Thanks for watching everyone! Please give the video a 'thumbs up' if you enjoyed it so that TH-cam knows what types of videos you like. My B-47 Stratojet video is also coming soon so make sure you've subscribed and click the notification bell.
Believe it or not the USA had a second Super Bomber manufactured during this time one almost no one knows about hilariously I think it was called the B-32 Dominator all built under the *"aegis"* of being the B-29 Superfortress combined with the "Manhattan Project" to build nuclear bombers...all a success actually meaning created in this instance 3 nuclear capable bombers in the B-29, B-32 and B-36 and the nuclear bomb to effect an entirely complete holistic system all *"married together"* for the nuclear bombing of anyone anywhere on Earth starting at Bikini Atoll, Summer of 1945. After the War (August 1945 to present on or about) began a massive nuclear test campaign in the Pacific also known colloquially at the time by Great Britain as *"an American Lake"* 😊
I have a very vivid memory of a B-36 flying at a very low altitude over our house in California in 1956. The aircraft had taken off from the Fresno airport which was a joint civilian and military field and the bomber was en route to Castle AFB. The noise shook our whole house with "six turning and four burning". Thank you for this excellent and comprehensive video. Well done sir!
@@awhensley I was an Air Force brat in the 50's & 60's. When I was 8 or 9 we had a B-36 "visit" our base (Williams). The visit consisted of a low altitude fly by with 6 turning & 4 burning. The ground shook. Your insides turned to jelly. That was almost 70 years ago and I still vividly remember as if it just happened.
No manned bomber will ever be as big as the B-36. It was kind of the apex of Cold War analog - everything since has been smaller and more efficient. It would have been hard to go elsewhere without massively increasing the military budget - the plane was so expensive they could only afford to fund the Navy, the Air Force or the Army, and the Air Force won. There's a lot of alternate history fiction that deals with where the world would have gone if we'd never had the electronics breakthroughs of the 60s and had to continue building aircraft this huge. My favorite B-36 anecdote is the 336 spark plugs, each of which had to be removed, cleaned by hand and reinserted after every. single. flight.
R4360 was 28 cylinders, 2 plugs per cylinder, making 56 plugs per engine.... and 6 engines. Those engines were located HIGH up too, making access harder / trickier. A lot of work no matter how you look at it to change all those plugs, but imagine doing it in arctic conditions! Common for these planes to land in places like Alaska....
@@SisuTheShattered Maintenance IS a Serious Concern. The Only Saving Grace Of Biden Administration Leaving Behind ALL That Technical Equipment, In Afghanistan, IS They Can't Service, Or Get Parts For Much Of The Flying Equipment (Copters) We Left Behind.
Actually the navy had already laid the keel down for the USS America nuclear powered aircraft carrier but when they lost the funding they were forced to break it up before ever building it. The reactor vessel ended up in shippingsport pa for the experimental commercial nuclear power plant. The reactor vessel was also the first civilian reactor to be decommissioned and disposed of. Eventually the plant came back online with a pair of modern Westinghouse PWR reactors and it’s even outlived the coal fired Bruce Mansfield conventional power plant intended to replace it
The design process for this makes me think of time I spent in like 4th or 5th grade drawing stuff... "yeah and there's remote opperated turrets... and there's props AND jets... and there's a tunnel to get from the front to the back... and we'll throw a reactor in there... and a fighter plane dock... and some more guns... "
Thank you, Paul! You reawakened memories of my childhood ~70 years ago. CONVAIR was doing work on B-36's at their San Diego, California USA plant on Lindbergh Field. My childhood home was about 2,000 M from the end of the runway. To this day, I remember standing, awestruck, by B-36's flying a few hundred feet above our home. The earth shaking from the deafening roar of "6 turning & 4 burning." (P.S.: That house is still there.)
20 Year Air Force veteran, spent 16 of those in SAC, or what was left of SAC after deactivation. Love the B-36, way before my time, but one of the great aircraft! Thanks for the video tour!
First time a B-36 doc has clearly answered what type of fuel/ fuel storage worked for an aircraft with both reciprocating and turbine engines. THANK YOU
My father was a USAAF B-29 navigator in the Pacific 1944-1945. He died in 2016 age 94. He kept - and I have - his original flight jacket with squadron insignia. My (then 16yo) son and I toured (did not fly on) FIFI at Boire Field in Nashua NH in 2018. My family are Friends Of Doc.
Awesome! My dad was a radio operator in the 462nd bombardment group, was in India/China theater,then out to Tinian. Still have his jacket,medals. He died young in 1981 with some Japanese shrapnel still in his shoulder. Proud of his service and your father's service. The greatest generation!
I lived near Carswell AFB in the 50’s. It was common for a flight of several B 36’s to go over the neighborhood as they arrived or departed. The sound was incredible. I’m sure if a 36 was flying today I would recognize the sound. There was so much metal the TV picture would go wonky.
Thanks for the B-36 tour! Unless you actually see one in person, it is still hard to imagine how absolutely HUGE these airplanes were! I mean, they even had room for a roaster over in the rear compartment! Neat!
