B-36 — The Peacemaker Survivors (2024)

The B-36 Peacemaker was one of the largest airplanes to be built in quantity,and certainly the largest successful aircraft project up to the era of theBoeing 747 and Lockheed C-5. There are otherbigger airplanes, like the HK-1 (Spruce Goose), but they either nevermade it into production, or were one-off examples of their type.

The B-36 project started during the dark days of WWII when it lookedlike England would fall to the NAZI’s. The B-36 would be needed to bombGermany from bases in the US. When it became clear that England wouldnot fall to Germany, the B-36 project was put on the back burner. Thefirst prototype YB-36 did not fly until after the war.

After WWII, the B-36 project was revived when a need was identified tocarry the huge A-bombs (and later H-bombs) to the heart of the SovietUnion. At the time, the bombs were huge and very heavy. This was alsobefore the era of aerial refueling, so a nuclear bomber would need tocarry all the fuel needed for the round trip. The B-36 was the onlybomber that could carry out this mission, so it went into production.

The B-36 is huge. There is no other word for it. The airframe is 230feet wide, 162 feet long (185 feet long for the recon version), andthe tail is nearly 49 feet tall. It weighed in empty at 131,740 pounds,and could take off with a gross weight of 276,506 pounds. This includedup to 19,976 gallons of fuel, or up to 72,000 pounds of bombs. With one40,000 pound A-bomb, the Peacemaker had a combat range of 3500 miles,enough to hit Leningrad from bases in Maine. Top speed for early B-36’swas 346MPH at 35,000 feet. This was achieved using 6 R4360 “corncob”engines (3500 horsepower from 28 cylinders per engine) connected to19-foot long props. LaterB-36’s included 4 jet engines, which upped the top speed to 435MPHat 45,000 feet. This lead to the expression “6 turning and 4 burning”.The B-36 had a crew of 15, 10 up front, and 5 in theback. The two crew areas were pressurized, and connected by an 85-footlong tunnel. The recon version had a crew of 22. By omitting bombs,and carrying fuel in the bomb bays, the recon version could stayaloft for nearly 48 hours.

There were a number of B-36 variants. The YB-36 (and XC-99) had asingle tire on each of the main landing gear struts. The tires wereso heavy that concrete could not support the airplane. This lead tothe development of the bogie with 4 tires on each strut. As planescame off the assembly line, improvements were added. The plane startedas the A version, and went all the way up to the J version. As theB-47 and B-52 came on-line, a B-36 recon variant was introduced.Convair Aircraft also tried to enter the passenger market with theB-36. First, they built a double decker cargo version for the Navy, calledthe XC-99. The airliner version was canceled. The DOD also tried to build anuclear powered version. The prototype, called the X-6, actually carried arunning nuclear reactor. Protecting the B-36 was also a major priority,since fighters did not have the range needed to escort the Peacemaker.The idea was to carry the fighters with you. This included the parasiteconcept (carry a XP-85 fighter in the bomb bay), FICON (carry a jet fighterunder the belly of the B-36), and TomTom (attach fighters at the wingtipof each side of the B-36). All of these programs were a failure. Inthe end, Convair tried to compete for the B-52 contract with theB-60 proposal...which was an all-jet powered swept-wing B-36. But the B-52was nearly 100MPH faster, and the B-36 line came to an end.

The B-36 stayed on-line for 10 years. It rapidly faded from the scenewhen the B-47 and B-52 were ready. In the end, no one really knows ifthe B-36 would have been able to do its mission. Critics point to hundredsof problems with the B-36, and say it would have been toast when putup against a jet fighter. Supporters counter that B-36 flew higher thanany contemporary jet fighter, and it would have been able to drop bombson target before the fighters were able to climb to altitude. And SACnever did base the B-36 in the Arctic region, which is where it wouldhave needed to be to fly round-trip to central Russia. Whether or notit was the billion dollar boondoggle, it was still a remarkable giant.

Of the 385 aircraft produced from the B-36 chassis, only 6 survive, ofwhich, only 3 are on public display.