Aviation Buffs - 50th Anniversary of the last B-36

[ThoughtCriminal]

50 years ago today, the last Convair B-36 made it's final operational flight.

http://thoughtcrimewave.blogspot.com/2009/02/50-years-ago-final-flight-of-b-36.html

I've always been fascinated by the B-36. There was nothing else like it and the mix of technology almost had a "Steampunk" quality.

[Ptah]

1. And here's a wiki page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-36

:thumbsup:

[Hangingon]

2. For you B-36 fans ...

Remember the Labor Day tornado of September 1, 1952. It hit the Carswell flight line and damaged or destroyed some 70 B-36s. Most were repaired in 5 weeks, but 2/3s of the fleet was out of action.

http://www.cowtown.net/proweb/tornado/tornado.htm#1084

[Crabby Appleton]

3. I got to see one up close

at the USAF museum at Wright-Pat. Very cool aircraft.

[NYC_SKP]

4. It's a giant next to the B-29 (pics)

[ThoughtCriminal]

8. I think that one is the XB-36

It has the big tires and no jet pods. Six-Turnin' Nothin'-Burin'

[Angleae]

12. Maybe not, the turbines didn't get installed until the D model.

[ThoughtCriminal]

18. The landing gear and the nose are clues

I did not remember that the jets didn't go on until the D model.

The nose was redesigned after the XB-36 prototype. After the YB-36, a four-wheel landing gear was used.

After a bit of checking, I found the caption for the photo at the Maxwell AFB identifying it as the XB-36:

http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/photo_galleries/aaf_wwii_vol_vi/Captions/128_XB-36.htm

[Angleae]

20. Didn't know that, only seen one up close

Model unknown, museum piece at (former) Chanute AFB and it was reportedly missing a couple fuselage stations (too short)

[trof]

15. I remember the '6 turnin', 4 burnin'

[trof]

16. Used to refuel off the converted KC-97. "4 turnin', 2 burnin'"

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. There's an RB-36H at Castle Air Museum outside Merced, Calif.

You can go inside it on Open Cockpit Day, which is May 24 this year. But you don't get to tour it; you just stand behind the cockpit while a guy tells you about it.

I wanted to go through the tube. :(



http://www.elite.net/castle-air/convair_rb36h.html

[jpak]

6. When I was a kid I thought the B-36 and the XF85 Goblin parasite fighter

was the shit

[pokerfan]

7. Very long range

Cruising speed: 275 mph, range: 12,000 miles. 12K/275 = 43.6 hours. No wonder it had bunks:

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

9. are there any of these monsters flying?

damn, I would love to see one

[ThoughtCriminal]

11. Nope

There was at least one more flight after this one - in April 1959 to deliver one from Tucson to the Air Force Museum near Dayton. There are only 4 survivors and they're putting one back together at the Pima Air Museum. Very unlikely that any will ever fly again.

I would have liked to have seen - and heard one of these fly over. You can come to idea of what the plane was like by checking out the movie "Strategic Air Command" with Jimmy Stewart. TCM has shown it a few times. It's not one of Stewart's best movies, but the aerial photography of the B-36 is fantastic.

[MajorChode]

13. Strategic Air Command is one of my favorite movies

Perhaps it's just the shots of Carswell from the air that I like.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

10. just read the wiki... wow

this is the plane which led to an almost revolt among the Navy... holy shit, I had forgotten all this

never fired a shot or dropped a bomb against an enemy

amazing the money spent on this program

[old mark]

14. I think the Russians are still flying the "Bear" Cold War turbine

bomber. They have been using it since the 50's.
Any pics?
mark

[MajorChode]

17. Both the B-36 and the Tu-95 "Bear" are essentially scaled up B-29s

[ThoughtCriminal]

19. There are pics at wiki

Is that an AKNG F-15? Maybe Putin's in the Bear.

[Tom Kitten]

21. what a weird wild airplane

caught in the middle of changing technology it seems like a ghost that really existed...I also remember the B-36 Hustler and the especially the XB-70 Valkyrie as wonderful aircraft that just didn't fit the scheme of things...