Convair B-36 Peacemaker Biggest Bomber 1946 Universal Newsreel

Courtesy: Universal Newsreels

(1) "Fort Worth TX: Newest bombing plane stands five stories high, has a range of 10,000 miles with 30 tons of bombs. it is test flown with results 'beyond expectations.'" scenes of the first flight on August 8 of the Convair B-36 'Peacemaker,' the largest Air Force bomber. (2) Brazil Honors Ike - "Rio De Janeiro: Climaxing a triumphal visit to Brazil, General Eisenhower visits Brazil's military academy and reviews its crack corps of cadets." (partial newsreel)

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• 1946
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[idak12]

Great name for a plane, we're gonna bomb the fuck out of ya with peacemaker.

[raynus1]

@chh5555: That's very cool. The Hustler was a remarkable acheivement for 1956 , and it's landing gear was every bit as intricate (long & strong to accomodate the mission pod that was slung underneath the fuselage). I've given away/tossed most of my models, but kept a 1/48 Hustler for display in my office. Cheers.

[chh5555]

Great info you guys! Really a pleasure to find a thread with knowledgeable people who aren't calling each other names!

My uncle was an engineer who worked on the landing gear of the Hustler. He lived in Ft Worth Tx and we in Minneapolis so we didn't meet him very often. He sent me a model kit of it for Christmas in the early 60s.

[raynus1]

@chh5555: They were retractractable. Footage is probably from the initial 1946 test flight, where the undercarriage was left extended for the 37-minute flight. There are various photos of the XB-36 with the gear up. Delays with brake development held up the four-wheel/56" tire assemblies for the production B-36's until the following year.

[raynus1]

@pilot1962: With the 110" single-wheel main gear, the XB-36 and YB-36's were relegated to runways with 22.5" thick reinforced concrete. Those were at Fort Worth (Texas), Eglin AFB (Florida), and Fairfield-Suisan (later Travis AFB) California. Once the four-wheel/56" tire truck-style undercarriage became available, B-36's could land on a 13.5" thick runway, available at 22 primary and 22 secondary airfields.

[pilot1962]

This aircraft was so heavy that it could only land in two airfields, one was in Texas and the other somewhere in Europe. Reason being that if landed anywhere else it would crack the runway. Also a maintenance nightmare, according to mechanics that worked on this plane it was not uncommon to completly overhaul engines after each flight. Another fact about this plane was, that the engines would stop inflight. This was the aircraft that was chosen over Northrop's flying wing,

[imissbritishleyland]

Yeah, the tires were monsters. Too big for most airfields they were abandoned for more smaller ones. Convair considered using caterpillar tracks at one point! There is a picture of them on the B-36 entry on Wikipedia.

Great vid.

[chh5555]

Non-retractable landing gear! And those huge tires must have caused massive drag????

[king7wood]

The tires look comically bigl! Good video.