aloft as long as 40 hours. Moreover, the B-36 was believed to have "an ace up its sleeve": a phenomenal cruising altitude for a piston-driven aircraft, made possible by its huge wing area and six 28-cylinder engines, putting it out of range of all piston fighters, early jet interceptors, and ground batteries.
Operating and financial problems
The B-36 was difficult to operate, prone in its early service years to catastrophic engine fires, electrical failures, and other costly malfunctions. In later years, inaccessible fuel and oil leaks were problems. To its critics, these problems made it a "billion-dollar blunder". In particular, the United States NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
saw it as a costly bungle, diverting congressional funding and interest from naval aviation
Naval aviation
Naval aviation is the application of manned military air power by navies, including ships that embark fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters. In contrast, maritime aviation is the operation of aircraft in a maritime role under the command of non-naval forces such as the former RAF Coastal Command or a...
and aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s in general, and carrier–based nuclear bombers in particular. In 1947, the Navy attacked congressional funding for the B-36, alleging it failed to meet Pentagon requirements. The U.S. Navy held to the preeminence of the aircraft carrier in the Pacific
Pacific Theater of Operations
The Pacific Theater of Operations was the World War II area of military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, a geographic scope that reflected the operational and administrative command structures of the American forces during that period...
during World War II, presuming carrier-based aircraft would be decisive in future wars. To this end, the Navy designed the , a "supercarrier
Supercarrier
Supercarrier is an unofficial descriptive term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 70,000 long tons.Supercarrier is an unofficial descriptive term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 70,000 long tons.Supercarrier is an unofficial...
" capable of launching huge fleets of tactical aircraft or nuclear bombers. It then pushed to have funding transferred from the B-36 to the USS United States. The Air Force successfully defended the B-36 project, and the United States was officially cancelled by Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson
Louis A. Johnson
Louis Arthur Johnson was the second United States Secretary of Defense, serving in the cabinet of President Harry S. Truman from March 28, 1949 to September 19, 1950....
in a cost-cutting move. Several high-level Navy officials questioned the government's decision, alleging a conflict of interest because Johnson had once served on Convair's Board of Directors. The uproar following the cancellation of United States was nicknamed the "Revolt of the Admirals
Revolt of the Admirals
The Revolt of the Admirals is a name given to an episode that took place in the late 1940s in which several United States Navy admirals and high-ranking civilian officials publicly disagreed with the President and the Secretary of Defense's strategy and plans for the military forces in the early...
".
The furor, as well as the significant use of aircraft carriers in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, resulted in the design and procurement of the subsequent Forrestal
Forrestal class aircraft carrier
The Forrestal-class aircraft carriers were a four-ship class designed and built for the United States Navy in the 1950s. It was the first class of so-called supercarriers, combining high tonnage, deck-edge elevators and an angled deck...
class of supercarrier
Supercarrier
Supercarrier is an unofficial descriptive term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 70,000 long tons.Supercarrier is an unofficial descriptive term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 70,000 long tons.Supercarrier is an unofficial...
s, which were of comparable size to the United States but with a design geared towards greater multirole use with composite air wings of fighter, attack, reconnaissance, electronic warfare
Electronic warfare
Electronic warfare refers to any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults via the spectrum. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent the advantage of, and ensure friendly...
, early warning and anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
aircraft. At the same time, heavy manned bombers for the Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
were also deemed crucial to national defense and, as a result, the two systems were never again in competition for the same budgetary resources.
Design
Antonov An-22
The Antonov An-22 Antei was the world's heaviest aircraft, until the advent of the American C-5 Galaxy and later the Soviet An-124. Powered by four pairs of contra-rotating turboprops, the design remains the world's largest turboprop-powered aircraft...
, the largest ever mass-produced propeller-driven aircraft. Only with the advent of the Boeing 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
and the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, both designed two decades later, did aircraft capable of lifting a heavier payload become commonplace.
The wings of the B-36 were large even when compared with present-day aircraft, exceeding, for example, those of the C-5 Galaxy, and enabled the B-36 to carry enough fuel to fly very long missions without refueling. The widest point around the chord
Chord (aircraft)
In aeronautics, chord refers to the imaginary straight line joining the trailing edge and the center of curvature of the leading edge of the cross-section of an airfoil...
of the wing was seven and a half feet thick containing a crawlspace that allowed crew access to the engines. The wing area permitted cruising altitudes well above the operating ceiling of any 1940s-era piston and jet-turbine fighters. All versions of the B-36 could cruise at over 40,000 ft (12,000 m). B-36 mission logs commonly recorded mock attacks against U.S. cities while flying at 49,000 ft. In 1954, the turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
s and other nonessential equipment were removed, resulting in a "featherweight" configuration believed to have resulted in a top speed of 423 mph (700 km/h), and cruise at 50,000 ft (15,000 m) and dash at over 55,000 ft (16,800 m), perhaps even higher.
The large wing area and the option of starting the four jet engines gave the B-36 a wide margin between stall speed (VS) and maximum speed (Vmax) at these altitudes. This made the B-36 more maneuverable at high altitude than the USAF jet interceptors of the day, which either could not fly above 40000 ft (12,192 m), or if they did, were likely to stall out when trying to maneuver or fire their guns. However, the Navy argued that their McDonnell F2H Banshee fighter could intercept the B-36, thanks to its ability to operate at more than 50,000 ft (15,000 m). The Air Force declined the Navy's invitation to a fly-off between the Banshee and the B-36. Later, the new Secretary of Defense, Louis A. Johnson
Louis A. Johnson
Louis Arthur Johnson was the second United States Secretary of Defense, serving in the cabinet of President Harry S. Truman from March 28, 1949 to September 19, 1950....
, who considered the U.S. Navy and Naval Aviation essentially obsolete in favor of the U.S. Air Force and Strategic Air Command, forbade putting the Navy's claim to the test.
The propulsion system alone made the B-36 a very unusual aircraft. All B-36s featured six 28-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-4360 'Wasp Major' radial engine
Radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...
s. Even though the prototype R-4360s delivered a total of 18000 hp, early B-36s were slow and required long takeoff runs. The situation improved with later versions delivering 3800 hp apiece. Each engine drove an immense three-bladed propeller, 19 ft (5.8 m) in diameter, mounted in the pusher configuration
Pusher configuration
In a craft with a pusher configuration the propeller are mounted behind their respective engine. According to Bill Gunston, a "pusher propeller" is one mounted behind engine so that drive shaft is in compression...
