The B-36 Peacemaker was a giant aircraft for its day. It was a six-to-10-engined aircraft with the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built—just massive at over 230 feet! It was a unique design for its day, or any day for that matter. The engines were attached as pushers, mounted on the back of the wing to push the aircraft forward. It had the capability of delivering all of the nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal from its four bomb bays and had a range of 10,000 miles.
Six Turning, Four Burning, But Why?
Due to the emerging requirements of the Cold War, the aircraft needed the ability to project power (ie-bombs) on target while flying massive distances from the US to both Russia and Asia. The design included wings with a 7.5ft thick wing, big enough for aircrew to crawl in the wings during the flight for servicing! The massive engines were mounted in the rear of the wing due to potential airflow disruption issues if they were mounted forward. The B-36 Peacemaker produced a unique sound that you can hear in the video below, posted by Stephen Douglas.
The aircraft weighed in at a massive 410,000 pounds. That’s twice the weight of a B-1 bomber and about the equivalent weight of a fully loaded Boeing 767-300. At these weights, six massive and powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major engines could provide adequate power with 18,000 horsepower on each engine. That’s the equivalent of 25 diesel freight engines of power. While powerful, the reciprocating engines were prone to issues like overheating and engine fires.
Even with all this power, the B-36 Peacemaker’s takeoff roll was painfully long, and performance issues were noted from the beginning. The decision was made to add 4 General Electric J47-19 engines to the giant wing. Thus, one of the few 10-engined aircraft was born. This version of the B-36 received a ‘D’ designation. The engines were utilized for departure, along with some phases of cruise flight. The aircraft could cruise at 50,000+ feet with this unique combination. The crew could intentionally shut down during flight to conserve fuel while in cruise. The updated configuration provided better takeoff performance and cruise capability. Some might call it the first ‘hybrid’ propulsion aircraft with both jet and radial engines powering the bomber.
The Peacemaker’s Glory Days Didn’t Last Long
The Peacemaker became operational in 1949, and it was soon obsolete. When the Korean War started in 1950, the U.S. first encountered the Soviet MiG-15 fighter. Jet fighters versus propeller-driven bombers was a mismatch of epic proportions. The development of more powerful jet engines made the B-36 an unnecessarily large target that was slow, expensive to operate, and challenging to maintain. With better bombers on the horizon like the B-52 BUFF, the B-36 began leaving the Air Force fleet in 1956 and was fully retired by 1959.
Where can I see a B-36 Peacemaker Today?
There are still five B-36 Peacemaker aircraft on display at museums around the country. You can see one up close at:
- National Museum of the Air Force, Dayton, Ohio (video below)
- Pima Air Museum, Tucson, Arizona
- Fort Worth Aviation Museum, Fort Worth, Texas
- Strategic Air and Space Museum, Omaha, Nebraska
- Castle Air Force Museum, Atwater, California