My father was an air policeman in the early 50's. When I was a kid I remember him telling me he guarded planes that were so large you could hide between the tires. I don't remember him saying what plane it was but I'm sure it had to be the B-36.
@@justforever96The single wheel main gear was only fitted to prototype aircraft. When the B-36 went into production it had standard multi wheel bogies.
I’ve been going to the SAC museum since I was 12 back in 2008. My favorite museum of all time. I’ve probably been there close to 30 times over the years lol
Six Turnin 4 Burnin!!!!I've been to This museum many times. I'm a otr truck driver and every time I got through Nebraska I stop. This museum is fricken GREAT!!! The first time I had seen this behemoth It was a sight to behold. Just wish I would've got to see the inside.
Throughout the Peacemaker’s life, its aircrews joked about its engines, “two turning, two burning, two smoking, two choking and two more unaccounted for.”
I didn't realize that there was an intact one of these with a full interior still extant! Thanks for the tour, that was tremendously fascinating. Now if only I could do that tour myself...
The XF-85 beside it is also quite notable as it is the prototype that had the hook smash through the cockpit forcing a belly landing. Its a wonderful museum
@@Firebrand55 Yup. Here, the USAF museum in Dayton, Pima down in Arizona, and at the Castle Air Force Museum in California (notable for being the only Peacemaker with all it's defensive guns still fitted). I want to see all 4 eventually.
I love how the phrase, "... which were massive" just keeps coming back in your narration. There's no other way to describe this thing. I saw the exterior of one at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio once in the early 80s, have always wanted to go through one. Great video, thanks.
It's true! It's rare to find an aircraft that makes the B-52 look tiny! Those thick wings were incredible! massive contrast with the B-47's razor thin wings and that video is coming in about a week :)
I knew the pilot who flew the b52 and the b 36 into Dayton Ohio. These were put into the airforce museum there .his words were the b 36 flew like a big piper cub . He loved it . I wish the best to you and yours . Goo bless and stay safe . Terry 😊
Your timing is impeccable - I'm going to that museum next week. A fascinating tour of an amazing aircraft. I doubt I will have as much access to this plane, so your tour was great to see.
Hope you enjoyed visiting Nebraska! The SAC Museum is a truly amazing place, and particularly special to me as visiting there in 2018 was a turning point in my life when I decided to pursue my dream of training to become a pilot, earning my certificate in 2019.
Paul, I remember seeing one of these beasts up close and personal as a 7-year-old and then again as an adult at a museum at a retired SAC base here in California. All these years later I'm still awed at the immense size and proportions of this aircraft. My late father was assigned to a SAC base back in the 50s. The aircrews and maintainers never liked working on this aircraft due to its problematic technology, especially the pusher props. They were all so thrilled when the US Air Force finally retired this plane in favor of the B-52. Try as they might, Convair was never a reliable military aircraft builder and the B-58 Hustler is another glaring example of poor engineering. Thanks for this great review.
Fantastic job done 👍...I appreciate it so much Sir 🤔 when I was a ten year old boy in elementary school 🏫 near Love Field Dallas Texas I heard the sound's of radial bank engines eccoing off the buildings and I ran to the 3rd. story window 🪟 and then I saw the Convair XC-99 flying low on final approach right over me & id witnessed aviation history 💯
I found out about this video from the SAC museum Facebook page. As for the mark 17 bomb, it was back in November that they announced that they restored it and it’s one of 5 surviving casings. It was actually sitting outside for 25 years before they restored it.
Dude! You’re so lucky to get to go inside!! I’m a member at this museum ( it’s only 15 miles from my house in Louisville, NE). I love the B-36 but the whole SAC museum is an incredible treasure
@@PaulStewartAviation I just flew in a c-12 and C-17 coming back to the US from Japan, I thought about you dude, they were a little hesitant to let me get footage to send you.
Love the video, sir! The Peacemaker's always been one of my favorite Cold War aircraft ever since watching James Stewart in Strategic Air Command, but it also has a very personal connection for me. My grandfather served as a navigator on B-36s out of Fairchild AFB in Washington state. As a matter of fact, the RB-36 on display at the National Museum of the Air Force is his actual bird!
It is wonderful to step by step know how aviation development occurred. The 1950 's saw props move to all jet power. The investment in these 260+ planes unlined the fear the US must have felt in the Cold War period. Move to 2024 and we are still seeing deterrent by stealth. Hope to see you walk around the current bombers in 20 years time. Thanks Paul.
Great seeing the B36 and Goblin. I only ever saw one or two photos before. The communication tunnel looks so claustrophobic
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When i was a kid in San Diego @ 10yrs old, i heard a distant rumble over head, i looked up and saw my first B36 flying high over my head, i watched till it was to far to see.. 1957 i will never forget that sound.
In the early 80's I worked with a retired radioman who said feathering the prop would not stop it from spinning which made bailing out challenging and life threatening. This co-worker is my only source of information on the subject.