. This unusual configuration prevented propeller turbulence from interfering with airflow over the wing, but also led to chronic engine-overheating due to insufficient airflow around the engines, resulting in numerous in-flight engine fires.
Beginning with the B-36D, Convair added a pair of General Electric J47-19
General Electric J47
|-Specifications :-Nuclear-powered version – The X39:In the 1950s, interest in the development of nuclear-powered aircraft led GE to experiment with two nuclear-powered gas turbine designs, one based on the J47, and another new and much larger engine called the X211.The design based on the J47...
jet engine
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
s suspended near the end of each wing; these were also retrofitted to all extant B-36Bs. Thus the B-36 came to have 10 engines ("six turnin' and four burnin' ", as said by American airmen), more than any other mass-produced aircraft. The jet pods greatly improved takeoff performance and dash speed over the target. In normal cruising flight, the jet engines were shut down to conserve fuel. The two pods with four turbojets and the six piston engines combined gave the B-36 a total of 40,000 hp for short periods of time.
The B-36 had a crew of 15. As in the B-29, the pressurized flight deck and crew compartment were linked to the rear compartment by a pressurized tunnel through the bomb bay. In the B-36, one rode through the tunnel on a wheeled trolley, by pulling oneself on a rope. The rear compartment featured six bunks and a dining galley, and led to the tail turret. The B-36 also tested the experimental Boston Camera
Boston Camera
The Boston Camera was a prototype airborne photo reconnaissance camera manufactured for the United States Air Force by Boston University in 1951 and tested on the Convair B-36 and the C-97 Stratofreighter. The model carried on the first ERB-36D had a 6096 mm focal length, which was achieved...
.
Landing Gear
Landing Gear is Devin the Dude's fifth studio album. It was released on October 7, 2008. It was his first studio album since signing with the label Razor & Tie. It features a high-profile guest appearance from Snoop Dogg. As of October 30, 2008, the album has sold 18,906 copies.-Track...
whose tires were the largest ever manufactured up to that time, 9 ft 2 in (2.7 m) tall, 3 ft (1 m) wide, and weighing 1,320 lb (600 kg), with enough rubber for 60 automobile tires. These tires placed so much weight per unit area on runways, the XB-36 was restricted to the Fort Worth airfield adjacent to the plant of manufacture, and to a mere two USAF bases beyond that. At the suggestion of General Henry H. Arnold
Henry H. Arnold
Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold was an American general officer holding the grades of General of the Army and later General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps , Commanding General of the U.S...
, the single-wheel gear was soon replaced by a four-wheel bogie
Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...
. At one point a tank-like tracked landing gear was also tried on the XB-36, but proved heavy and noisy and was quickly abandoned.
Weaponry
The four bomb bayBomb bay
The bomb bay or weapons bay on some military aircraft is a compartment to carry bombs, usually in the aircraft's fuselage, with "bomb bay doors" which open at the bottom. The bomb bay doors are opened and the bombs are dropped when over the target or at a specified launching point.Large-sized...
s could carry up to 86,000 lb (39 metric tons) of bombs, more than 10 times the load carried by the World War II workhorse, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, and substantially more than the entire B-17's gross weight. The B-36 was not designed with nuclear weaponry in mind, because the mere existence of such weapons was top secret during the period when the B-36 was conceived and designed (1941–46). Nevertheless, the B-36 stepped into its nuclear delivery role immediately upon becoming operational. In all respects except speed, the B-36 could match what was arguably its approximate Soviet counterpart, the Tu-95, which began production in January 1956 and at the time of this writing is still in service. Until the B-52 came on line, the B-36 was the only means of delivering the first generation Mark-17 hydrogen bomb, 25 ft (7.5 m) long, 5 ft (1.5 m) in diameter, and weighing 42,000 lb (19,000 kg), the heaviest and bulkiest American aerial nuclear bomb ever. Carrying this massive weapon required merging two adjacent bomb bays.
The defensive armament consisted of six remote-controlled retractable gun turrets, and fixed tail and nose turrets. Each turret was fitted with two 20 mm cannon
Autocannon
An autocannon or automatic cannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannons often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannons are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a...
s, for a total of 16 cannons. Recoil
Recoil
Recoil is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile and exhaust gasses, according to Newton's third law...
vibration from gunnery practice often caused the airplane's electrical wiring to jar loose or the vacuum tube
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
electronics to malfunction, leading to failure of the aircraft controls and navigation equipment. This contributed to the crash of B-36B 44-92035 on 22 November 1950.
Gravity bomb
An unguided bomb, also known as a free-fall bomb, gravity bomb, dumb bomb, or iron bomb, is a conventional aircraft-delivered bomb that does not contain a guidance system and hence, simply follows a ballistic trajectory....
weighing 43600 lb (19,776.6 kg) and designed to produce an earthquake bomb effect.
The first prototype XB-36 flew on 8 August 1946. The speed and range of the prototype failed to meet the standards set out by the Army Air Corps in 1941. This was expected, as the engines required (Pratt & Whitney R-4360s) were not yet available, and the lack of qualified workers and materials needed to install them prevented Convair from achieving its goals.
A second aircraft, the YB-36, flew on 4 December 1947. It featured a redesigned high visibility bubble canopy
Bubble canopy
A bubble canopy is a canopy made like a soap bubble, which attempts to provide 360° vision to the pilot.-History:Bubble canopies have been in use since World War II. The British had already developed the "Malcolm hood", which was a bulged canopy, but the British Miles M.20 was one of the first...
, which was later adopted for production. Altogether, the YB-36 was much closer to the production aircraft. Additionally, the engines used on the YB-36 were a good deal more powerful and more efficient.
The four jet engines raised fuel consumption, thus reducing range. Meanwhile, the advent of air-to-air missile
Air-to-air missile
An air-to-air missile is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft. AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid fuelled but sometimes liquid fuelled...
s rendered conventional gun turrets obsolete. In February 1954, the USAF awarded Convair a contract reducing the weight of the entire B-36 fleet by implementing a new "Featherweight" design program in three configurations:
- Featherweight I removed the six movable gun turrets and other defensive hardware.
- Featherweight II removed the rear compartment crew comfort features, and all hardware accommodating the XF-85 parasite fighterParasite aircraftA parasite aircraft is a component of a composite aircraft which is carried, and air launched by, a mother ship aircraft.The first use for parasite aircraft was in 1916, when the British used a Bristol Scout, flying from a Felixstowe Porte Baby, a giant flying boat of its time. This eventually...
