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In service for around a decade, the mighty B-36 “Peacemaker” was one of the most extraordinary aircraft to ever take to the skies. Developed amid WW2 and deployed in the early days of the Cold War, the aircraft would enter the history books as the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever built. Dwarfing the B-29 “Superfortress” and eventually replaced by the equally impressive B-52 “Stratofortress,” the “Peacemaker” was a short-lived behemoth of war.
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Peace through war
While the United States never used the “Peacemaker” in anger, it was explicitly designed as an extremely long-range strategic nuclear bomber. With a maximum payload of 87,200 pounds (39,600 kg), the B-36 had a range of 10,000 miles (16,000 km) without refueling. The aircraft’s origins date back to 1941 when the US Army Air Corps (later Army Air Forces) required a strategic bomber capable of covering intercontinental distances due to concerns about the reliability of overseas bases.
To this end, in November 1941, Consolidated Vultee, which later became Convair, won the contract with its Model 36 design, beating out Boeing’s Model 385. The plane had a wingspan of 230 feet (70 meters) and was powered by six 28-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-4360 “XWasp” air-cooled radial engines for takeoff. It had a fuselage length of 162 feet (49 meters) and was equipped with four massive bomb bays.
The aircraft also came equipped with four General Electric J47 turbojet engines in pylon-mounted pods towards the edge of each wing, a huge innovation for its day. Thanks to this unique feature, the aircraft could maintain a cruising speed of 230 mph (370 kph), and for additional bursts of speed, the four General Electric J47s could increase the maximum speed to 435 mph (700 kph).
Convair also developed a civilian passenger version of the B-36, the Convair Model 37. Pan American Airways initially ordered 15 units for transatlantic service, but due to high fuel and oil consumption, it was deemed economically unviable. Lacking the orders to initiate production, the project was abandoned in 1949.
In total, 380 B-36 Peacemaker aircraft were produced. The last one came off the assembly line in August 1954, and a year later, the B-52 was introduced to service. After a ten-year stint, the B-36 was officially retired in 1959, with some remaining in service as photographic reconnaissance planes, while others were modified to launch and recover specially designed RF-84F/K reconnaissance aircraft.
Retired but not forgotten
Out of the 380 or so B-36 aircraft constructed, including prototypes, only four airframes survived to the present day. One is located at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California, while another is at the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum in Ashland, Nebraska. The final B-36 ever built is now part of the collection at the Pima Air and Space Museum, located next to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.
The aircraft’s last flight occurred on April 30, 1959, when B-36J (52-2220) flew from Davis-Monthan AFB to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. The aircraft is now on display in the Cold War gallery, alongside the only remaining example of the massive 9-foot (2.7 m) lower main gear strut, single wheel, and tire used on the original XB-36.
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