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Comment count is 7
RockBolt - 2014-06-22

The first built this plane with 3 big circus looking single wheels on the landing gear, till they realized it was so heavy it would damage visually every runway on earth if they tried to land with them.

Also the very first time the AEC let the Air Force borrow a real nuke to train with the B-36 engines froze up and they had to dump the bomb before crashing the plane on the coast of British Columbia.

At one point they entertained the idea of attaching "parasite" fighters to the underside of the bomber like on old zeppelins because no escorts could keep up with the range of it. After nearly causing several midair collisions they rethought the necessity of it.

It was the only plane that could carry the heaviest nuclear bomb ever made, the Mark 17, which weighted 41,000 pounds. In 1957, south of Albuquerque a Mark 17 fell out of a B-36 (straight through the bomb bay doors) and high explosive detonated in a field. The loss of the weight of it reportedly would surge the plane into the air 1000 feet. They didn't mention to the public that it was a hydrogen bomb till the 1980's.

The size and wonky proportions of the B-36 makes it a hell of a thing to see in person, there are only a few left in museums (Pima in AZ, the SAC Museum in Nebraska, Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio and Castle Museum on Cali). Here's some photos if you've made it this far:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rocbolt/sets/72157631349568914/


Old People - 2014-06-22

Damn, I'd never heard of the B-36 before now.
I'm glad we've won for the time being, but I think living in the 50s through the 80s would have depressed the hell out of me.


SolRo - 2014-06-22

let's just call it what it is, a flying giant silver dildo.


Lurchi - 2014-06-23

check out the landing gear with treads

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:B-36_tracked_gear_edit.jpg


Scrotum H. Vainglorious - 2014-06-23

I've seen the one at Castle and man it is fucking huge. It dwarfs everything out there including the b52. They have a mockup of the largest nuke it could carry and the damn thing was as big as a bus. You guys need to see this bomber in person before you die.


Oscar Wildcat - 2014-06-23

I suspect that was the original plan, was for all of us to see it before we died.


RockBolt - 2014-06-23

Yeah, this is the Mark 17 Hydrogen Bomb-

http://i.imgur.com/68xHQnp.jpg

After that they were able to start making them physically smaller


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