Discovery Wings Great Planes - Convair B 36 Peacemaker

[@alzimm6884]

1952-1955 I was stationed at Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico. I was on an engine change and engine component crew. We worked many long and hard hours on this bird but never regretted one moment of it. I did get to fly on one mission which was a superb experience. I continued my service career for a total of 31 years. I would do it all over again for this great country. GOD BLESS AMERICA !! from a 90 year old vet.

[@robert506007]

A life well lived Sir.

[@claytonbouldin9381]

And God bless you, sir! Thank you for all you did!

[@FitzArias]

Would've loved to have been around then to see the B36 in P.R. thank you for serving.

[@NickysVibe]

Thank you for your service.

[@CVA33]

As a 10 year old boy I could stand in my back yard and watch this and even saw a flying Wing go over. I lived in Omaha, Nebraska way back then. It was awesome to see.

[@tapgarify]

Thank you for creating this documentary. My father was Maj William J. Apgar. I was 4 at the time. I'm now 77 and going strong. It is curious to me how such an event can change your life and you can't really comprehend it at the time for being so young. I remember the tornado spoken of below, that struck Carswell AFB in 1952 that destroyed so many B-36's. My family, consisting of my mother, brother and sister had been swimming at Lake Worth. The road leading to the public beach ran along beside the hangars and tarmac. I remember seeing those big hangars an the way to the lake. We hunkered down in our car when the tornado hit. Afterward we drove back along those hangars and the saw of the noses of two B-36's that had been rammed through the hangar walls. That left an indelible impression in my mind, that and talk of one B-36 that had done a cartwheel down the runway. Because of this documentary I learned that my father had been a Cold Warrior. I proudly wear his SAC pin on my favorite hat. The B-36 was strategically conceived in 1039 to carry conventional weapons anywhere in the world. As flawed as it was, too big, too heavy and too many moving parts, the B-36 served as a nuclear deterrent in the early years after WWII. Don't think for a minute that Stalin didn't notice how vulnerable all of Europe was after the war. Europe was in ruins and he was sitting on a million man army with massive amounts of armaments we had given him to fight the Nazis in FDR's Lend-Lease program. As flawed as it was the B-36 served well enough until we could do better. And the B-52 is still in service.

[@JohnnySmithWhite-wd4ey]

This was originally part of an Australian production called Great Planes. Shown on American TV by Discovery it birthed the Wings show. Later it was it's own channel called Discovery Wings. Later renamed The Military channel. Later yet it was merged into something else that grew increasingly stupid. Now we have nothing but Ancient Aliens and other mind numbing "reality" crap.

[@robertblair4975]

I worked on the B36 and had the pleasure of flying on one from Walker AFB in Roswell, NM.

[@willconnor5858]

Been watching Strategic Air Command over and over. Can't get enough of the B-36.

[@irish89055]

+Will Connor love the movie and often watch the start and take off scene where he's getting a familiarization flight..... volume at full..

[@milano61]

With ten engines this was a flight engineer's nightmare! The piston engines were pushed to the max design-wise, and the early jets were troublesome also. One of the quips about the B-36 went like this: "Two turning, two burning, two smoking, two choking, and two more unaccounted for."

[@NickysVibe]

🤣

[@jimhunt4122]

This airplane, The RB-36 was a tremendous tool. I only have about 1000 hours as a gunner/mechanic/electrician. A/1c. Stationed at Travis AFB. The longest flight I was ever on was just 32hrs 25 minutes . Our AC never left his seat (except) to urinate. That was Major Brown. WE were a combat ready crew. This airplane never fired a shot in anger as it could get to its assigned war target any where in the world with out refueling. 8th AF, . 23rd Strat Recon under the command of General LeMay.

[@kinneticsand5787]

Thank you for your service! And it's so cool to see that some Peacemaker crews are still alive and strong :)

[@kinneticsand5787]

Also I have a question - did the RB-36 feature cameras in the bomb bay?

[@livelyupmyself1]

Sounds like a waste of taxes to me, haha. Thanks for your service, though!

[@henrysmith7276]

Any chance you have some stories to tell?

[@randall1959]

@@livelyupmyself1 The best weapons are the ones that scare the enemy so badly that you never have to use them.

[@skyking6989]

You know back when discovery channel actually had awesome shows worth watching

[@roswellarmyairfield9472]

And you could learn something other than "reality"......

[@craigpennington1251]

I remember these flying over our farm. What a sight and the sounds it made. Very exciting to see those huge bombers.

[@TheHunPilot]

I set a link to this video to a dear friend -- a WWII veteran who flew in the China-Burma-India theater. He enjoyed it, but passed from this life, yesterday, June 11, 2014, at 94 years of age. This could have been the last collection of WWII films he was able to see. RIP Captain James S. Rickard

[@sonoranrain2330]

God Bless him and may he rest in peace. Thanks to him and all of the other vets that made so many sacrifices for us.

