The B-36 Peacemaker: The Absolute Unit that Carried America to Cold War 

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I’m surprised “Six turning and four burning” isn’t Snoops motto TBH

The take-off scene in the Jimmy Stewart movie, Strategic Air Command is a beautiful cinematic scene involving a B-36 takeoff. Well worth the view!

"Strategic air command" is a cool movie featuring the B-36 if anyone is interested.

The official motto was "Six turning, four burning" but this was modified by most crews to the more accurate "Two turning, two burning, two smoking, two choking and two more unaccounted for."

It actually wasn't ever nuclear powered. It just carried a running reactor while it was flying.

Simon, those planes shown starting at about 12:16 are not Goblins. They are various models of the F-84 Thunderstreak. The Goblin was a much smaller, HIGHLY distinctive looking aircraft.

When I was a kid, this was the plane that really impressed me. It was probably the pusher props in combination with outrigger jet engines that caught my imagination. That Jimmy Stewart movie "Strategic Air Command" features this plane along with a crash. This one really held my attention... ...Until the introduction of the Boeing 747.

The B-36 had a staring role in the 1955 movie Strategic Air Command with Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson.

I’ve always thought of this plane as one of the many stop-gap aircraft that were useful for a relatively short period of time in the couple of decades following World War II when aircraft development was advancing at such a rapid pace.

I was confused by that ADR edit when it cut out and explained the bombers engines but I do appreciate the cat. Thank you for that cat.

So happy you covered this monster of a bomber. I used to be an educator at the Strategic Air Command museum in Ashland Nebraska which has one of the four remaining B36. One of my favorite memories was getting to travel on the sled in the tunnel. Only problem was when they moved the plane into the museum they had to cut it in half and reassemble it just to fit it inside. When they did reassemble it though, the tunnel was misaligned so you can only go halfway down the tunnel on the sled before crawling the rest of the way. They also have the XF-85 goblin, the small fighter plane that could fit inside the peacemaker right next to it and showing just how massive the 36 is.

Many people already fail to comprehend just how big the B-29 was... imagine the superfortress being utterly dwarfed by that nuclear Uberchad.

You do great short documentaries. I did not know this. I was born in '59 and it was all rockets and B-52's for me as a kid. Thanks for all you and your teams hard work.

Having seen the one on display at Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, "behemoth" might be a bit of understatement. It dwarfs the B-52, and anything else on display (Looks like they got a C-5 Galaxy - that would be an interesting comparison and the Boeing 787 Dreamline, which I've seen but it's on display on the other side of the property). It's simply damn big.

It was my honor to meet and befriend an Air Force retiree. He was a crew member on the RB 36, the recon version of the Peacekeeper. He still couldn't say what their missions were or where they flew.

When you mentioned the Xf- 85 goblin you showed photos of the f-84f.

I used to think that the B-36 was an anachronism, a propeller plane in the jet age. Reading the book _Magnesium Overcast_ was an epiphany for me. The first and only time I saw one was at the Air Force Museum, and I was not preprepared for the visual impact. It is huge. Now it was on piers which might have given it a bit more physical presence, but this did allow you to walk under it an peer into the bomb bays, and it was shocking to see how large they were. I went from being disinterested to being a major fan and the book is the second best dedicated aircraft book I have ever read, second only to a book on the XB-70, which remains the very, very best book on a specific airplane I have ever read.

This is the plane my father worked on when he was in SAC 1951-1955😊 It was his favorite plane of all time

What blows my mind is that 3 F-15EXs can carry more ordnance than a B-36 could. It's truly insane how far we've come, both in terms of aerospace engineering and sheer, horrifying destructive ability.

I've seen one in person. All open underneath and on display in Ashland Nebraska. Amazing plane. Cool seeing the blackbird greet you just inside the entrance.

Wow, I guess I never considered how close the unveiling and first flight was to the end of the war. The B-36 must’ve just stunned everyone, especially when seeing it next to the B-29.

I visited the accident site in Newfoundland just over a year ago. Getting to the top of the mountain and seeing the wreckage of the plane still littering the landscape is wild. Took lots of pictures of the wreckage, but had no idea it was such a unique aircraft.

The aircraft shown dropping from the bomb bay is not an XF-85 Goblin but a version of the Republic F-84. Experiments were also carried out with various versions of the F-84 as potential parasite fighters or reconnaissance aircraft.

As a kid, that tunnel connecting compartments looked super dope when watching SAC with Jimmy Stewart.

I had the pleasure of sitting in the pilot’s seat during a tour of a maintenance training B47 at Lowery AFB Denver. I was a Boy Scout and we didn’t fully understand this was a full-on 1960’s recruiting event. BTW, at this time, Lowery AFB was the home of the Air Force Academy. The food was awesome! We were treated like Royalty. I made this trip twice in 3 years. Due to health issues, I wasn’t eligible for service. I was crushed. My cousin on the other hand enlisted after college and retired full colonel.