. - Featherweight III incorporated both configurations I and II.
The six turrets eliminated by Featherweight I reduced the aircraft's crew from 15 to 9. Featherweight III enabled a longer range and an operating ceiling of at least 47,000 ft (14,000 m), features especially valuable for reconnaissance missions. The B-36J-III configuration (the last 14 made) featured a single radar-aimed tail turret, extra fuel tanks in the outer wings, and landing gear allowing the maximum gross weight to rise to 410,000 lb (190,000 kg). Production of the B-36 ceased in 1954.
Operational history
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
from 1948 through 1959. The B-36 never dropped a bomb or fired a shot in active service.
Maintenance
Hangar
A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...
s. Moreover, even an aircraft with the range of the B-36 needed to be stationed as close to the enemy as possible, and this meant the northern continental United States, Alaska, and the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
. As a result, most "normal" maintenance, such as changing the 56 spark plug
Spark plug
A spark plug is an electrical device that fits into the cylinder head of some internal combustion engines and ignites compressed fuels such as aerosol, gasoline, ethanol, and liquefied petroleum gas by means of an electric spark.Spark plugs have an insulated central electrode which is connected by...
s (always at risk of fouling by the leaded fuel of the day) on each of its six engines, or replacing the dozens of bomb bay
Bomb bay
The bomb bay or weapons bay on some military aircraft is a compartment to carry bombs, usually in the aircraft's fuselage, with "bomb bay doors" which open at the bottom. The bomb bay doors are opened and the bombs are dropped when over the target or at a specified launching point.Large-sized...
light bulbs shattered after a gunnery mission, was performed outdoors, in 100 °F (37.8 °C) summers or -60 °F winters, depending on the location. Special shelters were built so that the maintenance crews could enjoy a modicum of protection while working on the engines. Often, ground crews were at risk of slipping and falling from icy wings, or being blown off the wings by a propeller running in reverse pitch.
The wing root
Wing root
The wing root is the part of the wing on a fixed-wing aircraft that is closest to the fuselage. On a simple monoplane configuration, this is usually easy to identify...
s were thick enough, at 7 ft (2.1 m), to enable a flight engineer
Flight engineer
Flight engineers work in three types of aircraft: fixed-wing , rotary wing , and space flight .As airplanes became even larger requiring more engines and complex systems to operate, the workload on the two pilots became excessive during certain critical parts of the flight regime, notably takeoffs...
to access the engines and landing gear
Landing Gear
Landing Gear is Devin the Dude's fifth studio album. It was released on October 7, 2008. It was his first studio album since signing with the label Razor & Tie. It features a high-profile guest appearance from Snoop Dogg. As of October 30, 2008, the album has sold 18,906 copies.-Track...
by crawling through the wings. This was possible only at altitudes not requiring pressurization
Cabin pressurization
Cabin pressurization is the pumping of compressed air into an aircraft cabin to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for crew and passengers when flying at altitude.-Need for cabin pressurization:...
.
The Wasp Major engines also had a prodigious appetite for lubricating oil, each engine requiring its own 100 gal (380 l) tank.
Engine fires
Much more than other large aircraft powered by piston engines, the B-36 was very prone to engine fires, to the extent that some crews changed the phrase "six turning, four burning" into "two turning, two burning, two smoking, two joking, and two unaccounted for". This problem was exacerbated by the propellers' pusher configurationPusher configuration
In a craft with a pusher configuration the propeller are mounted behind their respective engine. According to Bill Gunston, a "pusher propeller" is one mounted behind engine so that drive shaft is in compression...
, which increased carburetor icing
Carburetor icing
Carburetor, or carb icing, is an icing condition which can affect any carburetor under certain atmospheric conditions. Carburetor icing occurs when there is humid air, and the temperature drop in the venturi causes the water vapor to freeze. The ice will form on the surfaces of the carburetor...
. The design of the R-4360 engine tacitly assumed that it would be mounted in the conventional tractor configuration
Tractor configuration
thumb|right|[[Evektor-Aerotechnik|Aerotechnik EV97A Eurostar]], a tractor configuration aircraft, being pulled into position by its pilot for refuelling....
—propeller/air intake/28 cylinders/carburetor—with air flowing in that order. In this configuration, the carburetor is bathed in warmed air flowing past the engine, and so is unlikely to ice up. However, the R-4360 engines in the B-36 were mounted backwards, in the pusher configuration—air intake/carburetor/28 cylinders/propeller. The carburetor was now in front of the engine and so could not benefit from engine heat, and also made more traditional short term carburetor heat
Carburetor heat
Carburetor, carburettor, carburator, carburettet heat is a system used in automobile and piston-powered light aircraft engines to prevent or clear carburetor icing. It consists of a moveable flap which draws hot air into the engine intake...
systems unsuitable. Hence, when intake air was cold and humid, ice gradually obstructed the carburetor air intake, which in turn gradually increased the richness of the air/fuel mixture
Air-fuel ratio
Air–fuel ratio is the mass ratio of air to fuel present in an internal combustion engine. If exactly enough air is provided to completely burn all of the fuel, the ratio is known as the stoichiometric mixture, often abbreviated to stoich...
until the unburned fuel in the exhaust
Exhaust system
An exhaust system is usually tubing used to guide reaction exhaust gases away from a controlled combustion inside an engine or stove. The entire system conveys burnt gases from the engine and includes one or more exhaust pipes...
caught fire. Three engine fires of this nature led to the first loss of an American nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
, described below.
Crew experience
Training missions were typically in two parts; first, a 40-hour flight—followed by some time on the ground for refueling and maintenance—then a 24-hour second flight. With a sufficiently light load, the B-36 could fly at least 10,000 mi (16,000 km) nonstop, and the highest cruising speed of any version, the B-36J-III, was only 230 mph (380 km/h). Turning the jet engines on could raise the cruising speed to over 400 mph (650 km/h), but the resulting higher fuel consumption reduced the range. Hence a 40-hour mission, with the jets used only for takeoff and climbing, flew about 9,200 mi (15,000 km).The B-36 was not a particularly enjoyable aircraft to fly. Its overall performance, in terms of speed and maneuverability, was never considered sprightly. Lieutenant General James Edmundson likened it to "...sitting on your front porch and flying your house around." Despite its immense exterior size, the pressurized crew compartments were relatively cramped, especially when occupied for 24 hours by a crew of 15 in full flight kit.
