The interesting clip in this post gives you the chance to learn something about the gigantic B-36 Peacemaker strategic bomber.
Born in response to the U.S. Army Air Forces’ (USAAF) requirement for a strategic bomber with intercontinental range, the Consolidated Vultee (later Convair) B-36 was designed during World War II, performed its maiden flight in Aug. 1946, and in Jun. 1948 the first operational B-36 was delivered to Strategic Air Command (SAC).
Actually several B-36s served as photographic reconnaissance aircraft, and others were adapted to launch and retrieve specially modified RF-84F/K reconnaissance planes.
As one pilot later remarked, flying a B-36 was “like sitting in a bay window flying an apartment house.”
In the B-36 Peacemaker, the United States had found a powerful deterrent against Soviet aggression.
Powered by six Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines, the B-36J cruised at 230 mph, but for additional bursts of speed its four General Electric J47s increased the maximum speed to 435 mph (hence aircraft’s slogan “six turning, four burning”).
The Peacemaker could carry 86,000 pounds of nuclear or conventional bombs.
When production ended in Aug. 1954, more than 380 B-36s had been built for the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and in 1958-1959, the service replaced the B-36 with the all-jet B-52. Although never used in combat, the B-36 was a major deterrent to enemy aggression.
According to Lockheed Martin website, the B-36 never saw combat action and never dropped a bomb on an enemy target, but did obtain a measure of fame when flown by Jimmy Stewart—a real-life Air Force Reserve brigadier general—flew it in the movie “Strategic Air Command. ” More importantly, the mammoth aircraft remained a potent deterrent throughout its service, and more than lived up to its nickname, “Peacemaker.”
Source U.S. Air Force
Photo credit: U.S. Air Force
Aviation History