Six Turning, Four Burning: The B-36 Peacemaker Legacy

The year was 1950, and in the skies over America flew a true engineering marvel – a magnesium-skinned colossus that dwarfed everything that came before it. Pilots described it as "sitting in a bay window while flying an apartment building," and for good reason.

Meet the Convair B-36 "Peacemaker," the largest mass-produced piston-engine aircraft ever built and a true testament to post-war American innovation. Developed when no idea seemed too ambitious, this behemoth featured a unique propulsion system that aviation enthusiasts still marvel at today: six massive 28-cylinder engines turning 19-foot wide propellers in a pusher configuration, complemented by four jet engines – a configuration pilots fondly referred to as "six turning, four burning."

What made the B-36 truly remarkable was its unprecedented capabilities. With a wingspan of 230 feet and wings so thick they contained crawl spaces for in-flight maintenance, this bomber could carry 86,000 pounds of conventional or nuclear weapons – equivalent to more than twenty World War II heavy bombers combined. More impressively, it could deliver this payload to targets 12,000 miles away without refueling, making it the perfect Cold War deterrent able to reach Moscow from American soil with plenty of range to spare.

The Peacemaker pushed boundaries in ways that seem almost unbelievable today. It carried entire fighter aircraft underneath it as part of the FICON program, transported complete airframes of other bombers, and most astonishingly, flew 47 test missions with an onboard nuclear reactor that required a special "GLOW Squad" ready to parachute and secure the site in case of a crash.

Though its operational career lasted just a decade before being replaced by the all-jet B-52, the legacy of this aeronautical giant endures as a symbol of an era when aviation engineers dared to dream impossibly big. Join us as we explore the fascinating story of America's largest bomber – a true bridge between eras that changed the course of Cold War history.

Subscribe now to hear more incredible stories from aviation's golden age, and discover why some aircraft become legendary while others fade into history.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Pilot Photog Podcast
• 2:40 Introducing the B-36 Peacemaker
• 5:49 Birth of a Cold War Giant
• 9:13 The Magnesium Monster's Design
• 14:28 Six Turning, Four Burning
• 17:46 Nuclear Deterrent and Cold War Role
• 26:16 Nuclear Reactor Test Flights
• 30:49 Experimental Missions and Retirement
• 37:11 Legacy of the Peacemaker

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome aviation and history enthusiasts to the Pilot Photog podcast. I'm Tog, your host, private pilot, professional photographer, youtube content creator and your guide through the thrilling world of military aircraft. Whether you're a diehard aviation fan or just love a good story from the skies, you've landed in the right place. Each episode, we take flight into the fascinating tales of military aircraft, the heroes who flew them and the incredible technology that keeps pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the skies. We'll explore historic battles, modern advancements and the little-known stories that shaped aviation history. And that's not all. As a scale model aircraft enthusiast and a creator of stunning computer animations, I'll bring these stories to life, giving you a unique perspective on the aircraft we discuss. Every airplane has a story. It's not just a podcast, it's an experience, don't forget. You can find us on all podcasting platforms. But before we take off, here's a quick pre-flight checklist for you, our amazing listeners. If you enjoy our journey through aviation history, please take a moment to leave a review. Your feedback helps us climb higher and reach more aviation enthusiasts like you. So whether you're prepping for takeoff on a long cross-country flight or just relaxing at home, make sure to subscribe to the Pilot Photog podcast for your regular fix of aviation history and stories. All right, strap in and adjust your aviator glasses because we're about to embark on another high-flying adventure. Welcome aboard the Pilot Photog podcast. You Thanks for listening to the Pilot Photon Podcast. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast and the YouTube channel as well. I will leave links in the description slash show notes below.

