Six Turning Four Burning – B-36 Peacemaker

The Convair B-36 “Peacemaker” was a strategic bomber built by Convair and operated solely by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever made.

The Convair RB-36-D, the jet-augmented version of the U.S. Air Force’s intercontinental strategic bomber. Four General Electric J-47 jet engines, mounted in pairs under outer wing edges, supplement six Pratt & Whitney piston engines.

It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built, at 230 ft (70.1 m). The B-36 was the first bomber capable of delivering any of the nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal from inside its four bomb bays without aircraft modifications.

Convair NB-36H in flight. (U.S. Air Force photo)

With a range of 10,000 mi (16,000 km) and a maximum payload of 87,200 lb (39,600 kg), the B-36 was the world’s first manned bomber capable of intercontinental flight without refueling.

11th Bombardment Wing Convair B-36J-5-CF Peacemaker (52-2225), 1955, showing "Six turnin', four burnin"
11th Bombardment Wing Convair B-36J-5-CF Peacemaker (52-2225), 1955, showing “Six turnin’, four burnin”

Entering service in 1948, the B-36 was the primary nuclear weapons delivery vehicle of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) until it was replaced by the jet-powered Boeing B-52 Stratofortress from 1955.

All but five examples were scrapped in the 1950’s.

The B-36 set the standard for range and payload for subsequent U.S. intercontinental bombers.

This clip is from the Paramount Movie (1955) “Strategic Air Command” starring Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson.

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