The Image du Jour should have some inspiration, or follow a theme, and it should be something I really think someone would be interested in seeing or hearing.

A while back, I received some old model magazines from friend, Dave Manley. He has sent me some before and I really appreciate them...and him.

On the cover of one with a date of May 1949, was a heading of "Atomic-Powered Bombers." This intrigued me because six years after this magazine had come out, I was working on just such a project.

The article was not that fanciful for 1949.

I decided that in light of the uniqueness of the topic, I would send four images on this theme. Some of this story has never been told and there are only a few people could tell it.  So this information is coming from a good source.

To set the stage -- I start with this B-36 image.  It is not just any B-36 image but one produced by the aircraft manufacturer, General Dynamics (GD), Fort Worth, Texas. The rubber stamping on the back of the print says "Negative Not Retained In Photo. Lab. Files" and this information sort of cut short a writing project I had in mind. But this is some of it.

Attached to the back of the photo, on GD letterhead is the press release -- "A takeoff view of the B-36J, last aircraft produced of the world's largest bomber."

It was in service from 1948 until 1959, when the last B-36 was retired from the Air Force, yet it never dropped a bomb or fired a shot in anger.  This was the perfect weapon system -- one that does not have to be used.

This strange-looking and strange-sounding aircraft was a joy to be around. And in spite of its size, unusual configuration, and visibility, few people know much about it -- even modelers and people interested in full-sized aircraft know little.

The original conceptional drawings showed the familiar swept-back leading edge wings, six-pusher engines (no jets yet), and a long cylindrical fuselage, but back then it had a twin tail which it retained through the mockup stages at San Diego, CA in July 1942. There were few facilities that could have built the plane with a single (tall) vertical fin.

This company, like the industry today, went through a series of mergers and buy-outs. "Convair" was the name given when Consolidated Aircraft Corporation (B-24/B-32) and the Vultee (BT-13) aviation manufacturers merged; "General Dynamics" would come (and go) later.

The site at Ft. Worth was interesting. The main assembly line runs parallel to the long runway of Carswell Air Force Base. Carswell, on the east side, had their ramps and taxi-ways, and Convair on the west side had theirs. This gave any airplane spotter working at Convair ample opportunities to see many types of great aircraft take-off and land.

The main building at Convair "points" at Lake Worth to the north and many Catalina amphibians were manufactured there. The north end of the runway overrun leads into the lake and several non-amphibian aircraft went right on into the lake -- including a B-36. (They immediately added loud alarms should the aircraft start rolling fast while having any prop reversed.)

The landing approach from that end is entertaining, in that, the approach is over low trees, then over a cool lake with down-air, then over the end of the blazing hot concrete runway with enough updraft to launch a Piper with a 15' take-off roll.

The main assembly line at Convair was over a mile long.  A person could stand at the south door and if it wasn't for the "weather" inside, look down the main aisle to see the north door. The building did not have rain but the humidity and industrial smog were stratified and localized. This could be sensed when walking from one end of the plant to the other. (We had a lot of three-wheel, Cushman scooters because the facilities were so large.)

It was also a tall building. The B-36 vertical fin tip was nearly 47' from the floor and there was still room in the ceilings for large cranes to travel the length and breadth of the building.

However, for the B-36 to exit the building, the nose had to be elevated with a wheeled fixture, thereby dropping the tail to the concrete for the fin to just clear the top of the door opening.

The B-36 fabrication would be quite an undertaking, and yes, congress debated long and hard over whether ANY aircraft was worth THAT much money. The initial contract was for two prototypes -- engineering and construction costs were $15 million plus the company's $800,000 fixed fee.

The contract had been issued just before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and the factory immediately switched into producing B-24s and B-32s.

The first B-36 prototype came off the Convair-Ft. Worth assembly line in August, 1945. Development work had been put on-hold to complete the B-24 and B-32 construction contracts.

The prototype XB-36 finally made its first flight in August 1946, still with no jets. This early model is recognized by its streamlined canopy, which is well-forward, and by two, REALLY, BIG wheels.

With this landing gear and so much aircraft weight, there were only three runways in the US it could use, and on one, it had to keep moving until it got to its own designed, reinforced docking area. If it stopped in route, it would slowly start sinking through the ramp paving.