BTW, your mention of that H-bomb jettisoning sent me to my copy of 'Command & Control', by Schlosser. The bomb was jettisoned over the Pacific, with the high-explosives going off, with an enormous flash, three thousand feet above the surface. The aircraft then went 'feet dry', whereupon the crew abandoned. Sadly, five lost their lives. The aircraft then flew itself for 200 miles before hitting Mount Kologet, British Columbia. The book, dealing with nuclear weapon accidents, is a terrific read for, well, geeks like us.
Always fun seeing a little known, but epic, museum in Nebraska getting some love and recognition. If the big aircraft interest you at all, SAC is, without a doubt, an incredible museum. A lot of cool aircraft there! :)
At 21:41min, My parents had the same cooker. I can’t tell you how many turkeys as a family we ate out that thing. Just brings great memories as kid from 40 years ago. 👍🏻👍🏻
Thank you , for sharing your love of aircraft and doing videos of them . Looking at so many of these masterpieces of design and engineering , these were done with paper pencil and sliderule. 😊
I always loved this plane and I’ve seen a lot of stuff about it, but you showed a whole bunch of things I’ve never seen before. Thanks a lot…much appreciated ! 👍👌✌️
I’ve been to that museum. It was about 25 years ago, though. Wow. Time sure does fly as we get older. Great overview Paul. Really well done, interesting, and I learned some things. My Dad took me to the USAF museum as a young kid and took a picture of me next to the giant main tires. Several years later, when I was around 17, we took another picture. They were still massive compared to me.
Thank you so much. I am planning to go to Omaha in September and I'll go to the museum. I live near Dayton so I thought it was the only one. (BTW come to Dayton.) Loved this plane since the James Stewart movie Strategic Air Command. It's nice to see what was inside of one. TY!!!
Wow, so big it is beyond understading seeing it inside with nothing to compare it to but in the pics from the air sitting next to a B-29 you understand its actual gigantic size....
I've watched a ton of videos on this plane, yet this is the first time I've heard explained why the hell the engines were in pusher configuration. Thanks!
Wow that B-36 is well restored and accessible. I have seen the ones at Castle and Pima. Amazing enough from the outside and in open air but this one is beyond compare. Still hoping you do a segment on the SB2C Helldiver. Another one is now airworthy in Minnesota. I had the pleasure of viewing a static one with you in DC.
My father was an engineer who worked on the XB-36 at the Consolodated Aircraft Company in San Diego in 1942. I still have his original tool box he used there. He worked on installing and testing various equipment on this aircraft and the XB-24. He enlisted and wound up piloting B-17s
THIS VIDEO, COUPLED WITH JAMES STEWART'S ICONIC "STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND" PROVIDED VALUABLE INSIGHT INTO THIS COMPLEX, HISTORIC AIRCRAFT....THANK YOU PAUL!!
Nice video Paul! Yes the Flight Engineers were very busy (There were 2 seated side by side) An extraordinarily complex aircraft! The Strategic Air Command film gives a glorious (and rare) view of this aircraft in action.
I went thru USAF tech training at Chanute AFB by Rantoul, IL in 1983. Several static display aircraft were on display around the base and lined up outside hangers #1 thru #4. One aircraft on display was a B-36. There were repairs done to the fuselage just aft of the wings. We figured that either the tail had broken off or, the fuse had been torched off for transportation.
I remember marching in formation past the B-36, the B-52, and I think the B-58 Hustler while at Chanute back in November 84’. I was just going to comment button saw your comment. Going to dig up the dozens of pictures I took back then of all of the planes; was in the area on business several years ago and reminded me on how flat, cold, and windy it was.
@@romeotango8650 Ha, yep, we would march past the B-36 to and from class to our dorms. The B-58 was in front of the HQ building. I was there when they flew the B-52 in; He did a a low, fast, pass, brought it into a wing over, another low, fast, pass, into another wing over the other direction, then landed. He must of been an old, bold, pilot. I visited Chanute the year before they demolished the huge dorm building where I lived. My wife and 5 kids got to see it. Good times. From Chanute, I spent 1.5 years in asia (Okinawa, Korea, and the Philippines twice) then, came to McChord in western WA, met my wife, and got on with Boeing as an inspector for 36 years.
@@ScottCarlson-cz7wj from Chanute went to McChord spent my whole time there except for many TDYs and deployments to Korea, Germany, arctic and spicy times in Central America as ABGD… met president Reagan twice once at McChord when he came to give a speech at Boeing and another time in Bitburg Germany… great times and great people! Joined the Army and spent 8 years until my wife got sick of military spouse life while I deployed with my “buddies”. Got a job right out of the army with a medical equipment company and eventually started my own company which I still run today 24 years later. Thank you for your service!
@@romeotango8650 Thank you for your service as well. Reagan was a great CinC. Nov. 83 he came to Japan to visit the emperor then, to Korea on the DMZ (I thought that took guts). We sent about all our F-15's north to escort Airforce 1. (I heard he had over 100 fighters as escort!). Airforce 2 landed at Kadena and I rode my 10-speed down to check it out; no one was around! Take care brother.