Speaker 1: 2:46

Now you know it was an era where anything seemed possible During the nifty 50s. There was no idea too crazy. If they could think of it, they tried it. This is the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever built, designed in the 40s and operational in the 50s. Imagine a massive 28-cylinder beast of an engine turning a 19-foot wide propeller, and now put six of them on an airplane. These six engines put out more than 25,000 horsepower combined. But we're not done. Along with these massive pusher props, add four jet engines. That's right. This magnesium monster flew with six turning and four burning engines, and it did this while carrying more bombs, farther and faster than 20 World War II heavy bombers could Meet the Convair B-36. Nothing about this airplane was normal. Nothing about this airplane was normal. This behemoth was the literal bridge between giant piston engine aircraft and the jet age. The pilots who flew this colossal bomber, described it as sitting in a bay window while flying an apartment building. This thing was so big it carried a B-58 Hustler's airframe to its assembly site and it didn't even flinch, but it just didn't ferry aircraft. The B-36 could carry tons of conventional bombs or world-ending nuclear bombs. So, naturally, what nickname did they give it? The Peacemaker, because when these things showed up, the bad guys wanted to call it off and go home.

Speaker 1: 5:10

Today, we're going to take a deep dive into Convair's most ambitious project, from its radical multi-engine design to its use as a Cold War deterrent and a super secret project with an onboard nuclear reactor that involved the glow squad. This is an airplane that broke all the rules and raised the bar for every bomber that came after it. So pull those arming pins, lock on and strap in, because this is a journey you won't want to miss. Pilotphotogcom.

Speaker 1: 5:49

To understand how this bomber came to be, we have to go back to the early days of World War II, following the summer of 1940, the United Kingdom stood alone in the fight against Nazi Germany and the United States, although officially neutral, was already growing concerned that if England should fall then the US would end up alone in the fight versus the Third Reich. Because of this, planners began to envision a truly long-range bomber, one that would be able to strike deep into Europe from bases in North America without refueling. But then the timeline was accelerated. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, an additional need for a bomber arose to be able to attack Japan from bases in Hawaii. As a result, the requirements for this new aircraft were staggering for the time Be able to fly at altitudes of 45,000 feet, have a range of 12,000 miles and a top speed of 450 miles per hour. Keep in mind this is at a time when few, if any, fighters could do 400 miles per hour, let alone bombers. The requirements were later trimmed down to a 10,000 mile range and a 40,000 foot ceiling, but the top speed requirement remained the same. More on that later, to get such long ranges, not to mention delivering heavy payloads, a massive airframe would be needed To do this.

Speaker 1: 7:21

The designers set about to build the biggest bomber possible, and that was going to require using lots of materials. But then the war effort really took off following Pearl Harbor, by the end of 1941, development of the soon-to-be B-36 was put on hold to prioritize the production of the proven B-24, Liberator and other aircraft. However, this didn't stop the engineers at Convair, despite facing massive shortages in that one metal, that aircraft need most aluminum. With all the available aluminum going to the war effort on already in production aircraft, these crafty designers came up with an ingenious substitute magnesium. You see, magnesium is lighter than aluminum but also more corrosive and sometimes more flammable and, as one firefighter told me, much harder to put out. In fact, regular firefighting methods like water and foam are ineffective and can even make the fire worse by producing hydrogen gas. Magnesium fires are often classified as Class D fires and require specialized extinguishing agents. But despite these risks, the designers at Convair went ahead with the extensive use of magnesium anyway.

Speaker 1: 8:40

It's important to point out that the use of magnesium wasn't unique to the B-36. It's important to point out that the use of magnesium wasn't unique to the B-36. It's been used in other aircraft, usually in small quantities and in specialized areas like oil tanks or other small parts, but nothing like this had been attempted on such a massive scale. Each B-36 ended up using about 12,000 pounds of magnesium sheet, 1,500 pounds of magnesium forgings and 660 pounds of magnesium castings for airframe parts and the fuselage skin. This is how the B-36 became known as the Magnesium Monster.