[@thomaslauffenberger5795]

Salute to the gentleman--and thanks for service.

[@jefferydavis4108]

Strategic Air Command staring the B-36 and Jimmy Stewart what a movie my favorite off all time!! Jimmy Stewart was just being himself a great Pilot and great Air Force officer!!!!! Give it up to the B-47 for it's Cameo role, another great airplane!!!! The Peacemaker is truly the Star of the movie

[@MrSteve280]

I've seen several documentaries on the B36 but this was the most broad and interesting. The only thing that was missing was the tornado of Sept 1952 which damaged almost 70% of the entire B36 fleet. My grandfather and father both worked at Convair/General Dynamics next to Carswell on the B36 and later B58. They lived less than 1/2 miles from the end of the runway in White Settlement and I can remember the wonderful noise of the takeoffs in my childhood.

[@MrNonaste]

These historical films are terrific. Thank you.

[@Burnsengine]

I grew up in Fort Worth... and I have to say ... you've NEVER heard ANYTHING like a B36 flying overhead. It has a very unique sound. It almost sounds like "several" planes flying over. A beautiful sound!

[@jimstepan3038]

24,000 horsepower from reciprocating piston, radial engines!!! Hargh!, Hargh!, Hargh!

[@reddog1230555]

I'll second that! We lived under the final approach at Carswell. Although I was very young at the time I remember seeing them on their downwind leg, then eventually reappear coming overhead. It was amazing and beautiful. To this day my favorite plane!

[@walterkersting1362]

They have an eight hour video of b17 engines to fall asleep to...

[@capnpete1154]

@@reddog1230555 Me too I grew up in the Ridglea area, right in the glide path. I remember all the B-52's. Our windows rattled many times with sonic booms, too and had many a TV program drowned out by take-off's and landings! That was way back when it was a SAC base. It was Convair back then. Eventually went to General Dynamics, then to Lockheed.

[@reddog1230555]

@@capnpete1154 I had to look up Ridglea, and yep, I was about a block to the west. We were not there for too long, my dad worked at the base as an engineer after a stint as a pilot in the USAAF. I was only in elementary school (late 1950's), guess those huge planes sort of imprinted in my brain. I really miss the sound of those deep throaty prop engines (nothing like you hear today) and of course remember playing with horny toad lizards. I imagine being that close to the B-52's was pretty awesome too. Had almost the exact same experience later in Marietta, GA where we lived in an apartment complex and had Galaxy C5s landing overhead, they had a peculiar high pitched whine. Best!

[@jays8747]

As an 8 year old, I was taken on a field trip to an air force airshow. I got to stand next to a B-36. I leave it to your imagination as to the impression this monster had on an 8 year old kid. Now, many decades later, I'll never forget it. There is one on display at the USAF museum in Dayton, OH, if you want to to show it to your 8 year old, no matter how old he really is.

[@HunterTeddy010]

I was there last summer, its an awe inspiring sight. The wheel is twice as tall as I am.

[@GoldPicard]

A year ago I was at Ellsworth AFB and when I was standing under the BONES they have on display at the museum I was really put into perspective, and even more so when I thought of the size of the H-60's I worked on.

[@garyhudelson5680]

@FooBar Maximus It may not have been used in combat BUT that is because it was the deterrent to prevent war. We never had a war with Russia. Guess it worked!!!

[@jimstepan3038]

@@garyhudelson5680 , it fullfilled it's name; PEACEKEEPER, huh?!!

[@patrickmccormick9043]

The second A-Bomb was delivered by "Bocks Car". Last I knew, this plane was on display at Wright-Patterson AFB, USAF museum in Ohio. The B-36 has special meaning to me because my father was a flight engineer on a "D" model and later worked for the company that made all the engines both the R-4360(CID)and J-57s, Pratt and Whitney Aircraft for 35 years as a test engine assembler, and later foreman.

[@brantmarco5640]

Who remembers the 1955 movie Strategic Air Command with Jimmy Stewart ? Not a bad movie acting wise ,all the actors were very good but watch it for the real star the B-36! There is great film footage from that time ( not computer generated stuff) of the peacemaker flying. There is even real B47's in the movie. It was the 1950s and America was great! We made it all and we had it all!

[@jimlimper5405]

b36

[@mjw1955]

SAC (the movie) was actually Jimmy Stewart's idea. The Air Force, still a relatively new service, was all to happy to lend their assistance. Most of the interior shots of the B-36 were made with small sets constructed from dozens of photos taken of the real thing. Thousands of reservists (like Jimmy's character) being called up and that crash in Greenland are based on true events.

