[HolyGrail]

Of course we'd have to have the YB-35B right along side it and the P-82 and XP-61F for escorts.

Is this having something to do with those planes ?
@ 1:36

[Guest]

"If all engines function normally at full power during the pre-takeoff warm-up, the lead flight engineer will sometimes say to the AC (Aircraft Commander), 'six turning and four burning.'" Erratic reliability led to the wisecrack, 'two turning, two burning, two joking, and two smoking, with two engines not accounted for.'"

[shakthamac]

almost as ugly as this.

Hands off of the British V-bombers. The Vulcan, Valiant and Victor are cool. :evil:

That picture shows the Victor.

Cool, yes. Ugly, yes.

These two theories can co-exist

[lordish2001]

If you notice the B29 in the background of gibbage's pic, you can really see how humongous this plane is hock:

I hope it is possible to model the B-36. It served until 1958 as a primary member of SAC's nuclear force. It also was designed specifically to be a fallback if Hitler had beaten Britain in War 2. It was designed to fly to Europe with a load, drop it and return. The airplane is so huge because it has a 15,000 mile range WITHOUT REFUELING!

Now for the pictures. The first picture is of a B-36D-J. It's nearly impossible to tell the variants apart . The dark areas are skins made of MAGNESIUM alloy. This was the first time this metal was used for aircraft structures. If the fuselage had been SHINY from the nose to the wing root, it would have been a reconnaissance version of the aircraft, an RB-36. The reason was an extra pressurized compartment was added. Magnesium can't take the stresses of repeated pressurization so the compartment was made out of aluminum.

The D was powered by 6 3000hp 28 cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major engines. This power plant had a mechanical 2 speed-2 stage supercharger and 4 (count-em 4!) turbo chargers. The jets are GE J-47 engines as used in the F-86 and the B-47. All this power was necessary to get this 315,000 pound behemoth up to its service ceiling of approximately 50,000 feet! For several years, the only airplane that could fly higher was the U-2, and that airplane couldn't carry an 80,000 bombload to Russia and return to Texas! One of the reasons I want to see this plane simulated is because the Peacemaker could carry 2 Grand Slam bombs or 4 Tallboys! When fully loaded, the B-36 needed every inch of 10,000 feet of thick concrete to take off. It's roar at full power is incredible.

The A/C's range was so great that several attempts were made to either design from scratch or modify aircraft that could be CARRIED TO THE TARGET AND BACK! One was the XF-85 Goblin which could fit completely in one of the plane's 4 bomb bays. The other was the RF-84K which could partially fit in a bomb bay.

The second picture is probably of the first operational version of the B-36 the B model. Now the airplanes in the background are: a C-74 Globemaster 1 while the bomber is not a B-29 but it's immediate offspring, the B-50. You can tell by the taller tail fin, and that the engine nacelles are bigger. The B-50 was powered by the Pratt R-4360, the same as used by the Peacemaker.

Modders can get all the technical info you'll ever need on the B-36 as well as hundreds of great pictures in a book called "Magnesium Overcast" by Dennis R Jenkins Also, I recommend renting the General James Stewart movie, "Strategic Air Command," which has at least an hour and a half of wonderful in flight footage of both the B-36 and the B-47. You'll see that the B-36 could actually fly, and it could fly gracefully at that! (Forget the mushy stuff with June Allyson, just watch the flying.)

Hope this fills you in and fires the desire to mod this incredible aircraft.

[Scharnhorst1943]

Well with the push toward Korea with a new map and planes from the 1950's like banshee and F-84 ... I don't think this would be an issue any more. Besides, I would really like to see it. It is a much better fit than Lerche ...

[Guest]

Really, anything is...