With a crew of 15, a wing span of 230 feet, and six 3,500 hp pusher Pratt & Whitney engines, the B-36 “Peacemaker” (as it was sometimes called) was a very impressive airplane. Although the airplane was designed during WWII, it was well after the conflict that the production airplanes went into service. There were 382 examples produced, and they were to serve their country mostly as a nuclear deterrent rather than as an historically active combat type. Later versions were built with the addition of four underwing mounted 5,200 lb thrust jet engines. This modification so improved the airplane’s performance that the earlier models were converted to this ten-engine version. The type was soon replaced by the new generation of pure jet-powered bombers, and the B-36 was never used in combat operations. The last flight of a B-36 was reported to be in 1959, when the United States Air Force Museum’s example was delivered.
CONVAIR B-36
