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<\/h2>\n<\/h2>\nConvair’s huge B-36 started out as a design for a very heavy bomber that could reach Nazi-occupied Europe from the CONUS and return without refueling, or conduct very long-range missions over the Pacific without the need for forward bases. A mockup was built some months before Pearl Harbor, but it would be well into the postwar era before operational Peacemakers would arrive, and by that time the B-36 would serve as a deterrent against a new adversary.<\/p>\n
Highlights:<\/strong><\/p>\n * 1942 artist’s conception & mockup with twin tails * B-36A\/B 15 shots, including good close-ups of the nose, tail, and dorsal turrets<\/p>\n * B-36C (never-built tractor-prop variant) model & mockup of wing ——————————————- <\/p>\n Modern Military Aircraft Anatomy<\/strong><\/em> edited by Paul E. Eden and Soph Moeing page 68-69 Cutaway diagram of a B-36J + Photos of a B-36A and the underside of a Peacemaker’s tail turret. Magazine Articles and Photos:<\/strong>
\n* 5 XB-36 shots, including damage to main gear<\/p>\n
\n* B-36D, RB-36D & RB-36E 20 images; scrap diagrams of jet pod, early and later bomb bay door configurations, B-36B & B-36D canopy development, RB-36 radomes
\n* B-36D 3-view, 4 interior shots of RB-36D crew positions
\n* B-36F, B-36H, RB-36H, B-36J 7 images; scrap drawings include tail radomes, B-36H nose, B-36J (III) Featherweight conversion
\n* B-36 wings, 1955 17 images, including RB-36H crash at Denver and hulks at Davis-Monthan
\n* XC-99 4 images
\n* YB-60 – originally the YB-36G, the swept-wing jet-powered outgrowth of the Peacemaker created as a competitor to Boeing’s B-52.
\n* 4 images (including the never-flown second aircraft)
\n* FICON & Tom-Tom GRB-36F with F-84E and B-29 chase plane with black undersides; 3 shots of an YRF-84F hookup B-36 Tom-Tom with single F-84, ground shot of GRB-36D\/RF-84K mating
\n* NB-36H “Convair Crusader” nuclear reactor testbed aircraft
\n* Serial number list
\n* 6 color profiles: B-36B 7th BG(H) Carswell AFB, B-36D 326th BS(H) Loring AFB, B-36D 42nd BW (H), RB-36E 72nd BS (H) “Circle-X” tail
\n* B-36H 7th BW (H) Carswell AFB, NB-36H<\/p>\n
\nDisclaimer: book purchased by myself<\/p>\nB-36 bibliography & suggested reading:<\/h2>\n
\nChris Bishop The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Air Warfare<\/strong><\/em> p.263: artwork depicting a B-36 dropping a Mk 17 H-bomb; p.275: color 3-view illustration of a GRB-36 with an RF-84K.
\nDonald Nijboe, Dan Patterson Cold War Cockpits<\/strong> <\/em>p.67: photo showing the forward fuselage of a B-36 from the 4925th Test Group (Atomic)
\nBarry C. Wheeler Military Aircraft Markings<\/strong><\/em> p.92: color profiles, including a 7th BG B-36A, a B-model Peacemaker with high-vis tail and wingtips, RB-36E 492023, and B-36H 01092
\nGerry Manning 1000 Preserved Aircraft in Colour<\/strong><\/em> p.94: photo of RB-36H 51-13730 on display at Castle AFB<\/p>\n
\nCurtiss Propellers ad, with artwork depicting a B-36 from above Aviation News December 16, 1946 p.15
\nAd for Goodyear Aviation Products, showing a prototype B-36 in flight, and a close-up of the XB-36’s single wheel main landing gear. Aviation March 1947 p.4
\nAd for the Timken Roller Bearing Company of Canton, Ohio, with an in-flight photo from above, showing Peacemaker 213570 Aviation March 1947 p.102
\nPhotos: “B-36A In Production” Aviation Week October 13, 1947 p.36
\n“Air Force Building B-36 Fields” Aviation Week April 5, 1948 p.15 Includes an in-flight B-36A photo.
\nPhoto: “GE Jets for B-36D” Aviation Week November 21, 1949 p.14
\nPhoto: frontal view of a B-36 fitted with engine transport pods Aviation Week April 24, 1950 p.16
\n“Take a look at the Convair B-36…and see what makes it so potent” Ad for General Electric, featuring a large photo of a B-36D Aviation Week April 23, 1951 back cover
\nPhoto taken from above a B-36 under maintenance, with engine cowlings removed. Aviation Week August 16, 1954 front cover
\nPhoto: GRB-36 jacked up to facilitate loading an RF-84K Flight 22 July 1955 p.112
\nPhoto: “Convair XB-36H and B-50 Escort Plane” Aviation Week August 6, 1956 p.149
\nPhoto: “USAF’s Flying Nuclear Reactor” Aviation Week August 13, 1956 p.31
\nPhotos (3): B-36s being broken up at Davis-Monthan Warbirds International Jan\/Feb 2009 p.20-21<\/p>\n