Speaker 1: 9:20

But this project was more than just about using different materials. The B-36 set out to do things no other bomber at the time even dreamed of. And as a result, because of the high ambitions for this bomber, there were many other delays in the development of this colossus. One of the biggest challenges was the range To get the absolute most mileage out of every drop of fuel. The B-36 went with rear-facing propellers, known as pusher props. Placing the propellers at the rear of the wing smoothed the airflow over the leading edge, which increased aerodynamic efficiency and, as a result, greatly increased the B-36's range. Now, pusher props were not new to the Peacemaker. In fact, the very first heavier-than-air aircraft ever to fly had pusher props, that of course being the 1903 Wright Brothers Wright Flyer. But as with almost everything about the B-36, convair engineers took the pusher concept and made it huge.

Speaker 1: 10:27

To turn these huge propellers and push this beast through the sky, massive engines would be needed. These came in the form of the Pratt Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major air-cooled radial engines. Each of these 28-cylinder monsters put out 4,300 horsepower, and there were six of them. But putting the propellers in the back of the wing was only one step in getting that long range. To drive these thirsty engines, you needed fuel literal tons of fuel. Many airplanes store a substantial amount of fuel in the wings and well, just like everything else in the B-36, the wings were massive, but not just in length. The wings spanned 230 feet, but they were also very thick. In fact, the B-36's wings at their tallest point measured seven and a half feet. These massive wings allowed the Peacemaker to store those tons of fuel. In fact, the wings were so massive and tall that they even had crawl spaces inside for in-flight engine access or basic maintenance.

Speaker 1: 11:36

But the B-36 wasn't just limited to piston engines. Turning huge propellers, the recently developed jet engine was used. Now, putting propellers and jet engines wasn't unique to the B-36, but the scale on which it was attempted was, of course, unique. It really was a fascinating time in history. While piston engines were proven and reliable, by this time they had reached their limit in terms of how fast they could make airplanes go, had reached their limit in terms of how fast they could make airplanes go. Enter the jet engine, a new technology that promised speeds that piston engine aircraft could only ever dream of. But there was a problem. Early jet engines were very fuel inefficient. They basically drank gas to produce thrust. As a result, the B-36 kept those massive but efficient Pratt Whitney radios and added four jet engines in two pods on the outer wings. These General Electric J-47s were hugely successful early engine designs and would go on to power the legendary F-86. On the Peacemaker, they first appeared on the B-36D model. In fact, the jet engines proved to be so effective that all B-36s were retrofitted to carry these jet pods.

Speaker 1: 12:52

But can you imagine the maintenance on this thing? Imagine an aircraft carrying two different fuel types with two very different engine types. You can start to see how complex this bomber becomes. Keep in mind this is long before the digital age. So every engine has to have its own bank of dials and gauges to monitor its performance. And well, let's just say that the B-36's flight engineer definitely had his work cut out for him.

Speaker 1: 13:19

Now, speaking of the crew, just like everything else about the B-36, you guessed it it's massive. The Peacemaker's crew varied from 15 for standard missions to as many as 22 for reconnaissance missions, but given the size of this beast, I doubt even 22 crew members felt crowded. You have the bomber, the engines, the fuel and the crew. Now let's and the crew. Now let's talk about the one thing this aircraft was built for carrying and delivering bombs lots of them. The Peacemaker's bomb capacity was an incredible 86,000 lbs. To put that number into perspective, the B-17 would carry about 4,000 pounds on long-range missions during World War II. This means that it would take more than 20 B-17s to carry the same bomb load as a single B-36, and the Peacemaker could carry those bombs much, much further. But carrying bombs a long way isn't effective if you can't defend yourself. And when it came to defensive firepower, the B-36 really packed a punch.

Speaker 1: 14:32

Getting back to the B-17 as a comparison, the Flying Fortress was named that way because it carried 13 of the infamous Browning M2 .50 caliber machine guns. The Convair engineers saw that and said hold my avgas. The B-36 carried 16 20mm cannons that were mounted in 8 turrets, so not only more overall guns, but higher caliber as well, as compared to the Flying Fortress. But it didn't just carry more and heavier guns. The Peacemaker's turrets were remote controlled so that the crew members could operate the turrets from workstations onboard the aircraft instead of standing right behind them like they did in the B-17. Because of this, the B-36 could operate at much higher altitudes for longer as well Now, to fly at such high altitudesitudes. The B-36's crew areas were of course pressurized, and that included an 80 foot long, two foot wide tunnel that used the trolley to get crew members back and forth inside the aircraft Maximum comfort. But six of the turrets also had an interesting feature. Remember how everything about the B-36 was a quest for speed and range. Six of the eight turrets would actually retract into the fuselage, and this helped the Peacemaker fly through the air more efficiently when needed. However, all of this complexity and design ideas came at a cost, in both time and