A couple fun facts! --At 9:12, the B-36 in the stock footage is actually carrying the fuselage of a B-58 Hustler. It may be the prototype, I forget, but interesting nonetheless. --While the YB-60 had a swept wing, it wasn't "new" as such. It was literally the original wing, but with sections cut out and re-rivieted to make it swept. It was done to preserve parts commonality with the B-36, but also made the wing WAY too thick for a jet aircraft. What a fantastic video! I was lucky enough to go inside the B-36 at Wright-Patterson in Dayton, but I was only allowed to stand right inside the escape hatch between the cockpit and the rest of the forward compartment. The full tour is something special!
Thanks for the extra info! Yes I’ve seen the outside of this at Dayton and pima but this was the first time inside. My tour inside the B47 video should be out next week :)
Thanks for the extra info! Yes I’ve seen the outside of this at Dayton and pima but this was the first time inside. My tour inside the B47 video should be out next week :)
If I recall correctly from reading years ago, the chief LIMFAC on endurance of the B-36 was engine oil. It was breakdown of engine oil, rather than fuel capacity or human endurance, that limited the amount of time it could spend aloft on a single mission.
I knew a gentleman, Joe Fernandez that was a crew chief on one these aircraft he had many stories about his time working on this type of plane unfortunately he passed away last year.
The B-60 would have been a great bomber for the USAF with a greater bombload. Its problem was that it was underpowered and as a result was 100mph slower than the B-52. I recall reading that Convair went with eight of the J-57's because that was all that P&W could provide in time for the tests.
At 9:27 you misidentified a B-47. My dad had over 5,000 hours in them. In 1954 my family was transferred to Smoky Hill AFB, later called Schilling AFB which had been made capable of handling B-36's in the early 50's. Runway 17/35 is 12,301'.
I worked on B-36s for for 4 years in my first hitch doing cyl replacments engine changes dock inspections and finally down power pack tear down, part of the last included taken power packs out to load on the C99
Thanks for watching everyone! Please give the video a 'thumbs up' if you enjoyed it so that TH-cam knows what types of videos you like. My B-47 Stratojet video is also coming soon so make sure you've subscribed and click the notification bell.
Geeze bombs are big
Believe it or not the USA had a second Super Bomber manufactured during this time one almost no one knows about hilariously I think it was called the B-32 Dominator all built under the *"aegis"* of being the B-29 Superfortress combined with the "Manhattan Project" to build nuclear bombers...all a success actually meaning created in this instance 3 nuclear capable bombers in the B-29, B-32 and B-36 and the nuclear bomb to effect an entirely complete holistic system all *"married together"* for the nuclear bombing of anyone anywhere on Earth starting at Bikini Atoll, Summer of 1945. After the War (August 1945 to present on or about) began a massive nuclear test campaign in the Pacific also known colloquially at the time by Great Britain as *"an American Lake"* 😊
Looks like the 737 Max flightdeck
Ever since seeing Strategic Air Command over 40 years ago I've been totally fascinated by this plane.
Same here & was glad I could buy a digital copy off google tv app.
Start jets, 123 and 4 🎉
Great classic movie. One of Jimmy Stewart’s best.
3:20 When he said Bomb Bay I immediately shouted out ICE N TONIC too please luv…🍹
Me too! The quality of the cinematography in “Strategic Air Command” is simply outstanding.
A tour through a B-36. What a treat for us aviation geeks.
Thanks much, Paul. I walked around the B-36 at the Pima Air Museum. I wished I could look inside. Now I have!
Cheers! Yes the PIMA was the first one I filmed but no access inside so I was always on the look out for another one
I think this might be your best guided tour ever. Congratulations
Wow, thanks!
I have a very vivid memory of a B-36 flying at a very low altitude over our house in California in 1956. The aircraft had taken off from the Fresno airport which was a joint civilian and military field and the bomber was en route to Castle AFB. The noise shook our whole house with "six turning and four burning". Thank you for this excellent and comprehensive video. Well done sir!
@@awhensley I was an Air Force brat in the 50's & 60's. When I was 8 or 9 we had a B-36 "visit" our base (Williams). The visit consisted of a low altitude fly by with 6 turning & 4 burning. The ground shook. Your insides turned to jelly. That was almost 70 years ago and I still vividly remember as if it just happened.
@@billgund4532 😃
No manned bomber will ever be as big as the B-36. It was kind of the apex of Cold War analog - everything since has been smaller and more efficient. It would have been hard to go elsewhere without massively increasing the military budget - the plane was so expensive they could only afford to fund the Navy, the Air Force or the Army, and the Air Force won. There's a lot of alternate history fiction that deals with where the world would have gone if we'd never had the electronics breakthroughs of the 60s and had to continue building aircraft this huge.
My favorite B-36 anecdote is the 336 spark plugs, each of which had to be removed, cleaned by hand and reinserted after every. single. flight.
my god that sounds like a maintenance nightmare
R4360 was 28 cylinders, 2 plugs per cylinder, making 56 plugs per engine.... and 6 engines. Those engines were located HIGH up too, making access harder / trickier. A lot of work no matter how you look at it to change all those plugs, but imagine doing it in arctic conditions! Common for these planes to land in places like Alaska....
@@SisuTheShattered
Maintenance IS a Serious Concern.