[@douglasshreve9851]

brant marco yes, it was a great movie. There was just one problem and that was the audio track, when the B 36 was taking off from, (I believe it was Travis or possibly Edwards) the audio is not a B-36. I cannot identify which aircraft it actually is but it’s not a B-36. The audio you hear is actually a loop being played over and over. If you ever stood on the runway at the end near the threshold and a 36 Flies directly over you, you will never forget that sound!

[@russg1801]

It's a rather long movie and one scene pictures a cigar-chomping hard-ass general who's obviously a character based on Curtis Lemay. June Allyson plays Jimmy's dutiful wife who resents his recall to military service but eventually goes along with his plans to stay in the AF, but not without a bit of manly insistence that would NOT be PC today!

[@russg1801]

@@mjw1955 They never mentioned in the movie that these B-36's were carrying live nukes! We actually lost a nuke off Spain from a B-47 or B-52 crash - that was an international incident - I believe a Spanish fisherman actually located the thing IIRC. Millions of dollars in recovery efforts and radiation leakage we had to compensate Spain for.

[@RCAvhstape]

Wings is one of the things I miss about the 90s.

[@ronparsons3496]

I miss when the history channel had good programming like this...they just try to do too much for ratings...and miss what their original target was...

[@harrybaulz666]

That's why I cut the cable

[@timkilraine9530]

My Uncle, LT Joe Elonis, flew these out of Carswell AFB in Ft. Worth and was a trainer. The plane has always held a special place in my heart for that reason. Pictures all around our house while I was growing up.

[@kenthall2290]

The USAF had many great experimental bombers such as the B-36 & XB-70... They are truly magnificent planes thanks for uploading. :)

[@arnoldjohnson5594]

In 1953 i was assigned to the 95th bomb wing, 334th sq at Biggs AFB in El Paso tx.was an electrical gunner. We made several trips to the Azores and a tdy to Andersen on Guam.. lots of fun for a 21 year old farm kid from Michigan. Saw a lot of this world from 25 or 30K. When my 4 yrs were up in early 56 my crew was in training for the newer aircrafts. Arnold R Johnson

[@zooeyhall]

I just got back from a visit to the SAC museum in Omaha NE, where they have one of these on display. Pictures and movies do not do it justice. It is---quite literally---the most awesomely huge humongous thing I have ever seen. Simply enormous! I walked around it and kept wondering how such a titanic machine could ever have gotten of the ground.

[@bertcanepa5651]

While in Navy boot camp in San Diego CA (1950) the "36 would fly out of North Island Naval Base. When at altitude and almost unseen except for it's contrail, it's distinctive deep roar of the engines identified it as a B-36. It made the hair on your body stand up!

[@FrostWhiskerCat]

the b-36, on account of its sheer massiveness, is one of my favorite planes. my grandpa says that he used to hear these things rattling Windows on his farm.

[@3109Pointer]

They experimented with mid-air refueling with various versions of this plane. At the time, no one used aerial refueling. By using fuel bladders in two of the four bomb bays, they could extend the range quite a bit. His stories growing up were of missions up to 72 hours in air. They built beds for crew into the aircraft. I asked him about the 4 vs 2 bomb bays, he said the panels cover two bays each. Designed to carry two 42000 lb bombs that he admitted he didn't know if they ever got built.

[@Me2Lancer]

In the late 1940s my family lived in Grand Prairie, TX midway between Carswell AFB and Dallas. On Armed Forced Day an airshow was underway near Hensley Field in Grand Prairie. Midway through the event a B-36 Peacemaker passed right over our house as it approached Hensley Field. It was flying low, most likely around 500 feet. The roar of its engines terrified my younger sister, but it was thrilling to watch. One of my uncles worked at Convair in Fort Worth building the B-36.

[@marryellen7713]

I was just a teen in the mid 50s. I was at a scout camp in Mid Michigan. One day the ground began to shake. A tremendous roar. All of a sudden a very big shadow came over. I ran down to the lake. A B-36 came over. it appeared to be only a hundred feet over the trees. Soon after it passed over head. A second one flew over. About 10 minutes later. Two more (unknown if the same ones) flew over. I never seen anything so big and flying. The lake we were by had several scout camps around it. I looked around. The entire lake had people stand on the shore line.

[@henrysmith7276]

How did they look? Did the sun glance off of them?

[@marryellen7713]

Yes the sun lit up the whole bottom. The aircraft was so shiny in its flat gray.

[@automotiveeditor9014]

A beauty built back when the USAF could apply its full might to doing one mission type better than anyone else, unlike our modern "multi-mission"--and multi-billion--hangar queen boondoggles (F-22 and -35 I'm looking at you). I've been in, on and all around a B-36 (which feels like it takes weeks... they are HUGE!), and the sheer fact it actually could fly--and fight--the way it did is a miracle, especially given the "tech" (ha!) hey had to work with. A Peacemaker is truly a MUST SEE PLANE!