Speaker 1: 16:04

money. The first B-36 flew in August of 1946, well after the end of World War II. So it was too late to fly the missions the designers had dreamed up for it, but a new war was already underway, a war in which deterrence and a show of force, not combat, was king. And wouldn't you know it, this played right into the peacemakers' hands. One of the guiding principles of the Cold War was mutual assured destruction, or MAD. As both the US and later the Soviet Union came to possess nuclear weapons, the idea was that if one side started a nuclear engagement, the other side would answer back and everyone would be destroyed, hence MAD. So instead of large land, air and sea battles that we saw during World War II, the battle space shifted into building up massive arsenals of nuclear weapons and ensuring peace through strength. As a result, the Cold War became more about what arms you could bring to the table and how quickly you could activate your

Speaker 1: 17:11

arsenal. When it came to the nuclear deterrent side of things, this Shoah Force doctrine turned into what we now call the nuclear triad. In other words, we've developed three different and independent ways to reach out and touch someone with thermonuclear weapons. Specifically, nuclear weapons could be delivered number one by ballistic missile submarines or boomers. Number two by launching intercontinental ballistic missiles or ICBMs. And number three by delivering them using heavy bombers. This triad is still in use

Speaker 1: 17:46

today. An airplane of many firsts, the B-36 was one of the first bombers to make up part of this critical triad. Ironically, the number of delays, setbacks and overly ambitious goals played into the B-36's favor. By the time the B-36 became fully operational in 1951, the Cold War was in full swing. But before we continue our deep dive into the B-36's operational history, we need to take a quick moment to appreciate how massive this bomber really was. Now we've already mentioned that the wingspan was an incredible 230 feet. Meanwhile the fuselage was 163 feet long. Given these two dimensions alone, this bomber took up an incredible amount of space on the ramp. And, of course, the bigger they are, the more they weigh. The Peacemaker's maximum takeoff weight was 410,000 pounds, with a maximum bomb load of up to 86,000

Speaker 1: 18:50

pounds. Despite its huge size and weight, the B-36 had an unrefueled range of 12,000 miles. Now, we've mentioned range a couple of times in this video. We've mentioned range a couple of times in this video. To put that range number into perspective, the distance from Washington DC to Moscow is just under 5,000 miles, meaning that a B-36 taking off from Andrews Air Force Base could reach Moscow and fly back with plenty of range to

Speaker 1: 19:18

spare. Powering this beast were those six Pratt Whitney R43 60s that generated a combined 25,800 horsepower. These engines gave the Peacemaker a cruising speed of anywhere from 230 to 390 miles per hour. But what about the jet engines? Well, to give the B36 that extra performance boost on takeoff or when it needed to get the heck out of Dodge, the four jet engines were used. Think of them as nitrous bottles for a turbo boost and not full-time engines. The GE J47s weren't the most efficient, especially by today's standards. But they were a marvel of engineering for their time and they got the job done by activating those four J47 jet engines. By activating those four J-47 jet engines, the B-36 could get up to dash speeds of 430 to 450 miles per

Speaker 1: 20:09

hour. But as the Cold War went on and fighter aircraft became more sophisticated and fast, the idea of massed gun turrets that were used to defend against enemy fighters during World War II was proving to be less and less effective. As a result, in 1954, peacemakers went through the Featherweight program. This involved removing most of the B-36's defensive guns and instead relying on the B-36's speed and high operational altitudes to avoid enemy fighters. These modifications helped extend the Peacemaker's range to that incredible 12,000 mile mark. At the end of the day, the B-36 only kept a tail turret for defense, which was radar