War missions would have been essentially one-way, taking off from forward bases in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
or Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, overflying the USSR, and landing in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
(Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
), or the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. Ironically, recollections of crew veterans reveal that while crews were confident of their ability to complete a mission if called upon to do so, they were less confident of surviving the weapon delivery itself. Their concerns were a function of the relatively low speed of the aircraft coupled with the extreme destructive power of the bombs they were carrying, resulting in the aircraft still being within blast range once the bombs detonated on target. These concerns were borne out by the 1954 Operation Castle
Operation Castle
Operation Castle was a United States series of high-energy nuclear tests by Joint Task Force SEVEN at Bikini Atoll beginning in March 1954...
tests, in which B-36s flew near detonations in the 15-megaton range, at distances believed typical of wartime delivery, and experienced extensive blast damage.
Experiments
In May 1946, the Air Force began the Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft (NEPA) project which was followed in May 1951 by the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion
Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion
The Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion program and the preceding Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft project worked to develop a nuclear propulsion system for aircraft. The United States Army Air Force initiated Project NEPA on May 28, 1946...
(ANP) program. The ANP program required that Convair modify two B-36s under the MX-1589 project. One of the modified B-36s studied shielding requirements for an airborne reactor to determine whether a nuclear aircraft
Nuclear aircraft
A nuclear aircraft is an aircraft powered by nuclear energy. Research into them was pursued during the Cold War by the United States and the Soviet Union as they would presumably allow a country to keep nuclear bombers in the air for extremely long periods of time, a useful tactic for nuclear...
was feasible. The Nuclear Test Aircraft (NTA) was a B-36H-20-CF (serial number 51-5712) that had been damaged in a tornado at Carswell AFB on 1 September 1952. This aircraft, designated the XB-36H (and later NB-36H), was modified to carry a , air-cooled nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
in the aft bomb bay
Bomb bay
The bomb bay or weapons bay on some military aircraft is a compartment to carry bombs, usually in the aircraft's fuselage, with "bomb bay doors" which open at the bottom. The bomb bay doors are opened and the bombs are dropped when over the target or at a specified launching point.Large-sized...
, with a four-ton lead disc shield installed in the middle of the aircraft between the 1,000-kilowatt reactor and the cockpit. A number of large air intake and exhaust holes were installed in the sides and bottom of the aircraft's rear fuselage to cool the reactor in flight. On the ground, a crane would be utilized to remove the 35,000 pound reactor from the aircraft. To protect the crew, the highly-modified cockpit was encased in lead and rubber, with a 1 feet (30.5 cm) leaded glass
Lead glass
Lead glass is a variety of glass in which lead replaces the calcium content of a typical potash glass. Lead glass contains typically 18–40 weight% lead oxide , while modern lead crystal, historically also known as flint glass due to the original silica source, contains a minimum of 24% PbO...
windshield
Windshield
The windshield or windscreen of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike or tram is the front window. Modern windshields are generally made of laminated safety glass, a type of treated glass, which consists of two curved sheets of glass with a plastic layer laminated between them for safety, and are glued...
. The reactor was operational but did not power the aircraft; its sole purpose was to investigate the effect of radiation on aircraft systems. Between 1955 and 1957, the NB-36H completed 47 test flights and 215 hours of flight time, during 89 of which the reactor was critical.
Other experiments involved providing the B-36 with its own fighter defense in the form of parasite aircraft
Parasite aircraft
A parasite aircraft is a component of a composite aircraft which is carried, and air launched by, a mother ship aircraft.The first use for parasite aircraft was in 1916, when the British used a Bristol Scout, flying from a Felixstowe Porte Baby, a giant flying boat of its time. This eventually...
carried partially or wholly in a bomb bay. One parasite aircraft was the rather miniscule McDonnell XF-85 Goblin
XF-85 Goblin
The McDonnell XF-85 Goblin was an American prototype fighter aircraft conceived during World War II by McDonnell Aircraft. It was intended to be carried in and deployed from the bomb bay of the giant Convair B-36 bomber as a parasite fighter. The XF-85's intended role was to defend bombers from...
, which docked using a trapeze system. The concept was tested successfully using a B-29 carrier, but docking proved difficult even for experienced test pilots. Moreover, the XF-85 was seen as no match for contemporary foreign powers' newly-developed interceptor aircraft in development and in service, consequently, the project was cancelled.
More successful was the FICON project
FICON project
The FICON program was conducted by the United States Air Force in the 1950s to test the feasibility of a Convair B-36 Peacemaker bomber carrying an Republic RF-84K Thunderflash parasite fighter in its bomb bay. Earlier wingtip coupling experiments including Tip Tow which were attempts at carrying...
, involving a modified B-36—called a GRB-36D "mothership"—and the RF-84K, a fighter modified for reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
, in a bomb bay. The GRB-36D would ferry the RF-84K to the vicinity of the objective, whereupon the RF-84K would disconnect and begin its mission. Ten GRB-36Ds and 25 RF-84Ks were built and saw limited service in 1955-1956.
Projects TIP TOW and Tom-Tom
FICON project
The FICON program was conducted by the United States Air Force in the 1950s to test the feasibility of a Convair B-36 Peacemaker bomber carrying an Republic RF-84K Thunderflash parasite fighter in its bomb bay. Earlier wingtip coupling experiments including Tip Tow which were attempts at carrying...
involved docking F-84s to the wingtips of B-29s and B-36s. The hope was that the increased aspect ratio
Aspect ratio (wing)
In aerodynamics, the aspect ratio of a wing is essentially the ratio of its length to its breadth . A high aspect ratio indicates long, narrow wings, whereas a low aspect ratio indicates short, stubby wings....
of the combined aircraft would result in a greater range. Project TIP TOW was canceled when the combination of one of the two EF-84Ds and a specially modified test EB-29A crashed, killing everyone on both aircraft. This accident was attributed to one of the EF-84Ds flipping over onto the wing of the EB-29A. Project Tom-Tom, involving RF-84Fs and a GRB-36D from the FICON project (redesignated JRB-36F), continued for a few months after this crash, but was also canceled due to the violent turbulence
Turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...
induced by the wingtip vortices
Wingtip vortices
Wingtip vortices are tubes of circulating air that are left behind a wing as it generates lift. One wingtip vortex trails from the tip of each wing. The cores of vortices spin at very high speed and are regions of very low pressure...
of the B-36.