[@clarkrichardson8379]

BlogDOT AutoShopperDOTcom to big bulky overdone, the 47 was sleek and well thought out. Personally I liked the B58 mission capable survivable and looked like it could kick someone's ass!

[@AckzaTV]

Someone could run a great KZbin Live stream of just all these old discovery wings and other military documentaries!

[@johnbockelie3899]

B-36.sounds like lawn mowers in tandem.

[@johnbockelie3899]

I read.where the xc99 broke.a.wing spar.

[@eddgong]

Ive been an military aviation nut since I was 4-5 years old. I was ridin my G'pa's big old plow horse , Ole Dan , lol .around our old place in St Maurice , L:a,exactly where the Red River and Saline Bayou join , About 65-70 miles south of Barksdale, AFB . Im 5 years old when I heard rackett Id never heard before in the sky ,I looked up and saw giant airplanes circling and joining up with other flights of airplanes while all these little delta wing jets ( F106's , 102's and Im sure some 101's and F100'swere in that swarm ) They were low enogh to see details .as they zoomed in and around the formations , It may have been 15-20 big bombers but to me my 5 year old eyes the sky was full of them .I dont recall seeing any B36's but saw plenty of big jets with swept back wings .Today B52's and probably B47's hell I was 5 ...I had a good view point too cause ole Daan was a real big tall horse , bareback and a 55 gallon drum to get on his back .. It was later when I started high school did I put it all together as to what I had seen that day .I had witnessed just how close we came to nuclear war , It was that final day of the Cuban Missile Crisis , Louisiana is just 6-700 miles from Cuba, Barksdale AFB ,a giant SAC base still active was only 70 miles to my north , England AFB, a TAC base down in Alexandria , La,. was 45 miles to my south , and just for mention, Ft. Polk ,, La. A huge Army base 45 miles to my west .In had a ring side seat to what was to be the End of the World as we know it , The Cuban Missile crisis and it had finally come to a head Kruschev and Kennedy were about to to the deed . To me it was just a fall day riding ole Dan ,but today I almost get the chills thinking about what it really was I had witnessed

[@brucebutler5946]

Fairchild AFB west of Spokane WA was a SAC base that hosted the B36 until about 1957 when the B52 replaced them. They had a very distinctive sound that was unlike anything else. I remember the china in the china cabinet rattling when a B36 flew over at about 35,000 feet. I loved the sound of the B36 flying at it's cruising altitude.

[@PoppaBlue59]

I grew up near Carswell AFB. The last '36 was taken out of service when I was still 'in the oven' so to speak. My Dad worked at Convair from '56-'73, and I got to see a great number of aircraft take off and land when Mom and I went to pick him up at work. In those days, as I'm sure you remember, the sonic-boom was almost a weekly occurence. Those rattled the dishes too! Cheers and best wishes from Texas.

[@douglasshreve9851]

Bruce Butler by reading this comment I could possibly be seen as a jerk but I just want to set something straight, if your B-36 was flying at 35,000 feet, (angels 35), you were Chyna in the cabinet would not have been shaking. However, you are correct that that aircraft had a very distinct sound, there was nothing else in the inventory that boasted both propeller and a jet engine technologies on the same airframe. And to the gentleman commented right before me, this aircraft was sub sonic, it would not have produce a sonic boom going overhead. Even with the addition or replacement of the original engines with turbo prop engines, (the original radial engines had propellers with rounded edges and the turbo prop propellers had squared off ends), about the best they could do was between 350 and 400 kn with a full bomb load. You would almost have to fly twice that speed To break the sound barrier, at 671 kn.

[@tom7601]

Douglas Shreve: he never attributed sonic booms to the B-36. I remember no sound the a sudden deep BOOM, then you heard the jet engine screaming.

[@walterkersting1362]

Douglas Shreve Thanks, captain know it all...

[@alcuinsimon520]

By the way, Joe - later in my USN career we also intercepted P2 and P3 aircraft (yes, got the photos) and Russian May aircraft flying from their bases in Afghanistan to Socotra Island (Aden). On one occasion we also intercepted a P2 flown by the Iranian Air Force (after the shah, during the Iranian Hostage crisis). This last was the most nerve wracking of my career. Literrally our fingers were on the trigger at THAT time. Yes, got pics of all this. It was SOP to take pics.

