Convair B-36

The Convair (Consolidated Vultee) B-36 was a strategic bomber operated almost entirely by the United States Air Force. During the early years of the Cold War, the B-36 was the only truly intercontinental bomber in service, providing the United States and its newly formed Strategic Air Command with the mainstay of its nuclear deterrent until the later 1950s, when the first long range jet -powered bomber, the B-52 Stratofortress, became operational. The B-36 began its service in 1948, and eventually 384 were built. The last B-36 was withdrawn from service in 1959. During this period, intercontinental missiles were not an option.

Related Topics:
Convair - Strategic bomber - United States Air Force - Cold War - Strategic Air Command - Nuclear deterrent - 1950s - B-52 Stratofortress - 1959

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The B-36 is the largest mass-produced piston aircraft ever built, as well as the largest warplane of any kind. All subsequent military aircraft larger than the B-36 have served only in a transport role. The B-36 was designed to carry a larger payload than even the B-52. All versions of the B-36 featured six Pratt & Whitney R-4360 piston engines, perhaps the most powerful and sophisticated engine of its kind ever built. Later versions added four General Electric J47 jet engines to improve performance during takeoff, landing, and combat. Hence the B-36 came to have 10 engines, probably a record for a mass-produced aircraft, and is probably the most important mixed jet-piston aircraft ever made. Crews referred to having "six turning and four burning". (The less than reliable engines led to the wisecrack "two turning, two burning, two joking, and two smoking", with two engines not accounted for.) The B-36 had an all-jet contemporary, the B-47, not competitive in both range and payload.

Related Topics:
Pratt & Whitney R-4360 - General Electric J47 - B-47

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Convair touted the B-36 as a "magnesium overcast", a "long rifle" in the hands of the Strategic Air Command. The B-36 was not designed with a nuclear delivery role in mind, because at the time it was engineered (1941-46), nuclear weapons were top secret and their mode of delivery had yet to be determined. Nevertheless, the B-36 played a crucial role in the USA's strategic nuclear deterrent immediately upon entering service. In particular, until the B-52 became fully operational, the B-36 was the only way of delivering the huge first generation Mark 17 hydrogen bomb.

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Though a lumbering giant and "a prop bomber in an age of jet fighters", the B-36's nuclear delivery role earned it the unofficial nickname Peacemaker. Though never tested in combat, the Strategic Air Command defended its performance. The B-36 offset its slow speed and lack of areal refuelling capability with the ability to fly missions as long as 50 hours. With a combat range of 3,400 miles (5,500 km) or more, the Strategic Air Command enjoyed a global strategic reach. Few fighters of the day could operate at the cruising altitude of the B-36, which also allegedly could out-turn faster fighters (even the F-100) at that altitude, thanks to a lower wing loading. Others?including former fighter pilots?challenge this statement. However, the B-36 was difficult to operate, prone in its early service years to malfunctions, especially catastrophic engine fires, and to other costly difficulties. To its critics, these problems made it a "billion-dollar blunder". United States Navy officials saw it as a costly bungle siphoning funding and interest from their pet project, aircraft carrier–based nuclear bombers.

Related Topics:
F-100 - Wing loading - United States Navy - Aircraft carrier

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Freely touted as a strategic nuclear bomber, the B-36 also performed a number of rarely acknowledged reconnaissance missions. It is believed that variants of the B-36 were involved in numerous penetrations of Chinese (and possibly Soviet) airspace. The cameras carried by the reconnaissance variants (given the designation RB-36) could produce very high resolution photographs: pictures of a golf course taken from 40,000 ft (12,000 m) show recognizable golf balls. Before the development of the Lockheed U-2, the RB-36 was the only plane with the range to fly into Asia from bases in the United States.

Related Topics:
Reconnaissance - Chinese - Soviet - Lockheed U-2

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