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Convair
B-36 Peacemaker |
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The B-36 was
the largest American bomber every produced. Its 230
foot wingspan was almost fifty percent longer than that of the
huge B-52 that replaced it. During its eight years of
service, it one of one of America's major deterrents to
aggression by a potential enemy. It was
"keeping the peace." Its is famous for
"never having fired a shot in anger."
Development of the huge plane began in
1941 when it appear that Great Britain would soon fall to Nazi
Germany. The Army Air Force wanted a bomber that could fly from
the United States to Europe, drop bombs, then return (combat
radius) The prototype first flew on August 8, 1946.
The first operational models were delivered to the Strategic Air
Command 1948. There were many problems with them and the
fleet was not fully operational until 1951.
The Peacemaker achieved its
design objective. Its combat radius with a
10,000-pound payload (one small nuclear bomb) was 3,740
nautical miles. With its maximum of bomb load of 86,000
pounds, (conventional bombs), its combat radius decreased to
1,757 nautical miles.
Each B-36 cost $3.6 million. A
total of 388 aircraft were produced. The last one was
built in August of 1954. On 29 June 1955 the first B-52
was delivered to SAC. All of the B-36s were delivered as or
converted to "J" models, which had two jet engines
added to each wing. (This was essentially the inboard
engine nacelle from the B-47). The all-jet bomber soon took over the
Peacemaker's duties. The
last B-36 was retired in 1959. |
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Convair B-36
Peacemaker
From our Premier Series - 1/122nd scale. 21" wingspan
x 15" long.
No. AFB1D-PR. Only $174.95
Convair
B-36J Peacemaker
From our Deluxe Series. (Shown above) 1/100th scale
27.75" wingspan x 20.25" long.
Much larger than the Premier Series model.
No. AFB1D-DX. Only $199.95. |
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