Among the ambitious projects that took to the air, the Convair B-36 Peacemaker is by far one. Directly both in size and spirit, it was a representation of the Cold War’s tense atmosphere, the brilliant ideas, and the raw resolve that was so characteristic of the conflict. The telling of its tale goes a bit backwards, starting in the waning days of the Second World War, when the Americans foresaw a very possible scenario of the UK falling into Hitler’s hands. In the absence of any bases abroad, the US was in dire need of a bomber that could start a strike from its soil and hit the targets that were halfway around the world.
To handle such an issue, the Army Air Forces sought the aircraft that was nearly unattainable: a bomber with a range of 16,000 kilometers, able to fly higher than 12,000 meters, and carrying a bomb heavier than ever before.
Consolidated Vultee, which later changed its name to Convair, was the winner of the 1941 contract against Boeing. It was, however, a different story when it came to building the bomber. The B-36 almost reached the limit of aviation technology, and the constant redesigns made were very significant. With a 230-foot wingspan, the bomber had the widest wingspan of any military aircraft, a record that still stands today. Due to the vastness of the wings, crawlspaces had been constructed inside the wings where the crew can get into and do maintenance on the engines while flying – a concept that was considered science fiction at that time.
The same went for the propulsion system. At first, the aircraft had six Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial piston engines, which were arranged as pushers, and the propellers were facing the rear. Four General Electric J47 jet engines were fitted later under the wings of the last versions, and the Peacemaker got the widely known nickname: “six turning, four burning.”
The history of Peacemaker was very different if not for this strange pairing that gave her a cruising speed of about 322 km/h and a maximum speed of more than 644 km/h at high altitude. For a gigantic machine of almost 12,000 meters of height and weighing more than 180,000 kg at takeoff, those numbers were indeed out of the ordinary.
In 1948, the B-36 made its debut at the newly formed Strategic Air Command, just when the Soviet threat was escalating. Its task, however, was quite clear: nuclear deterrence. The Peacemaker was equipped to deliver the heaviest and largest bombs that America had, with a maximum bomb load of 86,000 pounds—more than four times that of the B-29—thus the four corners of the earth could be its targets.
Long-range reconnaissance B-36 was one of its derivatives, while even the NB-36H prototype took it a step further, testing nuclear-powered propulsion. In its early days, the aircraft was virtually invincible, due to its very high altitude and range.
Notwithstanding, though, life on board was not a lavish one. The crews of about 15 to 22 men would more often than not have to endure painful conditions for more than two days, in cramped quarters, with the constant necessity of engine monitoring and the unpressurized compartments at high altitudes. The requirements for maintenance were very demanding; great efforts were always made to ensure maximum reliability. The early models were armed with as many as sixteen 20mm cannons, all of which were operated remotely, but the later versions had reduced armament so as to save weight as jet fighters became more of a threat.
Despite the size and power of the B-36, it was never involved in any combat. Its greatest advantage was in the role of a deterrent—an extremely conspicuous sign of how far America could go. The critics called it the “Billion Dollar Boondoggle,” but the aircraft was there to play a very vital role as a transitional one between those prop-driven bombers of the Second World War and the jet-powered B-52 Stratofortress, which was going to be the successor.
Production was stopped in 1954 after a total of 384 aircraft were delivered. As of 1958, the B-52 replaced the B-36 as the primary strategic bomber of the United States, and the fleet was retired. In April 1959, the last B-36 turned around on its final flight, taking the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, where it still stands as the centerpiece exhibition, a B-36.
One cannot talk about a Peacemaker without acknowledging the extent of its legacy. It was beyond human imagination to build such an engineering masterpiece, but this also opened the door to the “Cold War Strategy” concept and made it the symbol of the era when global superpower was compared by wingspans and bomb loads. Presently, with a few only in museums, the B-36 is still a wonder and still holds a special position among the icons of world history – an amazing, almost intimidating, memory of the time when the global balance of power was almost literally on its shoulders.