Castle Air Museum: RB-36, Part III -- The Build

Rather than joining the guys at their table one afternoon for lunch, I sat down with a nice woman I hadn't met before. As we were getting acquainted, another gentleman returned four VHS tapes to her. I asked if they were anything interesting. She said her husband, who turned out to be my boss, had disassembled and reassembled a B-36 bomber and the tapes were documentation of the process. I told her that her husband would probably vouch for me and I could possibly do something useful with them. So here I am working on a potential fund-raiser DVD nearly twenty years after the fact.

Bill & Lucille Hiller did a wonderful job! Many thanks to them as well as all who contributed to the job.

Visit the Castle Air Museum yourselves, there are fifty-one aircraft on static display including the B-36, a Vulcan bomber, and a SR-71 Blackbird. The museum is located about eight miles northwest of Merced, California, along Highway 99. You can now land at the former SAC (Strategic Air Command) base if you want to fly in.

Castle Air Museum's Web Site:
http://www.CastleAirMuseum.org

Castle's B-36 Web Site:
http://www.castleairmuseum.org/convair_rb36h.html

A powered cutaway of a Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpmOb46bvCs

Aerial photo of completed RB-36 courtesy of Matt Bearup. Used with permission.
http://www.castleairmuseum.org/mattbearup.html

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Category:

Education

Tags:

• Convair
• B-36
• RB-36
• Peacemaker
• USAF
• United
• States
• Air
• Force
• SAC
• Strategic
• Command
• Castle
• Museum
• Chanute
• Illinois
• Build
• Assemble
• Assembly
• Matt
• Bearup
• LVK
• KLVK
• Planespotting

[rhblakeman]

I watched this thing come apart at Chanute, it was in bad shape sitting in the midwest weather from 57 to 91/92 whenever it was they tore it down. People at Castle sure did one hell of a job making this a nice machine again. It says this is part III - where's part I and part II ?

[paralleler]

@rhblakeman Many thanks! Part I, The Disassembly, and Part II, The Move, are both over the YouTube time limit of ten minutes (they're 26 and 12 respectively). I'd have to do some trimming somewhere along the way to get them to fit.

The plane is now another twenty years older and not in as good of shape as it used to be. I made a fund-raising DVD for the museum and was suggesting a $15-ish donation. I can mail you one if you're interested.

I got to visit the rear crew compartment.  Wow...

[wbeeck]

Thanks to all, who contributed to this magnificent job and helped to preserve such a beautiful airplane. I sure stood in front of it in 1996, breathless ... Greetings to all, who ever had to do with this great job. Wulf "Buddy" Beeck, Commander S.G., German Navy (ret.) and ex. F-104G pilot, Naval Air Wing 2, Eggebek, North Germany. See my video here about the Castle Air Museum, which I took in 1996 on a holiday tour.

[Dandy5th]

@10231949 did the same in 77

[10231949]

i used to march to class at chanute afb ,and we would go right by this same aircraft,that was back in the spring of 1969,it was in good shape then,

[hankyhoyo]

Amazing video of an amazing plane! The work done on this bomber is nothing short of phenomenal. Fantastic!

[rachiefoot]

@paralleler I bought this video about 2 months ago when I visited Castle.

[rachiefoot]

I bought this video when I was at Castle about 2 months ago... I wish there was a little more narration on it.

[volcunman2000]

holy donky balls that thing is huge

[mark0173]

I was there at Chanute for a few weekends and lent a hand pulling it apart..Took a few pics..And have a nice video of it. I remember the canopy frame was a pain to get off, as was the wing center section to split..

[rhblakeman]

@edybeast Mid 70's as a new pinger/jeep huh? Looked at your profile and you are indeed the same age as I am. You probably went to Lackland same time as me. I was in BMTS June to Aug 76. My first tech training was at Lowry though, conventional guided missile school. I went to Chanute in 82 after 2 yrs in Iceland to retrain into nuke cruise missiles till aug 83 then returned mid 85 for instructor duty and stayed till closure in mid 93.

[rhblakeman]

Also shown in the movie "Strategic Air Command" with Jimmy Steward and Harry Morgan. Great movie with a lot of filming in an actual flying B-36. Well as least in CA the paint may not look as nice but the plane will stop rotting in place like it was sitting from 57 till teardown in 91/92. Once I saw that dino/caveman emblem on the right side of the plane I knew it was the same one from Chanute. At least the 36 is doing better than the base faired since closure. Chanute is rotting in place.