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In early 1941,
almost a year before the United States entered World War II, the Army Air
Corps invited leading aircraft companies to participate in a competition to
produce a transcontinental heavy bomber that could reach targets at a very
great distance from America, at least 6-7,000 kilometers. This was a rather
ambitious challenge, as even the latest B-17 had a combat radius of ‘only’
3,250 km.
In April 1941, a
preliminary specification for the future aircraft was issued, and involved
such giants as Douglas, Boeing, Northrop and Consolidated. According to the
terms of the competition, the future aircraft was to be not only a bomber,
but also a long-range photo reconnaissance aircraft and a tanker. At the
end of October 1941, all participants in the competition submitted their
projects, and the winner was a proposal from Consolidated, designated the
B-36. The first aircraft was supposed to appear in 1944, but after the US
entered the war, the main focus was on mass production of another important
project from Consolidated - the famous B-24. Nevertheless, the company -
soon to be renamed Convair - did not suspend work on the B-36, considering
it very important and ambitious.
After the end of
World War II, the government significantly reduced its military budget and
many projects, including aviation ones, were canceled. However, this
situation did not affect the B-36 at all - the geopolitical situation in
the world was changing rapidly and the leading countries were already on
the verge of a new, «cold» war. It was expected to feature a fundamentally
new, nuclear weapon, first tested in August 1945 against Japan. Under these
conditions, an aircraft able to deliver such a weapon over a long range
acquired special significance.
The first flight of the new machine, which had already received the
semi-official name Peacemaker, took place on August 8, 1946 - a year after
the first use of nuclear weapons. It was a real giant, whose size still
amazes the imagination: it had a wingspan of 70 meters and a fuselage
length of 50 meters. The height of the aircraft exceeded 14 meters, and its
maintenance would necessitate the building of special structures; ground
crews would have to work on machines inside a five-storey
building.
In terms of design,
the B-36 was a real engineering breakthrough, as for the first time the
latest lightweight magnesium alloys were used in large quantities, as well
as glued components, and for the construction of individual units Convair
had to use the largest equipment in aircraft history. Another special
feature of the aircraft was the six pusher engines: that is, the propeller
screws were located not in front of the wing as usual, but behind it to
improve flight performance when using a thick laminar profile wing.
The fuselage had a
circular cross-section with a diameter of 3.8 m, and inside it was even a
special tunnel to allow crew members to move between the nose and the rear.
The bomb bay was divided into four separate parts, which made it possible
to deploy a variety of weapons. The aircraft was fitted with the latest
high-power turbocharged engines, which developed a thrust of 3,000
horsepower each. As no escort fighter existed able to accompany a bomber
with such a huge range, maximum attention was paid to protective weapons,
which were to consist of 20 mm caliber remote-controlled guns.
Given the long
flight time, the giant’s crew had to number as many as 15 people, six of
whom were backups and were in the special rest room during flight. All this
demonstrated that, although in construction terms it generally followed its
predecessors, the B-36 was of a completely new generation of aircraft with
much greater capabilities than ever before.
Testing of the
prototype and pre-production airframes lasted until early 1948, and in the
summer of the same year the first production B-36A was transferred to Eglin
Air Force Base. A total of 22 of the B-36A version were built and they were
intended primarily for converting crews onto the new type. Already during
tests it was clear that the aircraft fully justified the estimated values,
achieving a range of 10,000 km.
The next variant of
the aircraft was the B-36B, which was actually the first model equipped for
frontline operations in this large family of giants. A total of 73 of this
type were built and they had a complete set of defensive weapons with 16 20
mm guns. The maximum combat payload of 39 tonnes allowed the aircraft to
carry the entire range of ordnance, including the latest nuclear bombs.
In March 1949,
during a training flight, a B-36B spent 44 hours in the air, dropping a
5-tonne bomb load 25 hours after takeoff. The Air Force now had every right
to believe that they possessed a fundamentally new type of strategic weapon
in this very long range aircraft. For its extraordinary qualities, the B-36
received the unofficial nickname «Uncle Sam’s Big» as a hint that from now
on America was capable of inflicting a devastating blow on a potential adversary
anywhere in the world.
As of the end of
1950, the U.S. Air Force had two units equipped with B-36Bs - the 7th and
11th Heavy Bomb Groups, based in the north and south of the country. At
this time, the first serious conflict since World War II had already begun
- the Korean War. The B-36Bs were constantly on the alert, but it was
another type, the B-50, which was committed to the conflict, and the
strategic giants would be used only in case of any escalation and the
possible official entry into the war by both the United States and the
Soviet Union.
Their role, as
before, was to constantly patrol the territory in the neutral zone along
the northern borders of the USSR. Subsequently, the B-36Bs were converted
to the new B-36D standard, and their service in a new capacity lasted for
the next 10 years until the appearance of a new generation bomber, the
famous B-52.
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