The Only Saving Grace Of Biden Administration Leaving Behind ALL That Technical Equipment,
In Afghanistan, IS They Can't Service, Or Get Parts For Much Of The Flying Equipment (Copters) We Left Behind.
Actually the navy had already laid the keel down for the USS America nuclear powered aircraft carrier but when they lost the funding they were forced to break it up before ever building it. The reactor vessel ended up in shippingsport pa for the experimental commercial nuclear power plant. The reactor vessel was also the first civilian reactor to be decommissioned and disposed of. Eventually the plant came back online with a pair of modern Westinghouse PWR reactors and it’s even outlived the coal fired Bruce Mansfield conventional power plant intended to replace it
The design process for this makes me think of time I spent in like 4th or 5th grade drawing stuff... "yeah and there's remote opperated turrets... and there's props AND jets... and there's a tunnel to get from the front to the back... and we'll throw a reactor in there... and a fighter plane dock... and some more guns... "
Thank you, Paul! You reawakened memories of my childhood ~70 years ago. CONVAIR was doing work on B-36's at their San Diego, California USA plant on Lindbergh Field. My childhood home was about 2,000 M from the end of the runway. To this day, I remember standing, awestruck, by B-36's flying a few hundred feet above our home. The earth shaking from the deafening roar of "6 turning & 4 burning." (P.S.: That house is still there.)
Wow thanks for the tip. Glad you enjoyed the video! I'm working on my B-47 video as we speak.
WOW !!!--That must have been FANTASTIC !!-
20 Year Air Force veteran, spent 16 of those in SAC, or what was left of SAC after deactivation. Love the B-36, way before my time, but one of the great aircraft! Thanks for the video tour!
First time a B-36 doc has clearly answered what type of fuel/ fuel storage worked for an aircraft with both reciprocating and turbine engines. THANK YOU
THE STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND MUSEUM! I live near this museum and its absolutely lovely, im glad you got to visit and see the B36 and XF 85
My father was a USAAF B-29 navigator in the Pacific 1944-1945. He died in 2016 age 94. He kept - and I have - his original flight jacket with squadron insignia. My (then 16yo) son and I toured (did not fly on) FIFI at Boire Field in Nashua NH in 2018. My family are Friends Of Doc.
Awesome! My dad was a radio operator in the 462nd bombardment group, was in India/China theater,then out to Tinian. Still have his jacket,medals. He died young in 1981 with some Japanese shrapnel still in his shoulder. Proud of his service and your father's service. The greatest generation!
I lived near Carswell AFB in the 50’s. It was common for a flight of several B 36’s to go over the neighborhood as they arrived or departed. The sound was incredible. I’m sure if a 36 was flying today I would recognize the sound. There was so much metal the TV picture would go wonky.
Thanks for the great tour of the cockpit. This is the best look I've seen of the inside of the b36 I've seen.
Oh snap! Interior of the B36! You're the MAN!
Yes it took a bit of planning but I was very excited to get inside one. The B-47 too 🥳
That sould be" b36"
Became fascinated by these after watching strategic air command years ago & bought a digital copy off google tv app.
Thanks for the B-36 tour! Unless you actually see one in person, it is still hard to imagine how absolutely HUGE these airplanes were! I mean, they even had room for a roaster over in the rear compartment! Neat!
My father was an air policeman in the early 50's. When I was a kid I remember him telling me he guarded planes that were so large you could hide between the tires. I don't remember him saying what plane it was but I'm sure it had to be the B-36.
That seems very likely. It has the would record for single wheel main gear size.
@@justforever96The single wheel main gear was only fitted to prototype aircraft. When the B-36 went into production it had standard multi wheel bogies.
I’ve been going to the SAC museum since I was 12 back in 2008. My favorite museum of all time. I’ve probably been there close to 30 times over the years lol
Well done! I got to visit this aircraft and museum briefly many years ago before they moved, when the B-36 was stored outside.
Six essential qualities that are the key to success: Sincerity, personal integrity, humility, courtesy, wisdom, charity.
Six Turnin 4 Burnin!!!!I've been to This museum many times. I'm a otr truck driver and every time I got through Nebraska I stop. This museum is fricken GREAT!!! The first time I had seen this behemoth It was a sight to behold. Just wish I would've got to see the inside.
Throughout the Peacemaker’s life, its aircrews joked about its engines, “two turning, two burning, two smoking, two choking and two more unaccounted for.”
I’ve been waiting years for a video of the interior of a B-36, thank you so much Paul! You made my day!!!
Cheers enjoy! I was really looking forward to filming this video, and coming in the next few weeks are videos inside a B-47, B-24 and a 747SP SOFIA.
@@PaulStewartAviation I can’t wait! Especially for the B-47, another Cold War bird with little TH-cam presence! Keep up the good work!
I didn't realize that there was an intact one of these with a full interior still extant! Thanks for the tour, that was tremendously fascinating. Now if only I could do that tour myself...
Yes the SAC museum have done a brilliant job refurbishing her
The XF-85 beside it is also quite notable as it is the prototype that had the hook smash through the cockpit forcing a belly landing. Its a wonderful museum
There are 4 intact, traceable online.
