Convair B-36 variants - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Convair B-36 variants began in 1941 with the XB-36 to meet the strategic

Military strategy

Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops...

needs of the US Army Air Forces; then later becoming United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

with its Strategic Air Command

Strategic Air Command

The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...

. In 1948, the B-36

Convair B-36

The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" was a strategic bomber built by Convair and operated solely by the United States Air Force from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever made. It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built , although there have...

immediately becoming a mainstay of the American nuclear deterrent. It underwent a number of design changes before being withdrawn from service in 1959. It was also well suited to high altitude very long range reconnaissance

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

missions, and several alterations were made with this mission profile in mind.

XB-36

In 1941, the fall of Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

to a German

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

invasion seemed imminent. If the United States joined the war against the Axis Powers

Axis Powers

The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

, the fall of Britain would leave no bases in Europe from which the United States Army Air Corps

United States Army Air Corps

The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...

(AAC) could bomb Germany. This possibility led to AAC to seek a bomber of truly intercontinental range. On 1941 April 11, the AAC issued a design competition for an aircraft with a 275 mph (445 km/h) cruising speed, a service ceiling of 45,000 ft (14,000 m), capable of delivering 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) of bombs to targets 5,000 miles (8,000 km) away. At the time, these requirements far exceeded the best technology available.

On 1941 November, the United States Army Air Forces

United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

signed a contract for two experimental aircraft under the designation XB-36, based on design studies previously submitted by Consolidated Aircraft Corporation. A few days later, the Engineering Division at Wright Field

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Greene and Montgomery counties in the state of Ohio. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wright Field and Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot. Patterson Field is located approximately...

decided that Consolidated's six-engine design, with all engines on the trailing edge of the wing, was the best option for the aircraft. The original design used vertical stabilizers and rudders, similar to those used in the B-24 Liberator

B-24 Liberator

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...

. By the time the first XB-36 was delivered, the design had been changed to a huge single tail, and the wingspan increased to 230 ft (70 m), an unprecedented size.

Variant	Built
XB-36	1
YB-36	1
B-36A	21
B-36B	62
B-36D	26
RB-36D	24
B-36F	36
RB-36F	24
B-36H	83
RB-36H	73
B-36J	33

Total	384

It was clear that the B-36 needed nose guns. Adding these required a substantial rearrangement of the cockpit. In late 1944, a mockup of the new nose was approved. Though too late for the first prototype, it would be fitted to the second XB-36. Unfortunately, the new nose with its radar and radio equipment added significant weight.

The first (and only) XB-36 was completed at the Consolidated Fort Worth

Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

factory in late 1945. The plane sat on huge wheels 9 ft (2.8 m) in diameter; only three airfields in the USA had concrete thick enough to support the pressure exerted by wheels of that size. In 1948 June, the single-wheel undercarriage was replaced by a new undercarriage consisting of two wheels with half the diameter on each strut. This design, which would became the production standard, enabled the B-36 to operate on runways of reasonable thickness.

The maiden flight revealed problems with the flap

Flap (aircraft)

Flaps are normally hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed an aircraft can be safely flown at and to increase the angle of descent for landing without increasing air speed. They shorten takeoff and landing distances as well as...

actuating system, engine cooling, and the reliability of the aluminum wiring. Propeller vibration adversely affected the wing structure. Worse yet, the XB-36 failed to meet the 1941 specifications. In particular, inadequate engine cooling kept its service ceiling under 30,000 ft (9,000 m), much less than that called for in the original contract.

Following a grounding for modifications, the XB-36 was flight tested for 160 hours by pilots of the Army Air Force Air Materiel Command, then returned to Convair for further testing.

References:

YB-36

The YB-36A, a conversion of the original XB-36, was turned over to the United States Air Force

United States Air Force

in June 1948, a week before the production B-36A was scheduled to be delivered. The YB-36A had inadequate operation value, and the Strategic Air Command

Strategic Air Command

used it primarily for training missions. Later it was idle for several years, then employed in the Carswell Air Force Base

Carswell Air Force Base

Carswell Air Force Base, was a United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base located about northwest central of Fort Worth, Texas, United States; the air force base is mostly within the Fort Worth city limits and has portions within Westworth and White Settlement...

firefighting program.