[@pudgypupcat6707]

I'll never forget the impact of seeing a model airplane version of this monster at the store when I was a kid. The box lid art was total fantasy, but those rear-facing props and GEs in pods just grabbed me. I never even knew the plane existed before then, though I grew up in East Dallas and may have seen them fly over at altitude, but I bought that model and built it pronto. Imagine my amazement when, a couple of years later in what was probably 1968 or 69, we drove past one parked by a highway on-ramp just outside Ft. Worth. I assume it was at the Convair plant waiting to be scrapped, (or at Carswell being used as an enlisted men's club-ha ha) as it was way out on the far edge of the property all alone. BTW: Has anyone read the book by Richard Kirkland called "War Pilot"? He was one of the first SAR helicopter pilots in the Air Force, and was involved in the search for a missing B-36 in British Columbia back around 1950. Amazing book!

[@paulshepherd8295]

Of the four remaining, I've been lucky enough to see two of them (at Castle and Pima), and they are amazing machines. I only wish I could have seen (and heard) one fly.

[@donpeterson997]

There is one at the Pima Air Museum. Awesome!

[@3109Pointer]

My Dad was a mechanic and frequently flight engineer for these. Many of his stories you wouldn't believe and some outright contradict the official stats for the planes. They flew a lot farther and higher than reported.

[@anels9]

Love the b-36 yet I’m surprised it didn’t go faster with that slightly swept wing. Imagine if it had turboprops in place of the pistons, that would’ve truly raised it up another level

[@branon6565]

The pilot in the first "parasite bomber" keeping his wits about him after having been dropped from the first docking attempt with the giant aircraft, and thus crash landing the parasite bomber, has big, huge brass balls...that pilot was a savage.....

[@thefsflensman1896]

I had the great good fortune to see the very last B36 ever produced in 1973, parked at the end of a runway in Fort Worth as my band bus drove past it....

[@DrDaveShows]

Would love to see one of these babies still flying. It must have been an impressive sight. I enjoy watching "Strategic Air Command" just to watch the excellent film of these in flight. Watching one of these things putting on the brakes and watching the whole plane bounce is impressive too.

[@knucklehead7456]

There was a Crew that did a restoration on the one that sat out front of the Bomber Plant in FtWorth. From what I understand, they wouldn't allow them to restore it to airworthiness cuz the DOD said it was too modern of a Bombing Platorm to be operated by Civilians 🤔 They moved it out to Arizona or NewMexico last I heard

[@DrDaveShows]

@@knucklehead7456 I guess I agree, it would be an incredible sight to see it still flying.

[@minralb]

I remember seeing B-36s fly over our home in FL where we lived during the late '40s & early '50s. They were flying out of McDill AFB in Tampa, and the engine sound was so distinctive that I could run outside to see them fly over whenever I heard that sound. We were about 50 miles from McDill and by then the planes were high enough that they were sometimes hard to see if there was even a light overcast, but I could always identify that peculiar 6-engine drone even of I couldn't see the planes.

[@likepatsandGTOs]

This plane still just blows me away. I wasn't old enough to remember it but people I know who lived near a SAC base then said it was stupefying to see & hear

[@JohnnySmithWhite-wd4ey]

Thankl you for posting this.

[@wa5iyx]

One of these did two low-level flybys over the runway at an Oakland, CA airshow in Sept 1956 (which featured the Blue Angels AND the Thunderbirds). After circling SF Bay the second pass was made just using the four outboard jet engines. That was my only close-up view of one in flight - many were seen (and heard) at cruising altitudes with their contrails.

[@MiltonFindley]

I lived at Carswell during much of my childhood, and the blinds, windows, and cabinets would vibrate to the point that things would fall off onto the floor when one of them flew over.

[@knucklehead7456]

I used to Work in the Bomber Plant in FtWorth. It's an AMAZING Facility. They were General Dynamics building the F16 when I was there. There was a complete B36 in the Boneyard just outside the South Gate.

[@romansroad2007]

What a great thing the people who put that plane together and flying it, amazing stuff....

[@citankrat]

Great video. You gotta love the clips from Jimmy Steward's "Strategic Air Command"

[@bberry46]

I was a US Navy SP-2H navigator. That bird had two R-3350 radials and two turbojets (forget the model). Well anyways, AVGAS was burned in the jets and I reckon that was the same with the B-36. Not the most fuel efficient way to do it, but it worked.

[@benavraham4397]

👍 Thank for that outstanding and informative presentation!🛫

[@oceanmariner]

I grew up near a SAC base and would often see 3 of these planes in formation prior to landing. The 6 engines had their own unique roar. They were so big they seemed going too slow to fly.

[@radioguy1620]

Nobody likes nukes but without them many think Stalin would have kept on rolling through Europe, and this was the only plane then that could do it .So did its job well.

[@patrickbrennan1317]

radioguy1620 most likely Stalin despised the West and would have taken advantage of it had the plane not existed

[@Factrac46]

B-36 top speed 418 mph; cruise 230. B-36 service ceiling, 43,600' ( it would take a miracle for a B-36 to get to 55,000' ) .