@@Firebrand55 Yup. Here, the USAF museum in Dayton, Pima down in Arizona, and at the Castle Air Force Museum in California (notable for being the only Peacemaker with all it's defensive guns still fitted). I want to see all 4 eventually.
I love how the phrase, "... which were massive" just keeps coming back in your narration. There's no other way to describe this thing. I saw the exterior of one at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio once in the early 80s, have always wanted to go through one. Great video, thanks.
It's true! It's rare to find an aircraft that makes the B-52 look tiny! Those thick wings were incredible! massive contrast with the B-47's razor thin wings and that video is coming in about a week :)
I knew the pilot who flew the b52 and the b 36 into Dayton Ohio. These were put into the airforce museum there .his words were the b 36 flew like a big piper cub . He loved it . I wish the best to you and yours . Goo bless and stay safe .
Terry 😊
Your timing is impeccable - I'm going to that museum next week. A fascinating tour of an amazing aircraft. I doubt I will have as much access to this plane, so your tour was great to see.
Hope you enjoyed visiting Nebraska! The SAC Museum is a truly amazing place, and particularly special to me as visiting there in 2018 was a turning point in my life when I decided to pursue my dream of training to become a pilot, earning my certificate in 2019.
Congratulations !!-& a Salute in your Honor,-Sir !!
Paul, I remember seeing one of these beasts up close and personal as a 7-year-old and then again as an adult at a museum at a retired SAC base here in California. All these years later I'm still awed at the immense size and proportions of this aircraft. My late father was assigned to a SAC base back in the 50s. The aircrews and maintainers never liked working on this aircraft due to its problematic technology, especially the pusher props. They were all so thrilled when the US Air Force finally retired this plane in favor of the B-52. Try as they might, Convair was never a reliable military aircraft builder and the B-58 Hustler is another glaring example of poor engineering. Thanks for this great review.
Fantastic job done 👍...I appreciate it so much Sir 🤔 when I was a ten year old boy in elementary school 🏫 near Love Field Dallas Texas I heard the sound's of radial bank engines eccoing off the buildings and I ran to the 3rd. story window 🪟 and then I saw the Convair XC-99 flying low on final approach right over me & id witnessed aviation history 💯
Thank you so much for this video 🤩 I love that you got to see all the relevant inside spaces and shared them with us, excellent!!
Thank Paul! You are very fortunate to see these aircraft in person. I really enjoy your videos.
I found out about this video from the SAC museum Facebook page. As for the mark 17 bomb, it was back in November that they announced that they restored it and it’s one of 5 surviving casings. It was actually sitting outside for 25 years before they restored it.
Correct. It sat outside, next to the trash bins, for all that time, because it’s tough to move something that’s 40,000+ pounds without tires. :)
Dude! You’re so lucky to get to go inside!! I’m a member at this museum ( it’s only 15 miles from my house in Louisville, NE). I love the B-36 but the whole SAC museum is an incredible treasure
I really was! Andy Beemer was very kind in helping me get inside both this and the B-47.
Itll be even more incredible once they have the F117 and Vulcan situated. Their collection is so cool
What a great museum!
She’s a beauty, the notes from the B29 are subtle but undeniable, they need to let you explore with a duster, the inside of these planes need it.
Oh don’t worry, I dusted it with my knees and elbows 😂
@@PaulStewartAviation I just flew in a c-12 and C-17 coming back to the US from Japan, I thought about you dude, they were a little hesitant to let me get footage to send you.
Love the video, sir! The Peacemaker's always been one of my favorite Cold War aircraft ever since watching James Stewart in Strategic Air Command, but it also has a very personal connection for me. My grandfather served as a navigator on B-36s out of Fairchild AFB in Washington state. As a matter of fact, the RB-36 on display at the National Museum of the Air Force is his actual bird!
It is wonderful to step by step know how aviation development occurred. The 1950 's saw props move to all jet power. The investment in these 260+ planes unlined the fear the US must have felt in the Cold War period. Move to 2024 and we are still seeing deterrent by stealth. Hope to see you walk around the current bombers in 20 years time. Thanks Paul.
Great seeing the B36 and Goblin. I only ever saw one or two photos before. The communication tunnel looks so claustrophobic
When i was a kid in San Diego @ 10yrs old, i heard a distant rumble over head, i looked up and saw my first B36 flying high over my head, i watched till it was to far to see.. 1957 i will never forget that sound.
This is simply ASTONISHING!
Thank you so much for making this video!
Glad you enjoyed it. I was very fortunate to be allowed inside to film. More coming
Great Video!! I am a "old" aviation geek. I served 10 yrs US Army as a OH-58 Crew-chief (Sept. 78-88). Keep up the great videos. Tom Buffalo NY
In the early 80's I worked with a retired radioman who said feathering the prop would not stop it from spinning which made bailing out challenging and life threatening. This co-worker is my only source of information on the subject.