The ULTIMATE Heavy Heavy! Except for the Big Belly variant of the B-52D, this was General Curtis LeMay’s SAC big stick.

The NB -36H was never powered by the reactor. It was used to test the feasibility of carrying a reactor in an aircraft. It was still powered by avgas and JP.

I've seen the one (only one?) at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum. It's absolutely insane how big it is.

The NB-36H was never actually powered by a reactor. They just modified an existing plane with a reactor to test the radiation issues. The plane had a heavy lead-shielded cockpit, 11-inch leaded glass windows, and many flights running the reactor for experimentation. The next step was to use the reactor to provide the heat source for jet engines. The Soviets did a similar experiment with a modified TU-95, but it was the TU-116. They tested for radiation concerns but never developed a nuke-powered plane. The nuke-powered plane was to be the X-6.

Showed a B17 when referencing the B24.

the story of the B36 I heard is different from what you said: there never was a proposal to use the B36 off super carriers: In the late 1940s, there were not enough nuclear bombs to equip both the Navy and the Air Force- the Air Force proposed to us the B36 as the main delivery platform, while the Navy proposed smaller airplanes operating off of a new generation of super carriers (USS America) One navy pilot actually offered to shot down a B36 to prove it couldn't get thru Soviet air defenses. The Air Force eventually won when some nuclear tests indicated that the navy's carries could not survive a nuclear blast.

My dad was on one at Thule AFB and was part of Project Ice worm .

A Combat Range of 4000 Miles is not enough to fly to Berlin and back. The closest airforce base in the US was Loring (Maine) and it was almost 3500 Miles from there to Berlin. If 4000 refers to the Combat Radius, then yeah, it could.

The retractable turrets look SO cool in operation!

I saw this behemoth at the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH. And let me tell you, the specs are one thing. But standing underneath it really shows just how big it really is.

Saw one at the Air Force Museum in Ohio. Beautiful looking plane.

On December 11, 1953, a B-36D crashed into the Franklin mountains in El Paso, Texas. All nine lives on board were lost. Someone took a picture of it flying low over the city, moments before if crashed into the mountains during a blizzard. You can hike there and visit the site to see the remains of the plane. There is a huge engine and landing gear still there. The engine has remarkable craftsmanship, it's crazy that it was built in the 50's.

Lovely to hear the name of Short Stirling. M.

The Convair B-36 featured prominently in Paramount's 1955 film Strategic Air Command starring James Stewart, who plays a World War II bomber pilot and member of the Air Force Reserve and is forced to crash land in the Arctic. The film features many good aerial shots of B-36s and was primarily filmed at Carswell AFB, Texas, and MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida, and Al Lang Field in nearby St. Petersburg, Florida. One particularly difficult shot was that of Stewart's character, a baseball player, standing on the baseball field at Al Lang Field while a B-36 flies overhead and casts a shadow over him, foreshadowing his imminent recall to active service.

I grew up just outside the front gates of Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona. Peacemakers were all over the storage area when I was a kid. They were amazing. There's one at the Pima Air and Space Museum just south of D-M. It's amazing.

Credit to you for actually getting a correct image of the airplane for once on the thumbnail.

Asked for this one a long time ago and it was well worth the wait! My late grandfather flew B52s and each time i went to the National Museum of the USAF i would pay a visit to their B52 out of respect to him and then just gawk in amazement at the sheer size of the B36 right next to it! Always loved both of these incredible aircraft!

Thanks for the upload. 😊 FYI: You showed a B-29 as a B-50, which was basically an updated 29 with superior engines that were less prone to fires. The B-54 shortly after was basically a bulkier improved B-50 but was canceled in favor of the B-36 Peacemaker.

They had one of these on static display on Chanute AB, Illinois when I lived there as a kid. I was there when the base was closing. I remember watching them tow it to the flight line so it could be dismantled and taken by train to California. I wonder if it is one of the remaining 4. My dad and I went out to the flight late one day after everybody left and poked our heads up inside. It was massive. There’s a tunnel leading from the forward compartment, across the top of the bomb bay to the rear compartment. You have to lay down on this trolley that roles through it.

Simon I was to personally say thank you for the work you do, I am Autistic and also have ADHD and as such I'm a visual learner. I am always fascinated by history of warfare and more recently have startled looking at space exploration. Your videos are informative and have helped me learn a lot. So thanks again.

In 55 one flew over my driveway where my father and I were standing. I was very young and it may have been no higher than 2000 feet if that. Since I used to live near Cape Kennedy I have heard and seen big rockets take off. But the B36 sound was totally different and almost menacing. I have heard nothing like it since!

If you haven't done a megaprojects on the proposed super carrier please do, and if you have, please re post as it sounds like an interesting video.

Strategic Air Command, what a legend.

My grandfather was a pilot in the USAF and flew this thing extensively. He described it as a (poorly) flying dump truck. He used to fly from Fairchild to Guam with regularity...they had to make an emergency landing at Wake Island one time....that plane must have been a sight to see at such a tiny little speck of an airfield in the middle of the pacific.