Speaker 1: 20:56

controlled. Now, getting back to the payload, the B-36 could basically carry it all with that 87,000 pound bomb capacity. To give you an idea of how heavy that is, that is much more weight than a fully loaded and fueled F-14D Tomcat, which comes in at 74,350 pounds. Now. Being both a conventional and nuclear bomber, the Peacemaker carried general purpose bombs, incendiary bombs and even anti-personnel fragmentation bombs. But one of the more interesting payloads was the T-12 Cloud Maker, an incredibly massive 43,600 pound bunker buster that was nicknamed the Earthquake Bomb. Basically, the B-36 could carry more conventional bombs than an entire World War II bomber

Speaker 1: 21:48

squadron. But the B-36's most defining role was, of course, its role as a nuclear delivery platform. Initially it carried the Mark IV nuclear bomb, which was an improved version of the Fat man that was used on Nagasaki to end World War II. Later Peacemaker variants could carry much larger atomic weapons via a program that was known as the Grand Slam Installation. This allowed the bomber to carry the formidable Mark 17, the largest and heaviest nuclear bomb to be deployed by the US at the time, weighing in at about 21,000 pounds and having a yield of about 15 megatons. That's equivalent to 1,000 Fat man bombs in terms of the

Speaker 1: 22:37

yield. To showcase the B-36's incredible range and power, in 1948, just three years after World War II, lieutenant Colonel John Bartlett and his crew took off from Carswell Air Force Base in Texas and flew to Hawaii, where they performed a simulated attack against the target. Then they flew all the way back to Texas non-stop. This mission showed the world that the Peacemaker truly had an operational intercontinental capability, with some suggesting that the B-36 could easily fly round trip from Maine to Leningrad, putting the Soviet Union on notice. That mission would perfectly encapsulate how the B-36 was used. Throughout its career, the Peacemaker would participate in such strategic missions, showcasing the United States' ability to respond to a potential Soviet attack. In fact, several mission scenarios would often involve deployments flying across the North Pole or on top of the world to attack the Soviet Union from its northern

Speaker 1: 23:44

border. But they weren't just carrying operational loads. Peacemakers were also used extensively as flying testbeds, especially for nuclear weapons. Perhaps the most famous example of these weapon tests was named Operation Ivy. As part of those live tests, a B-36 dropped a nuclear device which resulted in a detonation that was codenamed King. Some of these test aircraft became so radioactive from the fallout of the blasts that they could not be touched for months. In fact, the peacemaker involved in Operation Ivy was set aside for an entire year and when crews came back to check on the airplane it was so radioactive it had to be

Speaker 1: 24:26

decommissioned. The B-36 was able to serve in every possible weather condition imaginable, making it a truly all-weather bomber, with deployments ranging from the steamy, humid island of Guam to the frigid tundra of Alaska. These worldwide deployments showcased Strategic Air Command, or SACs, global reach during the Cold War. As we've seen, the Peacemaker was a bomber of many firsts, but not always in a good sense. One of the most significant events for all the wrong reasons in its operational history occurred early on in its service life. In 1950, during a training mission, a B-36B from SAC's 7th Bombardierment Wing flew into severe weather, which caused ice to build up on the wings. Now you could say a design defect of the B-36 with those pusher props was a lack of engine cooling from the intakes that are in front of the wing. In front of the wing, the buildup of the ice in this case led to three of the six engines catching on fire. Due to overheating and the aircraft rapidly losing altitude, the crew made the tough decision to jettison its single unarmed Mark IV nuclear bomb off the Canadian-British Columbia coast. The bomb detonated on impact, but fortunately it only contained a lead practice core instead of actual nuclear material. However, it still produced a bright flash and a shockwave. The 17-man crew was able to bail out and the incident would go on to become the first broken arrow scenario of the Cold