[@TheDeJureTour]

Whatever happened to those WIngs programs from the 1980's that had that fantastic narrator and that great 80's music? That's what I grew up watching as a kid. I can't really find any of them on here. The best one was about the RATO/JATO STOL/VTOL aircraft.

[@eddgong]

i think I have every episode plus wings of the Red Star too, on vhs , a big milk crate full of nothing but Wings , Those episodes would keep me out of trouble , Id play music in the casinos sometimes till daylight and tape them so Id have something to watch when I got home

[@3109Pointer]

According to the description of one who was there, the speed, range, ceiling, and bomb loads were all severely understated.

[@TheC1kabar]

Fascinating to watch, especially since my family grew up near Carswell AFB in Fort Worth, with some relatives having worked at Consolidated, Convair and throughput General Dynamics.

[@WizardOfChicamunga]

Error AT 21:52 . I'm sure he meant "Consolidated's giant". Not Boeing's.

[@johnbockelie3899]

What a cool ass plane. I once worked with an old janitor in the 1970's who flew in a B-17 in WW2 , and flew in a B-36 in the 1950' s.

[@badgerdog4809]

I have actually seen a B-36. A real monster of an airplane!

[@913WildCat]

What a great documentary

[@Radionut]

Oh yes six turning in for burning what a beautiful aircraft. I actually got to see one in Dayton Ohio when I was younger at Wright Patterson Air Force Base

[@synthfreakify]

Thanks for posting this video, I enjoyed it a lot! There's a great book about the 1950 crash of a B-36B in the Queen Charlotte islands in northern BC, Canada called "Broken Arrow: America's first lost nuclear weapon" by Norman Leach. That plane crashed because the carbs iced up and backfired, and set the wings on fire. Though pusher engines are cool, that is their major drawback- poor carb heat. The bomb tech tried to fly it back to Eielson AFB, got within 50 miles but hit a mountain.

[@Mary-lb7xo]

There is a B-36 in the SAC Museum off I-80 between Omaha and Lincoln, Neb. There's a 52 parked under the right wing. At first, you don't even notice the B-52. It looks tiny by comparison.

[@Ni999]

I don't think so.

[@richardjohnston1672]

Did a B36 ever fly low over Pittsburgh Pa for the airshow at Greater Pit Airport? 1954 to around 1959?

[@mediocreman2]

Does anyone know the original production date of this film? I didn't see a copyright date at the end.

[@davidbale8495]

Does anyone know the name of the music at the 6:30 mark in the video? Please help a soul out. Been trying to find that song for years. Thank you!

[@diamonddog257]

Brian Oldfield....'Tubular Bells'... from Canada: thx

[@asn413]

I mentioned this further up too, but I wanted to make sure you knew. I've been looking for this for ages as well. Glass Tubes by Brian Bennett

[@davidbale8495]

That is very much the song I've been looking for. Thank you so very much for posting. Decades of mystery solved. Much obliged.

[@asn413]

David Bale Now if I can find a place to obtain it online. KPM (stock music) doesn't let out much for individual listeners. It's on a rare CD called "Aim High: the televisual soundtrack", but it's going for 80 bucks or better used. I have not seen it on MP3 either. Let me know if you find it!

[@MrGibble64]

Had to have taken alot of nerve to jump into these monsters and bury the throttles and hopped for the best ! I do admire the bravery of these guys .

[@0289XYZ]

The 4360ci engines were basically 4 engines one infront of the other. Rear cylinders over heated. Front engines get their carburetors frozen.......

[@johnwalters1341]

At 25:28, that droning note was unique to the B-36. I used to hear them flying over head as a small child in Waco, TX, coming from one of the bases near San Antonio. Maybe someone else knows where in Texas they were stationed.

[@knucklehead7456]

Carswell in FtWorth

[@allanbrogdon7453]

Went on a field trip in a&p school we crawled all over the B36 in ft worth.Huge you could stand up in the wing root.

[@regmason2329]

It is interesting to note this documentary makes the same mistake as many others- the YB-60 WAS designed to carry defensive turrets like the B-36. This was made clear in the excellent book on the B-36- Magnesium Overcast.

[@rogerfreeman2061]

Great films of some awsome aircraft!

[@aseriesguy]

I read a first person account in the Journal of the Air Force Museum by a B36 crew member of an exercise about 1956 when the USAF flew a large number of B36s over the pole. They went line abreast approaching the USSR and watched the Russian air defense light up. At the point of no return they did a 180 and fired off a long burst of tracers from all the tail guns. Most of the B36s carried spare engines in the 2nd bomb bay so when they refueled in Alaska they could swap failing engines.

