Consolidated Vultee / Convair B-36 "Peacemaker"
| The B-36 became the first true intercontinental bomber. Designed
by Consolidated, the Model 36 was selected over three competing concepts for an aircraft able to deliver a payload of 10,000 lb to targets in Europe from bases in the US. The resulting B-36 bomber, though too late to see action in World War II, was likely the largest bomber ever to enter production. The design featured a pressurized fuselage with a raised cockpit for improved visibilty. Besides its size, the B-36's most recognizable feature is its six pusher-prop piston engines. Later models were also equipped with four jet engines mounted in outboard pods permitting increases in maximum takeoff weight, payload, maximum speed, and service ceiling. Entering service in the late 1940s, the B-36 became the backbone of the US Strategic Air Command in the early days of the Cold War. |
3-view drawing of B-36E by Josef Hueber / Airborne Grafix, enlarged version
Convair XB-36
Designed by Consolidated, the Model 36 was selected over three competing
concepts for an aircraft able to deliver
a payload of 10,000 lb to targets in Europe from bases in the US. The B-36
was under development in 1941
and first flew on August 8, 1946.
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Convair B-36 A - J
B-36A: unarmed crew trainer, first production model; 22 built, B-36B:
first operational model for USAF, 73 built,
B-36D: improved model equipped with four turbojet engines in addition to
six piston engines allowing better performance;
22 built and 64 converted from B-36B airframes, B-36F: similar to B-36B but
equipped with more powerful engines; 58 built,
B-36H: improved B-36D with new flight deck; 83 built, B-36J: long-range model
with additional fuel tanks and
strengthened landing gear, some models had all but one gun turret removed
allowing a reduction to 9 crew members; 33 built.
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B-36B
Convair RB-36
RB-36D Reconnaissance model with a crew of 22 to operate 14 cameras
located in two of the four bomb bays;
17 built and 7 converted from B-36B airframes.
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Convair NB-36H
B-36H serial number 51-5712 was modified as a nuclear-reactor testbed.
The object of this particular conversion was to test the effects of
nuclear reactor radiation on instruments, equipment, and airframe and to
study shielding methods.
A nuclear reactor (which did not actually power the aircraft) was mounted
in the aft bomb bay. The crew was housed entirely in a modified
compartment in the fuselage nose section. The compartment was composed of
lead and rubber, and entirely surrounded the crew.
The aircraft was redesignated NB-36H. It bore the name Crusader on the fuselage
side. Its first flight was made on September 17, 1955.
Flying alongside the NB-36H on every one of its flights was a C-97 transport
carrying a platoon of armed Marines
ready to parachute down and surround the test aircraft in case it crashed.
A total of 47 flights were made up to March of 1957.
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Nose section with heavy shielded cockpit and open bomb bays.