Strategic reconnaissance
Lockheed U-2
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency . It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather intelligence gathering...
high altitude spy plane and orbital reconnaissance satellites, technology and politics limited American reconnaissance efforts to the borders, and not the heartland, of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
One of the essential criteria of the early postwar reconnaissance aircraft was the ability to cruise above 40000 feet (12,192 m), a level determined by knowledge of the capability of Russian air defense radar. The main Russian air defense radar in the 1950s was the American supplied SCR-270
SCR-270 radar
The SCR-270 was one of the first operational early warning radars. It was the U.S. Army's primary long-distance radar throughout World War II and was deployed around the world...
, or locally made copies, which were only effective up to 40000 feet (12,192 m) – in theory, an aircraft cruising above this level would remain undetected.
The first aircraft, which put this theory to the test, was the RB-36D specialized photographic-reconnaissance version of the B-36D. It was outwardly identical to the standard B-36D, but carried a crew of 22 rather than 15, the additional crew members being needed to operate and maintain the photographic reconnaissance equipment that was carried. The forward bomb bay in the bomber was replaced by a pressurized manned compartment that was filled with fourteen cameras. This compartment included a small darkroom where a photo technician could develop the film. The second bomb bay contained up to 80 T-86 photo flash bombs, while the third bay could carry an extra 3,000 gallon droppable fuel tank. The fourth bomb bay carried ECM equipment. The defensive armament of 16 M-24A-1 20 mm cannons was retained. The extra fuel tanks increased the flight endurance to up to 50 hours. It had an operational ceiling of 50,000 ft. Later, a lightweight version of this aircraft, the RB-36-III, could even reach 58,000 ft. RB-36s were distinguished by the bright aluminium finish of the camera compartment (contrasting with the dull magnesium of the rest of the fuselage) and by a series of radar domes
Radome
A radome is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a microwave or radar antenna. The radome is constructed of material that minimally attenuates the electromagnetic signal transmitted or received by the antenna. In other words, the radome is transparent to radar or radio waves...
under the aft fuselage, varying in number and placement. When developed, it was the only American aircraft having enough range to fly over the Eurasian land mass from bases in the United States, and size enough to carry the bulky high resolution cameras of the day.
The standard RB-36D carried up to 23 cameras, primarily K-17C, K-22A, K-38, and K-40 cameras. A special 240-foot focal length camera was tested on 44-92088, the aircraft being redesignated ERB-36D. The long focal length was achieved by using a two-mirror reflection system. The camera was supposedly capable of resolving a golf ball at an altitude of 40000 feet (12,192 m). This camera is now with the National Museum of the United States Air Force
National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display...
at Wright Patterson AFB.
The first RB-36D (44-92088) made its initial flight on 18 December 1949, only six months after the first B-36D had flown. It initially flew without the turbojets. The 28th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing based at Rapid City AFB (later renamed Ellsworth AFB), South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
received its first RB-36D on 3 June 1950. Due to severe materiel shortages, the new RB-36Ds did not become operationally ready until June 1951. The 24th and last RB-36D was delivered in May 1951. A total of 24 RB-36Ds were built. Some RB-36Ds were later modified to the featherweight configuration, in which all but the tail guns were removed. The crew was reduced from 22 to 19. These aircraft were redesignated as RB-36D-III. Modifications were carried out by Convair from February 1954 to November 1954.
In 1951 RB-36Ds, with a range of 9300 miles (14,966.9 km), began probing the boundaries of the Soviet Arctic and were rather disturbed to find their on-board equipment indicating that they had been detected by Soviet radar - so much for the theory. However, detecting aircraft on ground-based radar was one thing, intercepting them was far more difficult. A number of overflights of Soviet bases in the arctic, particularly the new nuclear weapons test complex at Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
, were made by RB-36 aircraft operating from RAF Sculthorpe
RAF Sculthorpe
RAF Sculthorpe is a military training facility for the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence, situated about west of Fakenham in Norfolk, England...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. RB-36s performed a number of rarely acknowledged reconnaissance missions and is suspected of having carried out numerous penetrations of Chinese
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
(and Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
) airspace
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
under the direction of General Curtis LeMay
Curtis LeMay
Curtis Emerson LeMay was a general in the United States Air Force and the vice presidential running mate of American Independent Party candidate George Wallace in 1968....
.
In early 1950, Convair began conversion of the B-36As to the reconnaissance configuration. Included in the conversions was the sole YB-36 (42-13571). These converted examples were all redesignated RB-36E. The six R-4360-25 engines were replaced by six R-4360-41s. They were also equipped with the four J-47 jet engines that were fitted to the RB-36D. Its normal crew was 22, which included five gunners to man the 16 M-24A-1 20 mm cannon. The last conversion was completed in July 1951. Later, the USAF also bought 73 long-range reconnaissance versions of the B-36H under the designation RB-36H. 23 were accepted during the first six months of 1952, the last were delivered by September 1953. More than a third of all B-36 models were reconnaissance models.
Advances in Soviet air defense systems meant that the RB-36 became limited to flying outside of the borders of the Soviet Union, as well as Eastern Europe. By the mid 1950s, the jet-powered Boeing RB-47E was able to pierce Soviet airspace and conduct a variety of spectacular overflights of the Soviet Union. Some of these flights probed deep into the heart of the Soviet Union, taking a photographic and radar recording of the route attacking SAC bombers would follow to reach their targets. The risks involved in mounting these dangerous sorties over some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth speaks volumes for the courage and skill of the crews involved. Flights which involved penetrating mainland Russia were termed SENSINT (Sensitive Intelligence) missions. One RB-47 even managed to fly 450 miles (724.2 km) inland and photograph the city of Igarka in Siberia.
As with the strategic bombardment versions of the B-36, the RB-36s were phased out of the SAC inventory beginning in 1956, the last being sent to Davis-Monthan in January 1959.
Obsolescence
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 was a jet fighter developed for the USSR by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful swept-wing jet fighters, and it achieved fame in the skies over Korea, where early in the war, it outclassed all straight-winged enemy fighters in...
in combat over North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
in 1950, USAF propeller-driven bombers were rendered obsolete as strategic offensive weapons. Although the MiG-15 had limited range and lacked radar, the swept-wing Soviet jet carried heavy-caliber weapons and could fly faster and higher than the F-80C and F-84G, the B-29’s straight-winged jet fighter escorts. During daylight, the MiG-15 could attack the propeller-driven B-29s with impunity, forcing the United States to switch the B-29 to night raids.
The B-36, along with the B-29/B-50 Superfortresses in the USAF inventory in the early 1950s, were all designed during World War II, prior to the jet age. It would take a new generation of swept-wing jet bombers, being able to fly higher and faster to effectively defeat the defense of the MiG-15 or subsequent Soviet-designed interceptors if the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
escalated into an armed conflict between the United States and Soviet Union.