[@JOEM747]

Not sure if there is one but if you haven't yet and have the chance go to the SAC museum in nebraska they have one there among many other things. Great place to visit.

[@2007Colonial]

6 turning and 4 burning, an amazing plane that was THE deterrent to the Soviets and Chinese in the 50s!

[@russg1801]

Oddly, the B-36 even flew into a rather tiny airbase on the northwestern corner of Puerto Rico! It's now a civilian airport; the AF moved out in the early 70's, AFAIK. They have a museum there in one of the old Quonset Hut hangers with all manner of pic's and artifacts from its time as a USAAF then USAF base. I have a souvenir T-shirt with a B-36 screen printed on; they depend on sales and donations to keep the doors open. The town of Aguadilla wouldn't be on the map if not for that base.

[@nccrawford]

42:00 really puts the Peacemaker into perspective when it shows the Hustler tucked up underneath it... The numbers had gotten lost on me, and I've never seen the B-36 in person.

[@jebadiahkerman7846]

and the b-58 isnt giant but it isnt small by any stretch of the imagination.

[@nutsackmania]

I went to the Pima Air and Space museum a few months back. I saw both planes in person. The main word that came to mind when I saw the B36 was "outrageous". It was just so enormous. The B58, which I was probably most excited to see, didn't look too out of place parked next to century series fighters, on the other hand.

[@nccrawford]

nutsackmania I've never been. Pima Air and Space Museum looks phenomenal, but I haven't been to Arizona since the 90's. Would it be worth the trip? Best.

[@mrichar9]

nccrawford yes!! And check out nearby Monthan Davis AFB "Boneyard" where retired fighters and bombers find new life

[@jebadiahkerman7846]

nccrawford you must go its amazing

[@gheilers]

What music is used in this? It has a very cool "martial" feel, to the fanfare. Very John Williams-ish (before he forgot how to compose...lol).

[@harveywind2930]

Greg Heilers I'd love to have a copy of it, or to know what the title, etc. are. It's so overpoweringly bombastic, I can see all kinds of sardonic, sarcastic applications.

[@harveywind2930]

Greg Heilers Music playing at 10:40.. What IS that?

[@irish89055]

The XC-99 is still around... in pieces now at the boneyard in Arizona, to protect it from further corrosion and until funds can be found to restore it...

[@heckell4181]

Majestic bomder that is much bigger than it looks on video.

[@edburns00]

42:14 I had no idea the B58 Hustler was linked to the B36 Peacemaker. Cool.

[@mariosmanesis8376]

great videolist,thanks

[@delavalmilker]

This thing had the Soviets shitin' bricks in the early 1950's.

[@animeshdas9842]

Not really. This was slow and easy to shoot down.

[@greygibson2443]

RB-36 overflow USSR at times. I don't know details. I wondered how until hearing about operating altitude. Nothing else could get that high. That huge wing.

[@lincbond442]

The B-36 at the beginning of this video is the same one that stared in "Strategic Air Command", buzz number 5734. Notice that the jet pods are not painted with the red and white stripes shown in the movie.

[@hendrickstoops3591]

There's a B-36 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. They've also got the casings for several nuclear weapons (the Mk 17 etc.) as well as the plane that dropped the Bomb on Nagasaki.

[@Leikoo]

The fact that the jets has burn the same fuel as the propellers is quite unique

[@ejdiii333]

Just a point of intrest, but about 13:00 the narrator says the first test flight was at 1 in the morning (dark out) and that they left the wheels down if emergency landing needed during the short flight. Either they where very brave to test flight inthe darkt with limited visibility or the time was wrong. just an odd statement that caought my ear.

[@queenbree1009]

it still has several good shows

[@456swagger]

Did your Dad ever say whether or not they ever were able to prevent the carbs from freezing and causing in flight engine fires? I seem to remember several aircraft being lost this way. I take my hat off to your Dad it really took guts to crew one of those aircraft. Many times the crews went down in areas that were too bitterly cold and remote for rescue to even be an option..

[@alcuinsimon520]

Standard intercept procedure for carrier task groups is to intercept Bear (and other soviet) aircraft at 200NM distance from the carrier. This was done routinely when I was aboard US 'birdfarms'. We also routinely practiced intercepting B-52s doing their SAC patrols in the N Atlantic and Mediterranean during the 1960s and 1970s. We were always successful, with both Bear and B-52s - - I've got the pictures to prove it!

[@rogerdebelg]

hi there, would anyone know what the song at the intro is called? have been searching for a long time now, thx in adnvance :)

[@eddgong]

I'm in the Mood for Love

[@kurtbjorn]

How did this bird deal with two different fuel types? high octane AVGAS for the pistons, but kerosene for the jets. Did it have separate tanks, or did the jets burn avgas?