BTW, your mention of that H-bomb jettisoning sent me to my copy of 'Command & Control', by Schlosser. The bomb was jettisoned over the Pacific, with the high-explosives going off, with an enormous flash, three thousand feet above the surface. The aircraft then went 'feet dry', whereupon the crew abandoned. Sadly, five lost their lives. The aircraft then flew itself for 200 miles before hitting Mount Kologet, British Columbia. The book, dealing with nuclear weapon accidents, is a terrific read for, well, geeks like us.
Always fun seeing a little known, but epic, museum in Nebraska getting some love and recognition. If the big aircraft interest you at all, SAC is, without a doubt, an incredible museum. A lot of cool aircraft there! :)
At 21:41min, My parents had the same cooker. I can’t tell you how many turkeys as a family we ate out that thing. Just brings great memories as kid from 40 years ago. 👍🏻👍🏻
Something about the B-36 that just inspires wonder. If I had a magic wand that could restore one of these for a world wide airshow tour...
Thank you , for sharing your love of aircraft and doing videos of them . Looking at so many of these masterpieces of design and engineering , these were done with paper pencil and sliderule. 😊
Live in the area and always loved going to SAC museum as a kid!
What a terrific video! I've always been fascinated by the B-36, and the SAC museum is on my bucket list.
I always loved this plane and I’ve seen a lot of stuff about it, but you showed a whole bunch of things I’ve never seen before. Thanks a lot…much appreciated ! 👍👌✌️
I got a wonderful tour of the B-36 at Wright-Patterson when I served in the Ohio National Guard. It's always been my favorite military aircraft.
Both my parents worked for Convair in San Diego in the early 50's. Each worked on the B-36.
El Mirage, Arizona
Excellent video, Paul 😊
Very much appreciate your time and effort 👌
What a great tour! Looking at photos don't convey quite the same information as having you walk around that interior. Thank you for this!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome video paul - i love the detailed tours and you are the best person to explain it - keep up the awesome work!
Glad you like them!
I’ve been to that museum. It was about 25 years ago, though. Wow. Time sure does fly as we get older. Great overview Paul. Really well done, interesting, and I learned some things. My Dad took me to the USAF museum as a young kid and took a picture of me next to the giant main tires. Several years later, when I was around 17, we took another picture. They were still massive compared to me.
This is so cool! Awesome that you were able to go inside!
Yes I was very lucky cheers!
Thank you so much. I am planning to go to Omaha in September and I'll go to the museum. I live near Dayton so I thought it was the only one. (BTW come to Dayton.) Loved this plane since the James Stewart movie Strategic Air Command. It's nice to see what was inside of one. TY!!!
I've posted many videos from Dayton :)
@@PaulStewartAviation Good, I will watch them. Thanks. I'm a big fan of the B-36.
Incredible tour Paul, thank you. That tunnel is something else 😬
Loving these climb-through videos. Great work, Paul.👍
Wow, so big it is beyond understading seeing it inside with nothing to compare it to but in the pics from the air sitting next to a B-29 you understand its actual gigantic size....
Excelente vídio Paul.
Dsd SanLuis, Argentina 🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷
Never heard of a b-36 until I seen one at castle air museum. My new favorite bomber. Just was there Saturday
Farrrrrk going through that tunnel… You’re a braver man than I am!!
Thanks for filming that huge plane sir
I've watched a ton of videos on this plane, yet this is the first time I've heard explained why the hell the engines were in pusher configuration. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it! Yes I hope to dig a little deeper and answer the questions that I also want to know.
Wow that B-36 is well restored and accessible. I have seen the ones at Castle and Pima. Amazing enough from the outside and in open air but this one is beyond compare. Still hoping you do a segment on the SB2C Helldiver. Another one is now airworthy in Minnesota. I had the pleasure of viewing a static one with you in DC.
What a fantastic effort. Thank you.
The aircraft that came to be in the 1950s are endlessly fascinating. I would love to have flown the B-36.
Feels like the B-36s gun stations were the inspiration for what we saw inside the Star Wars Millenium Falcon.
Could be… although my bet on the B-29 nose as the inspiration for Star Wars Millennium Falcon
Thanks for making these videos Paul!
Another fantastic Video. Thank you for sharing so much detail about this amazing aircraft.
Many thanks!
My father was an engineer who worked on the XB-36 at the Consolodated Aircraft Company in San Diego in 1942. I still have his original tool box he used there. He worked on installing and testing various equipment on this aircraft and the XB-24. He enlisted and wound up piloting B-17s
One of the best museums. I love it. I thought it was better than the Smithsonian
THIS VIDEO, COUPLED WITH JAMES STEWART'S ICONIC "STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND" PROVIDED VALUABLE INSIGHT INTO THIS COMPLEX, HISTORIC AIRCRAFT....THANK YOU PAUL!!
Stop The ALL Caps 🧢🧢🧢
Why are you yelling ?
Nice video Paul! Yes the Flight Engineers were very busy (There were 2 seated side by side) An extraordinarily complex aircraft! The Strategic Air Command film gives a glorious (and rare) view of this aircraft in action.