With the end of fighting in Korea, President Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
, who had taken office in January 1953, called for a "new look" at national defense. His administration chose to invest in the Air Force, especially Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
. The Air Force retired nearly all of its B-29/B-50s to be replaced by the new Boeing B-47 Stratojet. By 1955, the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress swept-wing strategic jet bombers would be entering the inventory in substantial numbers, and the B-36s began to be replaced.
In addition to the obsolescence of the aircraft, other factors leading to the phaseout of the B-36 were:
- The Peacemaker was not designed for aerial refueling, and required intermediate refueling bases in order to reach its planned targets deep in the Soviet Union.
- Its slow speed made it vulnerable to Soviet jet interceptor aircraft, making long-range bombardment flights over Soviet territory extremely hazardous, seriously compromising its ability to reach its planned target and return.
- Radar-guided surface-to air missiles, such as the Soviet SA-2 Guideline, capable of reaching 65,600 ft (20,000 m), emerged.
- The B-36 airframe, especially the wings, proved vulnerable to metal fatigue.
- Inflight wing flexing led to fuel leakage, a common problem.
The scrapping of B-36s began in February 1956. Once replaced by B-52s, they were flown directly from operational squadrons to Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, where the Mar-Pak Corporation handled their reclamation and destruction. However, defense cutbacks in FY 1958 compelled the B-52 procurement process to be stretched out and the B-36 service life to be extended. The B-36s remaining in service were supported with components scavenged from planes sent to Davis-Monthan for scrapping. Further update work was undertaken by Convair at San Diego (Specialized Aircraft Maintenance, SAM-SAC) until 1957 to extend the life and capabilities of the B-36s. By December 1958, only 22 B-36s (all of them B-36Js) were still operational.
On 12 February 1959, the last B-36J (and the final J built by Convair-52-2827) left Biggs AFB, Texas, where it had been on duty with the 95th Heavy Bombardment Wing, and was flown to Amon Carter Field
Greater Southwest International Airport
Greater Southwest International Airport was the commercial airport serving Fort Worth, Texas from 1953 until 1972. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport opened in 1974 on property adjacent to the north side of the airport.-Early history:...
in Fort Worth, where it was put on display. Within two years, all but five B-36s (which had been saved for museum display) had been scrapped at Davis-Monthan AFB.
Variants
| Variant | Built |
|---|---|
| XB-36 | 1 |
| YB-36 | 1 |
| B-36A | 22 |
| XC-99 Convair XC-99 The Convair XC-99, 43-52436, was a prototype heavy cargo aircraft built by Convair for the United States Air Force. It was the largest piston-engined land-based transport aircraft ever built, and was developed from the B-36 bomber, sharing the wings and some other structures with it... |
1 |
| B-36B | 62 |
| B-36D | 26 |
| RB-36D | 24 |
| B-36F | 34 |
| RB-36F | 24 |
| B-36H | 83 |
| RB-36H | 73 |
| B-36J | 33 |
| YB-60 Convair YB-60 |-See also:-References:* Jacobsen, Meyers K. and Wagner, Ray. B-36 in Action . Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1980. ISBN 0-89747-101-6.... |
2 |
| Total | 385 |
XB-36
- Prototype powered by six 3000 hp R-4360-25 engines and unarmed, one built.
YB-36
- Prototype, s/n 42-13571, with modified nose and raised cockpit roof, one built later converted to YB-36A.
YB-36A
- Former YB-36 with modified four-wheel landing gear, later modified as a RB-36E.
B-36A
- Production variant, unarmed, used for training, 22 built, all but one converted to RB-36E.
XC-99
Convair XC-99
The Convair XC-99, 43-52436, was a prototype heavy cargo aircraft built by Convair for the United States Air Force. It was the largest piston-engined land-based transport aircraft ever built, and was developed from the B-36 bomber, sharing the wings and some other structures with it...
- A cargo/transport version of the B-36. Only one sole example was ever produced.
B-36B
- Armed production variant with six 3500 hp R-4360-41 engines, 73 built, later conversions to RB-36D and B-36D.
RB-36B
- Designation for 39 B-36Bs temporary fitted with a camera installation.
YB-36C
- Projected variant of the B-36B with six 4300 hp R-4360-51 engines driving tractor propellers, not built.
B-36C
- Production version of the YB-36, completed as B-36Bs.
B-36D
- Same as B-36B but fitted with four J47-GE-19 engines, two each in two underwing pods, 22 built and 64 conversions from B-36B.
RB-36D
- Strategic reconnaissance variant with two bomb bays fitted with camera installation, 17 built and seven conversions from B-36B.
GRB-36D
- Same as RB-36D but modified to carry a GRF-84F Thunderstreak on a ventral trapeze as part of the FICON program, 10 modified.
RB-36E
- The YB-36A and 21 B-36As converted to RB-36D standards.
B-36F
- Same as B-36D but fitted with six 3800 hp R-4360-53 engines and four J47-GE-19 engines, 34 built.
RB-36F
- Strategic reconnaissance variant of the B-36F with additional fuels capacity, 24 built.
YB-36G
- See YB-60.
B-36H
- Same as B-36F with improved cockpit and equipment changes, 83 built.
NB-36H
- One B-36H fitted with a nuclear reactor installation for trials, had a revised cockpit and raised nose. This was intended to evolve into the Convair X-6Convair X-6-See also:*Project Pluto*Project Rover*NERVA*WS-125Comparable aircraft* Tupolev Tu-119-External links:* original published on Aviation History, March 1995.* Section devoted to NB-36H...
.
RB-36H
- Strategic reconnaissance variant of the B-36H, 73 built.
B-36J
- High altitude variant with strengthened landing gear, increased fuel capacity, armament reduced to tail guns only and reduced crew, 33 built.
YB-60
Convair YB-60
|-See also:-References:* Jacobsen, Meyers K. and Wagner, Ray. B-36 in Action . Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1980. ISBN 0-89747-101-6....
- Originally designated the YB-36G, s/n 49-2676 and 49-2684. Project for a jet-powered swept wing variant. Due to the difference from a standard B-36 it was re-designated the YB-60.
Related models
In 1951, the USAF asked Convair to build a prototype of an all-jet variant of the B-36. Convair complied by replacing the wings on a B-36F with swept wings, from which were suspended eight Pratt & Whitney XJ57-P-3 jet engines. The result was the B-36G, later renamed the Convair YB-60Convair YB-60
|-See also:-References:* Jacobsen, Meyers K. and Wagner, Ray. B-36 in Action . Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1980. ISBN 0-89747-101-6....
