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Scene from Strategic Air Command in 4k

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When I saw the title of the thread I somehow knew it was the takeoff scene. The B36 was a massive beast but somehow looks majestic in those shots of it flying. Absolutely the best part of the movie.
 
That is one of the best Peacemaker scenes I've ever found.

I grew up in Fort Worth, and those a/c flew overhead almost every day. You felt them before you heard or saw them.

With six piston engines and four jet engines, plus lots of mechanical problems, a common description was "two turning, two burning, two smoking, two choking and two more unaccounted for."

Thanks for posting the video!
Tom M.
 
NutmegCT said:
I grew up in Fort Worth, and those a/c flew overhead almost every day. You felt them before you heard or saw them.
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I remember you mentioning you grew up with those beasts flying overhead. When I was a kid I build a model B-36 and it was always my favorite airplane but never have seen one in the flesh let alone flying.
 
Man - you were deprived of a great experience. We'd first feel the ground "humming", look up, then barely see the 36 in the distance, approaching from Carswell AFB. Finally make out the actual a/c, which looked like it was a giant moving about 10 mph through the air. When it got near the neighborhood, you'd feel the house "vibrate", which got stronger as the a/c passed overhead. Here's a photo for you:

B-36 and Carswell AFB in Ft. Worth

www.airplanes-online.com www.airplanes-online.com

carswell-afb-b17-b29-b36.jpg


B-17, 18 (I think), 29, 36

Here's a short clip of 36 takeoff sound:

 
Wow, when you see it with the 17 and the 29 you really get a sense how big it was!
 
I've been around a 29 a few times down in Cuba and always thought just how big it was, but seeing this photo shows just how big the 36 was compared to it. Every once in a while a 29 would fly in for fuel, oxygen, and whatever unannounced and we had to service it. Have a photo somewhere a buddy took of me leaning on a nose wheel, have no idea where it's at, haven't seen it in many years. :rolleyes2: The 36 is big, but the 29 is no slouch either. (y)
 
"With a fuel load of 33,626 gallons of aviation gas and 1,500 gallons of engine oil, the B-36 Peacemaker required a fleet of tanker trucks for each fill-up. At cruising speed the B model’s six Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major R-4360 engines consumed 600 gallons of gas an hour. Each 28 cylinder engine had its own 250 gallon engine oil tank. Each cylinder had two spark spark plugs for a total of 336 per plane."
 
3798j said:
"With a fuel load of 33,626 gallons of aviation gas and 1,500 gallons of engine oil, the B-36 Peacemaker required a fleet of tanker trucks for each fill-up. At cruising speed the B model’s six Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major R-4360 engines consumed 600 gallons of gas an hour. Each 28 cylinder engine had its own 250 gallon engine oil tank. Each cylinder had two spark spark plugs for a total of 336 per plane."
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Holy cow! 28 cylinders! I had no idea they were that big.
 
charlie74 said:
amazing that an aircraft that size would have a single main wheel! (I know they changed it later…)
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Yea they apparently found from the prototype that the single point of contact was too much pressure from the weight of the aircraft and was causing runway and taxiway cracking so they moved to the 4 wheel setup to spread the weight.
 
I think I'll watch Strategic Air Command with Jimmy Stewart later today.
 
There is a non-operational 36 on display at the SAC museum - it is a monster. I've been in a 17 and toured a 29 - they look pretty big in the movies but they don't seem as massive in real life. The 36 is just huge both on screen and in person.
 
Yakko - next time you're near Tucson AZ, check out the "City of Fort Worth" 36 at Pima:

pimaair.org

Convair B-36J - Pima Air & Space

Convair B-36J Peacemaker The B-36 is the largest bomber and the last piston engine powered bomber produced by the United States. First designed to meet a World War II requirement for a plane capable of hitting targets in Germany from bases in the United States the prototype did not fly until...
pimaair.org pimaair.org

City of Fort Worth.jpg


Funny story about the dedication of that a/c ...
 
Another remastered Strategic Air Command edit of bombers, this time the B-47. Fun fact, out of the dozen or so B-47s that still exist I live about an hour from two of them, one at Altus and one at Tinker AFB.

 
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