Speaker 1: 26:05

War. Today, the B-36 is mostly remembered for being one of the first bombers to carry nuclear weapons, but what if I told you it also flew with an onboard nuclear reactor. In a highly ambitious experimental and dangerous program, a nuclear reactor was placed inside a highly modified peacemaker Designated the NB-36H and nicknamed the Convair Crusader. This aircraft looked into the possibility of using a nuclear reactor in the same way that a modern aircraft carrier or navy submarine does. In the case of those ships, nuclear reactors provide virtually unlimited range and no need to refuel for years at a time For this experiment, a 3 megawatt reactor was installed in the B-36's rear bomb bay. The specialized and likely voluntold five-person crew was protected by a 12-ton lead shielded cockpit area. Along with this, water barriers were installed to hopefully absorb some of the radiation being emitted from the reactor. For further protection, the windows were also made of thick leaded glass. But this wasn't just a chalkboard

Speaker 1: 27:20

idea. Between 1955 and 1957, the Convair Crusader nuclear test aircraft flew 47 test flights over sparsely populated areas of Mexico and Texas. A modified B-50 chase plane would monitor radiation emissions. Along with these two aircraft, a C-119 flying boxcar transport aircraft would fly loose formation. But the flying boxcar wasn't there to take photos. It had a far more serious mission, given the previous broken arrow incident that resulted in a B-36 crashing and a nuclear device being detonated. The C-119's cargo consisted of the GLOW Squad. This was a set of highly trained troops who were ready to parachute down and secure the crash site if the nuclear-equipped B-36 went down. You can imagine the reactions of the troops who drew this detail

Speaker 1: 28:18

Seriously. Has there ever been a more strange detail in the US military Comment below? If there has, perhaps there has been. The truth is out there. After all, the Nuclear Test Air aircraft project was successful in demonstrating that an aircraft could fly with an onboard nuclear reactor, which even led to one concept that, if it had been used, would have had a detachable reactor module that could be replaced as needed. In this concept, the pilots were located in the upper tail, which could be detached in case of emergency. How would you feel being a passenger on this thing? Just like the jet age, the pilots were located in the upper tail, which could be detached in case of emergency. How would you feel being a passenger on this thing? Just like the jet age, the nuclear age involved a lot of testing on different

Speaker 1: 28:57

projects. Between the years of 1946 and 1961, the Air Force, along with the Atomic Energy Commission, spent more than $7 billion trying to develop a nuclear-powered aircraft. But at the end of the day, the amount of weight to safely shield the crew made the whole thing impractical. Imagine nuclear airliners flying around in the skies today. What could possibly go wrong? Now, speaking of airliners, there were actually plans to produce an airline version of the B-36. This double-decker monster went without the extra jet engines but kept those same Pratt Whitney pusher props all six of them. The Air Force named this Titan of a transport the XC-99. And just like the nuclear test aircraft, this thing actually made it into the

Speaker 1: 29:45

sky. The USAF built and flew a prototype. The aircraft had a promising start. In July of 1950, it would fly its first cargo mission, creatively called Operation Elephant. This mission would transport over 100,000 pounds of cargo from San Diego to Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, texas. The cargo on board? Well, naturally it included engines and propellers for another B-36. As a troop transporter, the XC-99 could carry up to 400 troops. But this double-decker behemoth sadly never made it into airline

Speaker 1: 30:22

service. Imagine what could have been, given the B-36's massive size. It was able to perform duties no other aircraft could at the time and probably ever since. The most incredible example was the time when an ex-B-58 Hustler prototype, which was also manufactured by Convair, needed to be transported from Fort Worth, texas, to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. The fully assembled Hustler fuselage, minus the vertical tail, was strapped to the bottom of a B-36. But there were some modifications that had to be done to the B-36. To make room for the Hustler airframe, the inboard engines and propellers were removed, leaving only 8 out of 10 total running engines Only 8. But even with 8 engines running, the B-36's massive size and huge lifting wing made easy work of transporting the prototype Hustler to right pat. The Hustler is a large airplane in its own right, but these photos really give you a feel for how big the Peacemaker