. The YB-60 was deemed inferior to Boeing's YB-52, and the project was terminated.
Just as the C-97 was the transport variant of the B-50
Boeing B-50 Superfortress
The Boeing B-50 Superfortress strategic bomber was a post-World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller fin, and other improvements. It was the last piston-engined bomber designed by Boeing for...
, the B-36 was the basis for the Convair XC-99
Convair XC-99
The Convair XC-99, 43-52436, was a prototype heavy cargo aircraft built by Convair for the United States Air Force. It was the largest piston-engined land-based transport aircraft ever built, and was developed from the B-36 bomber, sharing the wings and some other structures with it...
, a double-decked military cargo plane that was the largest piston engined, land-based aircraft ever built, and the longest practical aircraft (185 ft/56 m) of its era. The sole example built was extensively employed for nearly a decade, especially for cross-country cargo flights during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. In 2005, this XC-99 was dismantled in anticipation of its being moved from the former Kelly Air Force Base
Kelly Air Force Base
Kelly Field Annex and is a former United States Air Force facility located in San Antonio, Texas. In 2001, the runway and land west of the runway became "Kelly Field Annex" and control of it was transferred to the adjacent Lackland Air Force Base, part of Joint Base San Antonio...
, now the Kelly Field Annex of Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, where it had been retired since 1957. The XC-99 was subsequently relocated to the National Museum of the United States Air Force
National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display...
at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Greene and Montgomery counties in the state of Ohio. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wright Field and Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot. Patterson Field is located approximately...
near Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
for restoration, with C-5 Galaxy
C-5 Galaxy
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsize and oversize cargos, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many...
transports carrying pieces of the XC-99 to Wright-Patterson as space and schedule permitted.
A commercial airliner derived from the XC-99, the Convair Model 37, never left the drawing board. It would have been the first "jumbo" airliner.
Operators
United States
- United States Air ForceUnited States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
- 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, January 1951–September 1958, Fairfield-Suisun AFB (later renamed Travis AFB), CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(also RB-36) - 6th Bombardment Wing, August 1952–August 1957, Walker AFB, New MexicoNew MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
- 7th Bombardment Wing, June 1948-May 1958, Carswell AFB, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
- 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, May 1949–April 1950, Fairfield-Suisun AFB (later renamed Travis AFB), CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(also RB-36) - 11th Bombardment Wing, December 1948–December 1957, Carswell AFB, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
- 28th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, July 1949–May 1957, Ellsworth AFB, South DakotaSouth DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
(also RB-36) - 42d Bombardment Wing, April 1953–September 1956, Loring AFB, MaineMaineMaine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
- 72d Strategic Reconnaissance Wing72d Air Base WingThe 72d Air Base Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force Materiel Command Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center . It is stationed at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma...
, October 1952–January 1959, Ramey AFB, Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
(also RB-36) - 92d Bombardment Wing, July 1951–March 1956, Fairchild AFB, Washington
- 95th Bombardment Wing, August 1953–February 1959, Biggs AFB, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
- 99th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing99th Air Base WingThe 99th Air Base Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command United States Air Force Warfare Center. It is stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada...
, August 1951–September 1956, Fairchild AFB, Washington (also RB-36)
Aircraft on display
- YB-36/RB-36E Peacemaker, s/n 42-13571, is in storage by Walter Soplata in Newbury, Ohio. This was the first prototype to be converted to the bubble canopyBubble canopyA bubble canopy is a canopy made like a soap bubble, which attempts to provide 360° vision to the pilot.-History:Bubble canopies have been in use since World War II. The British had already developed the "Malcolm hood", which was a bulged canopy, but the British Miles M.20 was one of the first...
used on production B-36s. It was on display in the 1950s and 1960s at the former site of the Air Force Museum, now the National Museum of the United States Air Force, at Wright-Patterson Air Force BaseWright-Patterson Air Force BaseWright-Patterson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Greene and Montgomery counties in the state of Ohio. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wright Field and Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot. Patterson Field is located approximately...
near Dayton, OhioDayton, OhioDayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. When the museum's current location at Wright-Patterson was being developed in the late 1950s, the cost of moving the bomber was more than simply flying a different B-36 to the new location and the aircraft was slated to be scrapped. It was cut up at the old museum site by the summer of 1972. Instead, private collector Walter Soplata bought it and transported the pieces by truck to his farm in Newbury, Ohio, where it sits today in several large pieces. The bomb bay currently contains a complete P-47N still packed in its original shipping crate.
- RB-36H Peacemaker, s/n 51-13730, at the Castle Air MuseumCastle Air MuseumCastle Air Museum is a military aviation museum located in Atwater, California, United States adjacent to the site of the former Castle Air Force Base...
at the former Castle Air Force BaseCastle Air Force BaseCastle Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base located northeast of Atwater, northwest of Merced and about east southeast of San Francisco, California....
in Atwater, CaliforniaAtwater, CaliforniaAtwater is a city on U.S. Route 99 in Merced County, California, United States. Atwater is west-northwest of Merced, at an elevation of 151 feet . The population as of the 2010 census was 28,168.-Geography:...
.
- B-36J Peacemaker, s/n 52-2217, at the Strategic Air and Space MuseumStrategic Air and Space MuseumThe Strategic Air and Space Museum is a museum focusing on United States Air Force military aircraft and nuclear missiles located near Ashland, Nebraska, along Interstate 80 southwest of Omaha, Nebraska. The objective of the museum is to preserve and display historic aircraft, missile, and space...
, formerly located at Offutt Air Force BaseOffutt Air Force BaseOffutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force installation near Omaha, and lies adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S...
, and now just off base near Ashland, NebraskaAshland, NebraskaAshland is a city in Saunders County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 2,262 at the 2000 census.- History :Ashland is located at the site of a low-water limestone ledge along the bottom of Salt Creek, an otherwise mud-bottomed stream that was a formidable obstacle for wagon trains on the...
.
- B-36J Peacemaker, s/n 52-2220, at the National Museum of the United States Air ForceNational Museum of the United States Air ForceThe National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display...
