The Convair B-36 Peacemaker is still one of the most phenomenal things to happen to the earth. It was an idea that sprang from necessity, creativity, and the increasing strain of the early Cold War. As a matter of fact, its history is linked to the Second World War, when American planners thought that the Nazis might occupy Britain. In that case, the U.S. would lack crucial airbases for bombing missions. What was the answer? An aircraft with long range that could cross the seas, fly at extreme altitudes, and unload a heavy bomb directly on American soil. The required features were scary: a range of 10,000 miles, flight altitudes above 40,000 feet, and the capacity to throw the heaviest existing weapons.
In 1941, the contract was awarded to Consolidated Vultee, later renamed Convair. However, creating the B-36 was not a walk in the park. The massive size of the airplane put designers in a position they had never been in before. Its wings spread to an incredible 230 feet—no other military aircraft has gone beyond that up till now. They were so big that even the crew members could get inside them to service the engines during a flight, a fact that has intrigued aviation fans ever since.
It was not an easy task to come up with a suitable power source for such a giant. The first few models were equipped with six Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines that were mounted in a “pusher” arrangement, with the propellers spinning at the back. Later productions added four General Electric J47 jet engines under the wings, thus the famous line “six turning, four burning” was born. Although it was a weird combo, it did the job well.
This hybrid engine allowed the B-36 to drive at about 200 miles per hour and to continue at high altitude with over 400 miles per hour. This was definitely not as fast as the jets, but still pretty good for such a heavy plane. The B-36, J fully loaded, was over 410,000 pounds and could reach nearly 40,000 feet, both feats that are still quite amazing by today’s standards.
Upon the B-36’s induction into the Strategic Air Command in 1948, a new era of confrontation was about to set in. Its function was obvious: nuclear deterrence. The Peacemaker could be equipped with up to 86,000 pounds of bombs, which is four times the bomb load of the B-29, and could deliver the most powerful weapons of the U.S. to any destination within thousands of miles.
Some of the B-36s were modified to serve as reconnaissance aircraft, and the NB-36H was even an experimental one that tested ideas of atomic-powered flight. At the start of its rampage, the B-36 was practically untouchable because of its altitude and range, becoming a real weapon of strategy.
Living in the giant was a completely different experience. The life of the 122-man2-men crew was actually a 40-hour mission, and they were usually located in uncomfortable and unpressurized parts of the aircraft.
The engines needed to be kept in good condition at all times, and unfortunately, malfunctions were frequent. To mention the first versions, they were heavily armed with up to sixteen remotely controlled 20mm cannons, but later on, these were removed in order to make the aircraft lighter when jet interceptors became the main threat.
Albeit its might, the Peacemaker never aimed for a fight. What counted most was its symbolism—one that could not be mistaken for anything but U.S. strength and determination. Critics regarded it as the “Billion Dollar Boondoggle,” and pondered if the resources could have been better utilized. Nevertheless, for more than ten years, it was the core of the nuclear strike force of the U.S., intermittently connecting the era of wartime B-29 and that of the jet-powered B-52.
Production of the airplane came to an end in 1954 after a total of 384 aircraft were built. By 1958, the B-36 was gradually retired and replaced with the B-52, which was faster and more efficient. The last flight ons in April 1,9,59, when the National Museum of the United States Air Force, where the Peacemaker, currently a monument of its unique era, is located, received the final stopover.
The B-36’s heritage is phenomenal. It was a testbed for future designs, affected bomber advancements for numerous years, and was instrumental in the Cold War strategy. Its huge wings, ten engines, and unmistakable profile made it a Cold War icon—both fantastic and frightening at the same time. There are only less than ten of them left today in museums, and they are mute witnesses of the period when the balance of global power depended on aircraft almost as long as a football field.