The second prototype, designated YB-36, of which only a single instance was built, was chosen as the production version in mid-1945. Its new high-visibility cockpit and redesigned nose compartment became the standard. Thanks to various design improvements, the YB-36 outperformed the XB-36, eventually reaching altitudes of 40,000 ft (12,000 m). It was essentially built to B-36A specifications; in fact, it flew six months after the B-36A. In late 1950, the YB-36 was returned to Convair and converted into a reconnaissance aircraft under the designation RB-36E. In the spring of 1957, it was decommissioned and placed in the National Museum of the United States Air Force

National Museum of the United States Air Force

The National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display...

at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

.

References:

B-36A

The B-36A included several of the new elements developed on the YB-36, including the domed canopy and the four-wheel main landing gear (as opposed to the single-wheel landing gear used on the XB-36 and the YB-36). These new features were in a sense first seen on the B-36A rather than the YB-36, because it was the former that flew first — by six months.

The first B-36A ever built was destroyed by a series of brutal stress tests, consisting mainly of applying more and more load to various parts of the aircraft until they disintegrated.

On April 8 1948, a B-36A made a 6,922 (11,140 km) flight of 33 hours, shuttling between Fort Worth

Fort Worth, Texas

and San Diego

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

three times without landing, and carrying a 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) bomb load. In May, the same aircraft did a round trip of 8,062 miles (12,970 km) lasting 33 hours.

By virtue of its designation, the B-36A was technically a production aircraft. However, it lacked defensive armament because the system wasn't ready. It was an explicitly interim plane used by the 7th Bomb Group at Carswell Air Force Base

Carswell Air Force Base

in Texas for the sole purpose of flight testing and transitional crew training. When the newer B-36B became available, all B-36As were converted to reconnaissance aircraft and redesignated RB-36E.

A total of 22 were built.

References:

Other variants

B-36B:As the B-36A with R-4360-41 engines and full armament installed (sixteen 20mm cannon in eight barbettes), 73 built.
RB-36B:Designation given to 30 B-36Bs temporarily flown with camera installations.
YB-36C:Projected version of the B-36B with six 4300hp R-4360-51 engines driving tractor airscrews, not built and the prototype on order was cancelled.
B-36C:Production version of the YB-36C, variant cancelled and the 34 on order were completed as B-36Bs.
B-36D:As the B-36B but with four 5200 lbst J-47 engines in paired underwing pods, 22 built.
RB-36D:Strategic reconnaissance variant of the B-36D with two of the four bomb-bays housing camera installations, 17 built.
RB-36E:The YB-36A and 21 B-36As converted to RB-36D standard.
B-36F:As the B-36D but with six R-4360-53 and four J-47 engines, 34 built.
RB-36F:Strategic reconnaissance variant of the B-36F with additional fuel, 24 built.
GRB-36F:One RB-36F (serial 49-2707) converted to carry a GRF-84F Thunderstreak on a central trapeze as part of the FICON (Fighter Conveyor) programme, other machines were also converted and used for trials including launching stand-off missiles.
YB-36G:Initial designation of a jet-powered version that was developed as the YB-60.
B-36H:As the B-36F but with an improved flightdeck layout and equipment changes, 83 built.
NB-36H:One B-36H (serial 51-5712) with a nuclear reactor installed in the rear fuselage for tests.
RB-36H:Strategic reconnaissance version of the B-36H, 73 built.
B-36J:As B-36H but with strengthened undercarriage and increased fuel tankage, 33 built, some aircraft flew with a reduced crew and no armament apart from the tail guns for high altitude missions
GRB-36J:Designation of a few B-36Js used for FICON testing.
YB-60
Convair YB-60
|-See also:-References:* Jacobsen, Meyers K. and Wagner, Ray. B-36 in Action . Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 1980. ISBN 0-89747-101-6....

:Modified version of the B-36 with swept wings and tail surfaces and powered by eight J-57-P-3 engines for evaluation against the B-52, two built.
XC-99
Convair XC-99
The Convair XC-99, 43-52436, was a prototype heavy cargo aircraft built by Convair for the United States Air Force. It was the largest piston-engined land-based transport aircraft ever built, and was developed from the B-36 bomber, sharing the wings and some other structures with it...

:Transport version of the B-36 using the wings, tail surfaces and six R-4360-41 pusher engines with a two-deck fuselage for 400 troops. One built and used for trials and research from 1949 to 1957.
X-6:Projected conversion of the B-36 intended for airborne nuclear powerplant testing, following the NB-36H programme. Cancelled and none built.

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