, (formerly The U.S. Air Force Museum) at Wright-Patterson Air Force BaseWright-Patterson Air Force BaseWright-Patterson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Greene and Montgomery counties in the state of Ohio. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wright Field and Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot. Patterson Field is located approximately...
near Dayton, OhioDayton, OhioDayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. Its flight to the museum from Davis-Monthan Air Force BaseDavis-Monthan Air Force BaseDavis–Monthan Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located within the city limits, and approximately south-southeast of downtown, Tucson, Arizona....
in Arizona on 30 April 1959 was the last flight of a B-36. This B-36J replaced the former Air Force Museum's original YB-36 AF Serial Number 42-13571 (see above). This was also the first aircraft to be placed in the Museum's new display hangar, and was not moved again until relocated to the Museum's latest addition in 2003. It is displayed alongside the only surviving example of the massive 9 ft (2.7 m) XB-36 wheel and tire.
- B-36J Peacemaker, s/n 52-2827, at the Pima Air & Space MuseumPima Air & Space MuseumThe Pima Air & Space Museum features a display of nearly 300 aircraft spread out over 80 acres on a campus occupying 127 acres . Located in Tucson, Arizona, it is one of the world's largest, non-government funded aerospace museums...
in Tucson, ArizonaTucson, ArizonaTucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. It was the final B-36 built, named "The City of Fort Worth", and loaned to the city of Fort Worth, Texas on 12 February 1959. It sat on the field at the Greater Southwest International AirportGreater Southwest International AirportGreater Southwest International Airport was the commercial airport serving Fort Worth, Texas from 1953 until 1972. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport opened in 1974 on property adjacent to the north side of the airport.-Early history:...
until that property was redeveloped as a business park (some attempts were made to begin restoration there, during in the 1970s). It then moved to the short-lived Southwest Aero Museum, which was located between the former Carswell Air Force BaseCarswell Air Force BaseCarswell Air Force Base, was a United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base located about northwest central of Fort Worth, Texas, United States; the air force base is mostly within the Fort Worth city limits and has portions within Westworth and White Settlement...
(now Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort WorthNaval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort WorthNaval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base or NAS Fort Worth JRB includes Carswell Field, a military airfield located west of the central business district of Fort Worth, in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. This military airfield is operated by United States Navy...
) and the former General DynamicsGeneral DynamicsGeneral Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...
(now Lockheed MartinLockheed MartinLockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
) assembly plant, where it was originally built; some restoration took place while at the plant. As Lockheed Martin had no place to display the finished aircraft, and local community efforts in Fort Worth to build a facility to house and maintain the massive aircraft fell short, the USAF Museum retook possession of the aircraft and it was transported to Tucson, Arizona for loan to the Pima Air & Space MuseumPima Air & Space MuseumThe Pima Air & Space Museum features a display of nearly 300 aircraft spread out over 80 acres on a campus occupying 127 acres . Located in Tucson, Arizona, it is one of the world's largest, non-government funded aerospace museums...
. It is now restored and reassembled at that museum, just south of Davis-Monthan AFB, ArizonaArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
and is displayed at that location.
Notable incidents and accidents
Though the B-36 had a better than average overall safety record, 10 B-36s crashed between 1949 and 1954 (three B-36Bs, three B-36Ds, and four B-36Hs). A total of 32 B-36s were written-off in accidents between 1949 and 1957 of 385 built. When a crash occurred, the magnesiumMagnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
-rich airframe burned readily.
B-36s were involved in two "Broken Arrow" incidents. On 13 February 1950, B-36 serial number 44-92075, crashed in an unpopulated region of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, resulting in the first loss of an American atom bomb
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
. The bomb's plutonium core was dummy lead, but it did have TNT, and it detonated over the ocean prior to the crew bailing out. Locating the crash site took some effort. Later in 1954, the airframe, stripped of sensitive material, was substantially destroyed in situ
In situ
In situ is a Latin phrase which translated literally as 'In position'. It is used in many different contexts.-Aerospace:In the aerospace industry, equipment on board aircraft must be tested in situ, or in place, to confirm everything functions properly as a system. Individually, each piece may...
by a U.S. military recovery team.
On 22 May 1957, a B-36 accidentally dropped a Mark-17 hydrogen bomb on a deserted area while landing at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Only the conventional trigger detonated, the bomb being unarmed. These incidents were classified for decades. See list of military nuclear accidents.
Specifications (B-36J-III)
Notable appearances in media
In 1949, the B-36 was featured in the documentary film, Target: Peace, which was centered around the operations of the 7th Bombardment Wing at Carswell AFB. Other scenes included B-36 production at the Fort Worth plant.In 1955, the film Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command (film)
Strategic Air Command is a 1955 American film starring James Stewart and June Allyson, and directed by Anthony Mann. Released by Paramount Pictures, it was the first of four films that depicted the role of the Strategic Air Command in the Cold War era....
was released, starring James Stewart and June Allyson with Stewart playing a baseball star and his subsequent service in Strategic Air Command. The flying sequences (and sounds) of the B-36 dominate the film. This film remains as the only full-length film featuring this aircraft. As of 1 January 2011, this film is available for viewing on Netflix
Netflix
Netflix, Inc., is an American provider of on-demand internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California...
.
The documentary Lost Nuke (2004) chronicles a 2003 Canadian expedition that set out to solve the mystery of the world's first lost nuclear weapon. The team traveled to the remote mountain British Columbia crash site of 44-92075
B-36B 44-92075
On February 13, 1950, a Convair B-36B, serial number 44-92075 assigned to the 7th Bomb Wing at Carswell Air Force Base, crashed in northern British Columbia after jettisoning a Mark IV atomic bomb. This was the first such nuclear weapon loss in history...
.
Lore
Throughout its time in service, the B-36 was the subject of USAF loreFolklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, some apocryphal, some containing a grain of truth.
See also
External links
- Video of The B-36 from Strategic Air Command. 5:32
- Cowtown.net: Portal to B-36 resources
- Baughers Encyclopedia: B-36 versions
- USAF Museum: XB-36
- USAF Museum: B-36A
- http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=49469
- AeroWeb: B-36 versions and survivors
- Aerospaceweb: B-36 technical data
- PBS Online: Lt. Gen. James Edmundson interview transcript: Flying B-36 and B-47 planes. "Race For the Superbomb"
- ZiaNet: B-36 operations Walker AFB Roswell New Mexico 1955-1957
- ZiaNet: B-36 operations Walker AFB Roswell New Mexico 1955-1957
- I Flew Thirty-One Hours In A B-36 September 1950 Popular MechanicsPopular MechanicsPopular Mechanics is an American magazine first published January 11, 1902 by H. H. Windsor, and has been owned since 1958 by the Hearst Corporation...