I went thru USAF tech training at Chanute AFB by Rantoul, IL in 1983. Several static display aircraft were on display around the base and lined up outside hangers #1 thru #4. One aircraft on display was a B-36. There were repairs done to the fuselage just aft of the wings. We figured that either the tail had broken off or, the fuse had been torched off for transportation.
I remember marching in formation past the B-36, the B-52, and I think the B-58 Hustler while at Chanute back in November 84’. I was just going to comment button saw your comment. Going to dig up the dozens of pictures I took back then of all of the planes; was in the area on business several years ago and reminded me on how flat, cold, and windy it was.
@@romeotango8650 Ha, yep, we would march past the B-36 to and from class to our dorms. The B-58 was in front of the HQ building. I was there when they flew the B-52 in; He did a a low, fast, pass, brought it into a wing over, another low, fast, pass, into another wing over the other direction, then landed. He must of been an old, bold, pilot. I visited Chanute the year before they demolished the huge dorm building where I lived. My wife and 5 kids got to see it. Good times. From Chanute, I spent 1.5 years in asia (Okinawa, Korea, and the Philippines twice) then, came to McChord in western WA, met my wife, and got on with Boeing as an inspector for 36 years.
@@ScottCarlson-cz7wj from Chanute went to McChord spent my whole time there except for many TDYs and deployments to Korea, Germany, arctic and spicy times in Central America as ABGD… met president Reagan twice once at McChord when he came to give a speech at Boeing and another time in Bitburg Germany… great times and great people! Joined the Army and spent 8 years until my wife got sick of military spouse life while I deployed with my “buddies”. Got a job right out of the army with a medical equipment company and eventually started my own company which I still run today 24 years later. Thank you for your service!
@@romeotango8650 Thank you for your service as well. Reagan was a great CinC. Nov. 83 he came to Japan to visit the emperor then, to Korea on the DMZ (I thought that took guts). We sent about all our F-15's north to escort Airforce 1. (I heard he had over 100 fighters as escort!). Airforce 2 landed at Kadena and I rode my 10-speed down to check it out; no one was around! Take care brother.
A couple fun facts!
--At 9:12, the B-36 in the stock footage is actually carrying the fuselage of a B-58 Hustler. It may be the prototype, I forget, but interesting nonetheless.
--While the YB-60 had a swept wing, it wasn't "new" as such. It was literally the original wing, but with sections cut out and re-rivieted to make it swept. It was done to preserve parts commonality with the B-36, but also made the wing WAY too thick for a jet aircraft.
What a fantastic video! I was lucky enough to go inside the B-36 at Wright-Patterson in Dayton, but I was only allowed to stand right inside the escape hatch between the cockpit and the rest of the forward compartment. The full tour is something special!
Thanks for the extra info! Yes I’ve seen the outside of this at Dayton and pima but this was the first time inside. My tour inside the B47 video should be out next week :)
Thanks for the extra info! Yes I’ve seen the outside of this at Dayton and pima but this was the first time inside. My tour inside the B47 video should be out next week :)
If I recall correctly from reading years ago, the chief LIMFAC on endurance of the B-36 was engine oil. It was breakdown of engine oil, rather than fuel capacity or human endurance, that limited the amount of time it could spend aloft on a single mission.
Excellent. I always wanted to see the inside of a Peacemaker. Thanks!
Excellent tour, much appreciated.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I knew a gentleman, Joe Fernandez that was a crew chief on one these aircraft he had many stories about his time working on this type of plane unfortunately he passed away last year.
Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.
That is so True-!
The Big Stick!! I’ve been hoping you would do a full interior tour ever since you did your walk around of one. It’s like an early Christmas present!
this is my local air museum and i absolutely love it i tell people all the time to visit here and the zoo if in nebraska
It’s brilliant, isn’t it!?
Great tour! That plane was massive!
The B-60 would have been a great bomber for the USAF with a greater bombload. Its problem was that it was underpowered and as a result was 100mph slower than the B-52. I recall reading that Convair went with eight of the J-57's because that was all that P&W could provide in time for the tests.
At 9:27 you misidentified a B-47. My dad had over 5,000 hours in them. In 1954 my family was transferred to Smoky Hill AFB, later called Schilling AFB which had been made capable of handling B-36's in the early 50's. Runway 17/35 is 12,301'.
My mistake, I did mean to say 47. I'm editing my B-47 tour video as we speak :)
Super video. My dad was a B-36 propeller mechanic on these. I always wondered what the insides were like.
B-36 is my favorite historic aircraft.
Brilliant! I absolutely loved it! Great video production of a great aircraft!
Great vid. Regarding the tracked landing gear experiement, I recall reading that they made an earsplitting, ungodly screeching noise when in use.
Great information on this massive plane
that guy building a b36 in his garage is doing a great job. (cockpit only)
Awesome video and insight as always.
Outstanding video, The best B-36 vid I've seen. Thanks !
I worked on B-36s for for 4 years in my first hitch doing cyl replacments engine changes dock inspections and finally down power pack tear down, part of the last included taken power packs out to load on the C99
Another masterpiece, as usual. Thanks
Another great video Paul I really enjoy all your videos keep up the good work
Thanks 👍