[@higgydufrane]

+Costanza in a can Turboprops are jet turbines connected to a gearbox and then to a propeller. The main engines on the B36 were Pratt and Whitney R4360 radial piston engines, not turboprops. The turbojets on the B36 were only used for takeoff and emergencies. They burned the same gasoline as the main piston engines. They did not carry jet fuel on the B36

[@higgydufrane]

+Kurt The jet engines on the B36 use the same avgas as the main piston engines. The jet engines were not run continuously, they were used mainly for takeoff. The B36 did not carry jet fuel.

[@kurtbjorn]

higgydufrane Thanks, clears that up. Usually, using avgas in a turbine creates some high temps, and isn't always healthy for them.

[@barryballsit4944]

Narrator of this documentary sounds like Roger Climpson, newsreader on TV Channel 7 Sydney for many years

[@HitsTownUSA]

I've only seen one example. They had the bomb bay doors open (removed is more the word) on the displayed airframe at the Castle AFB air museum in Atwater, CA

[@spacecadet35]

There is one at Pima Air Space Museum. They are BIG!

[@9johnpaul]

There was one at Wright Patterson Air Force museum back in the mid 80's

[@goofyleo3869]

It's still there, only now it's inside a new hangar expansion. BIG S.O.B. !

[@guynextfloor]

General Curtis Lemay yes, among other achievements he is credited as being the main proponent of an Air Force that would be independent from the Army. In the 1930's he also pioneered naval aviation even though he never served in the Navy. But he was a controversial figure, some of his colleagues considered him overly aggressive in his policies as a top-level advisor.

[@KevinMeno2008]

The true final flight of the B-36 took place on 30 April 1959 when 52-2220 flew from Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ to the National Museum of the United States Air Force, where it is now on permanent display.

[@rogeralsop3479]

Excellent film.

[@Kidapollos5910]

Friend, I'm afraid you're wrong. You have to listen to both, but once you do, you notice the difference. I thought of Oldfield immediately, and have sampled a lot of his work, but couldn't find this piece. I appreciate the try, though! Godspeed.

[@istarianjinsama]

My grandfather once told me a story about them, how it was like an airborne earthquake, like seeing an office building climb up into the clouds. Dover AFB

[@royharris8979]

Diamonddog257: sorry, but the music in question is not "Tubular Bells". And, it was Mike Oldfield that wrote "Tubular Bells" (used in the movie "The Exorcist" 1974).

[@asn413]

I found It! "Glass Tubes" by Brian Bennett

[@FriendsoftheEastBroadTop]

Thank you! Been looking for this song info for many years.

[@1joshjosh1]

I had no clue the U.S. had so many different prototypes of heavy bomber on the go back then...cool.

[@anthonyallred1920]

"Lindenburg" field???? I believe the announcer meant Lindbergh field in San Diego.

[@MrRandomcommentguy]

"concept" - how many times was that word used in this video?

[@fload46d]

Thank you for this video. The B36 at Wright Patterson in Dayton OH at the air museum is truly an eye opener. They even have one of the little fighter jets that were supposed to protect the bomber. Interesting that both sides were and are run by the same international bankers. They make big money on war and the development and production of armaments. It is in their interest for wars to start and continue to happen. Maybe some day we will be free of their control. Some of them even think that a first strike will make nuclear war winnable. That's how crazy they are.

[@ThePennyPincher]

Joseph Kretschmer Good comment!

[@852urkl]

Aaron Richards Just another crazy theory that people try to come up with to try and turn average Joe against the rich and powerful. I can tell you one thing for sure though, I've never been employed by a poor person.

[@SpielkindFR]

+Aaron Richards That has nothing to do with the "rothchilds" or "bilderbergs". But it has a lot to do with the actual western banks that did give loans to the soviet union. In fact they did it repeatedly, for differing reasons. But the assertion that the same banks that funded the US military buildup, also funded the soviet military buildup is a fact, not a conspiracy theory. The info is out there mate, just google it. And let me make one thing clear. I am NOT saying that there are some evil bankers in dark rooms that somehow control the entire world. What I am saying is that our current financial system insentivises behavior that is detrimental to society. As long as banks, and the weapons industry are able to make money from war, they will continue to fund and support military action. Capitalism breeds war, because people can earn money with war. And that was the big incentive that was supposed to make capitalism work, wasn't it?

[@stanleynickjedrzejczyk4533]

Gonzo HxC Communist tyrants breed war, to try and prop up their always shaky economies, with their corruption-ridden, low-incentive based production of low-quality goods and services. Not to mention their main export of death-dealing Marxist dictatorships!

[@marthavaughan4660]

@@stanleynickjedrzejczyk4533 `stanley, gonzo, and 85urkle, I know exactly how you voted now.I suppose the reason you never served was it must have been very inconvenient for youall.