Friday, July 31, 2020

XB-36 making its first flight at Fort Worth, Texas on August 8th, 1946.




10 comments:

  1. Is that Barney Fife on the right side of that big bad-boy wheel?

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  2. That was the only B-36 to have those huge single mainwheels, though the cargo version (XC-99?) did as well.

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  3. the only reason for the size of this thing was the size and weight of the bomb it was to carry. in the the USAF Museum, there is a B-36D and an inert training round of the bombs it was designed to carry. you can walk beneath the open bomb bays and come to a realization of what was asked our airmen to attempt. Any thought of the impressive size of the MOAB would be dispelled by the size of the original operational H bomb.

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  4. If I'd only seen the nose I'd have thought it was an Antonov or Ilyushin!

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  5. Does anyone know if those jet engines were designed to burn av gas? I thought I had read that somewhere........

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    1. That aircraft did not have jet engines. Later models had four jet engines in addition to the six non-jet engines.

      Thanks for the post.
      Paul L. Quandt

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    2. I understand the rear wing engines didn't cool as well as front ones.

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    3. Yes, they did run on avgas. (I've been researching the B-36 for an article I'm doing for Aviation History magazine, of which I'm the Contributing Editor.). The jets were intended to be used only for takeoff and for over-the-target dash speed. They used a lot of gas and decreased the -36's range substantially if used too much.

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  6. When I was a boy in Methuen, Mass., Pease AFB (NH, now civilian) had a wing of them, and we got flyovers during patriotic holidays.

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  7. Interestingly enough, I was able to catch the Antonov AN 225 as it landed in Bangor Maine on Friday.
    I had a delivery schedule to meet, and after waiting at a real good spot for touchdown, it started filling up with cars, so I left, rather than getting caught in a fustercluck.
    Just as I was getting back on I-95, here she comes.
    It looked like a whole nother planet coming at me.
    This is the second time I've seen that beast in Bangor.
    It will send a shiver down your spine, but not as good as when I watched Air Force One leaving a couple of months ago.

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