Speaker 1: 31:33

was. But the B-36 did more than carry a Hustler airframe it also carried fighters. In an effort known as FICOM or the Fighter Conveyor Program, a Parasite fighter was strapped to the bottom of a peacemaker and could be air launched from the bomber. Remember this was at a time when air to air refueling wasn't common, so launching a fighter from a bomber at altitude greatly increased their range. The initial fighter to be developed for this program was the X-85 Goblin, a tiny fighter designed to fit inside the B-36's bomb bay. The idea was that the Goblin would be launched to protect the flight of B-36s as they approached their target deep inside enemy territory. As you can imagine, the Goblin was very difficult to recover back to its mothership and the project was ultimately cancelled. Quick note a modified B-29 was used for testing as the B-36 wasn't ready at the time, but for the next series of tests the Peacemaker was ready In a project known as Tiptoe, a modified Republic. F-84 Thunderjet was physically attached to the underside of a B-36 using a trapeze mechanism. The F-84 was, of course, a full-size fighter and a good choice at the time, since it could itself carry nuclear weapons and also made an excellent reconnaissance platform. The heavily modified B-36 mothership was redesignated the GRB-36. One interesting note is that the pilot of the F-84 Parasite aircraft would travel inside the pressurized B-36 en route and then climb into the F-84's cockpit via the bomb bay. The program was tested between 1952 and 1956 and was ultimately cancelled as air-to-air refueling became more practical and

Speaker 1: 33:29

common. Despite not making it into the airlines or as a fighter or troop transport, the B-36 was a critical component of America's early Cold War arsenal. Having a North American-based bomber that could strike targets in Europe or Asia was huge, but as with all things in military aviation, nothing lasts forever. By the early to mid-1950s, soviet jet fighters became more and more common and their top speeds, along with their high altitude capabilities, grew. Remember, this bomber was designed to outrun and fly higher than World War II piston engine fighters, and while 450 miles per hour seems fast compared to that era in the jet age, that was basically a starting point. As a response to these increasingly capable Soviet fighters, war planners decided that the best way for a bomber to strike its targets would be to fly very low and very fast, something that the B-36 was never designed to do. But it turns out there was a new bomber in the works that was shaping up to replace the peacemaker, the B-52 Stratofortress Entering service in 1955, the buff could fly at speeds of 650 miles per hour, operate at 50,000 feet and had a similar range to the B-36. Now, of course, at this time there was also other bombers on the horizon, like the B-47 and the aforementioned B-58. And while the B-36 was a bomber of many firsts, its days were numbered in a crowded bomber market With the arrival of the all-jet B-47, and especially the B-52, the Peacemaker began to get phased out in

Speaker 1: 35:14

1956. That's just five years after becoming fully operational. The B-36 was completely retired from service in 1959, cementing its legacy as an icon of those nifty 50s, and the last ever flight of any B-36 took place on 30 April 1959, when it flew to the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, ohio, where you can still go and see it to this day. I'd also like to take a quick moment to thank the National Museum of the US Air Force for providing me some of the images that you've seen in this video. Thank you. Without a doubt, the Peacemaker is a one-of-a-kind aircraft, a beacon to a different time in aviation, where ideas became reality and designers dared to dream and then build the impossible. We will likely never again see an aircraft this large, with jet engines burning and piston radials turning huge

Speaker 1: 36:12

propellers. The crews who flew and worked on this legend were truly lucky. In some ways, they got to be a part of a very short-lived but memorable program. Imagine an aircraft today only serving for 10 years, but despite its short service life. Over 380 of these were built and if you ever get the chance to see one, you should. The Peacemaker stands as a testament to what can be done when there is a will to push the boundaries, to dare to dream and to build something truly unique. The B-36 had many firsts, did many things right and, of course, some things wrong. In some ways, the Peacemaker lived up to its name, having never dropped a bomb in combat. But in the end, convair's B-36 handed the reins to what many feel is the greatest bomber of all time. And when it's all said and done, well, that's not such a bad legacy, is it? The B-36 Peacemaker six turning, four burning and one documentary done and dusted. Now you know.