I won't go through the earlier specifications and modifications or the multitude of strange problems the aircraft experienced, but I will point out that its wing span of 230' was almost twice as long as the Wright brothers first flight just 43 years earlier.

The second B-36, YB-36, had the canopy modifications that would stay with following designs, but it still had the gosh-awful 110" tires -- requiring a 22" thick, reinforced runway -- and ramp.

Finally, the B-36A arrived with the ten "small" 56" tires. It made its first flight August, 1947.

The X model continued to be used as a test-bed but modification costs finally became prohibitive and it ended its career in 1957 as a derelict to train firefighters.

The principal of our story, B-36H, Ship 242, was writing (secret) history just as the X model was becoming a burned-out shell.

But earlier, by the end of 1948, the A-model was making up a SAC squadron and there were 35 A-models at Carswell AFB.

On December 7th, 1948, only seven years after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, SAC commemorated the date with little fanfare by quietly demonstrating the B-36B's capability.

One filled up its tanks in Ft. Worth and flew to Hawaii.  It flew over Pearl Harbor and Honolulu during the night and dropped a 5-ton dummy bomb in the ocean.   Then 35.5 hours after it had taken off in Ft. Worth, it landed again back in Ft. Worth. When news of this flight was released to the press, some people were not amused. Pearl Harbor radar had no idea it had come and gone and no one on the ground had heard any such aircraft that night.

It is important to remember that this was before air-to-air refueling, but this too, will play a major part in the story of our Ship 242.

It would be the D-model that would get the next obvious visible change -- four jets -- two in a pod on each wing tip to increase range and altitude.

The first flight was March, 1949, and all subsequent B-36's would have the B-47's main jet pods on their wing tips.

Thus begun one of the more interesting expressions in aviation.

When we knew a mission for Ship 242 was due, we might ask, "Did Ship 242 get away?"

And someone would answer, "Yep. She left with six a'turnin' and four a'burnin'!"

A lot of the A-models were converted to RB-36 models by stripping all possible weight and adding reconnaissance equipment.

These "lighter" models were hard to recognize but when they accelerated (and surprisingly an airplane this large actually did -- noticeably) and lifted off, there was no doubt it was the lightened model. It stuck the nose up at near-45 degrees and held it there until it was out of sight -- including all the black exhaust from the engines. The pitch on the modified props was so great and transmission rpm was so low, an observer could start blinking his eyes and "stop" the prop blades.

In April of 1949, these mods were being incorporated on the assembly line to produce the B-36D and the RB-36 models.

By this time, the aircraft had performance figures to equal its impressive size. It had chaff dispenser, computer/radar directed gun turrets, top speed was up over 420 mph, with to a service altitude of 47,000', and a 36-ton bomb load.

The only guns seen on the aircraft are a couple in the nose and a couple in the tail, but if attacked by fighters, doors would slide open and turrets would raise. All turrets were controlled by radar with redundant computers. All turrets were aimed at all targets as they became available. Each of the eight gun emplacements had dual 20mm cannons with a lethal range of 3/4-mile -- and they carried a lot of ammunition.

When today's subject image aircraft took off, it was the last of 383 B-36s delivered; average cost; $3.77 million each.

In 1955, B-52s started replacing the B-36, and the last B-36 built was the last decommissioned; February 12, 1959.

All the B-36 variants were modified to improve the overall performance and there were many major modifications to use the airframe -- such as:

- XC-99, a double-deck transport similar to the C-97.   (The C-97 was a double-deck B-50.)

- YB-60, a B-36 fuselage with swept tail and wings carrying eight jets in a similar configuration as the B-52 (which was replacing the B-36). The YB-60 had 72% parts-commonality with the B-36.

- FICON project (FIighter-CONveyor) which carried, launched, and retrieved an F-84 fighter and/or reconnaissance aircraft while airborne.

- Tom-Tom, another conveyor except this time two F-84s would be flown along side and plug their wing tips into the B-36 tips. In the case of the FICON, the F-84 pilot could open his canopy (if not too high) and "relax," but the Tom-Tom pilots were just trapped in his little plane for a 10-hour flight.

Ken Cashion