I’ve seen one in person at Castle Museum. Massive, massive plane. Just saw her yesterday, and you don’t fully understand how big she is until you’re right next to her. Her tires are about 5 feet tall, by the way.

0:53 - Never herd of this plane, 😮 Ah. Always love a Megaprojects on Vehicles, my fav!

My dad was a USAF pilot and flight instructor. He enlisted in the USAAF in 1943 and his first assignment was as a co-pilot on B29s flying out of Saipan. After WWII ended he mustered out and returned home, but was invited back to the newly formed USAF around 1947. While much of his time was again in B29s, KB29s (refueling tanker variant), B50s (and their tanker variant), he was occasionally called upon to fly other multi-engine aircraft, incl. occasional B36. He and a crew were sent to N. Africa (Egypt) to retrieve a B36 in need of repairs. He said that unladen it was able to take off relatively easily with only six of its ten engines operational. But I doubt dad would have ever gone all the way through a 600 point checklist before takeoff! In fact, he was a popular pilot flying the KB29s out of England in the late 1950s because... besides a quick walk around and engine start & warmup procedures... he would "do" the check list during the takeoff roll down the runway! The reason was the sooner they got airborne and arrived on station up by the Finland border with Russia, the sooner they could come home. The refueling tankers were simply assigned to fly figure 8 patterns, ready to gas up any of the planes on patrol, for eight hours. So if they got on station 20 or 30 minutes earlier, they could return home that much sooner. Tankers were kept aloft 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It was the height of the cold war. Sometimes out of sheer boredom they would "poke the bear"... "accidentally" drifting over the border to try to cause Russian fighters to scramble. BTW, another nickname for the B36 was the "flying pencil" due to the long cylindrical fuselage. A third nickname was more vulgar, referencing part of the male anatomy.

Used to go to the SAC Museum as a kid, seeing one of these opened up from beneath was an experience.

At WPAFM, they also have the original landing gear configuration, which was a single tire on the rear landing gear struts. That tire had to be 12’ in diameter. Can’t remember the specs, but ultimately it was decided to use a multi tire bogey as it was much safer and more cost effective.

For many that were stationed at the former Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois may recall seeing a B-36 on display as you marched past it on your way to and from class. While I was attending tech school at Chanute in the mid 80s our group would seek shelter from the sun under this massive planes wings during PT. The plane that was on display at Chanute is the same one that is now on display at Castle Air Museum in CA. Besides this plane, Chanute had a vast display of aircraft. When the base was closed a museum was opened in the old missiles training hanger and was very well outfitted, including an open B-52 cockpit. The museum hosted several scouting events. Unfortunately the museum has also closed.

LOVE TO SEE (at 5:24) RCAF Air Marshall Sir William Avery (Billy) Bishop of WW1 fame! I have no idea why, but happy to see him! Not sure if it's still there - but there used to be a B-36 Nose Hangar at the south end of the airfield at CFB Edmonton (formerly RCAF Station Namao).

I knew a B36 pilot. He told me it had reliability issues. At high altitudes, oil would leak from the engines, run down the propeller blades, and freeze. Then, the frozen balls of oil would break off and shoot through the fuselage. The crew had to stay away from that area. If a B36 crashed, it would burn quickly because it was made from magnesium. There was a concern that if a B36 dropped a nuclear bomb, it would be destroyed by the bomb. He told me the tactic would be to dive before the target to get airspeed up, then climb, release then bomb while climbing so the bomb would continue to gain altitude, and then turn for home. The nukes had a parachute to slow their descent, and hopefully, the bomber would be far enough away that it wouldn't be destroyed. He did say it was a great aircraft, and it scared the Soviets. Some critics may say it wasn't a good strategic bomber. But remember, the best weapon is the one that is never used. Deterence is the best defence. The pilot I knew flew in the Berlin Airlift, then B36s, and finished his career in B52 bombers. He had great stories, including secret missions over China in B52s. All cities in the Soviet Union had two intercontinental balistic missles and one B52 assigned to destroy them. The pilot I knew asked his superior what to do if he got to his target city, and it was already destroyed. The answer was, bomb it again.... war with the Soviet Union would have been a war of annihilation. Watch Strategic Air Command with Jimmy Stuart, a great B36 movie. And Dr Strangelove with Peter Sellers and George C Scott. Amazing movie about nuclear annihilation.

Wonderful Simon, I saw a B-36 fly overhead in Orlando, Florida , USA headed to the Pine Castle AFB, I knew exactly what it was, as my father had put a framed photo of one on my bedroom wall.....I later saw the same Air Force photo on a wall in the movie 'Stragic Air Command' with Jimmy Stewart......for a 5 year old, seeing that plane was impressive......cheers, Paul in Orlando.... p.s. your programs are always top notch....

9:00 Not going to lie, those pop-out deployable turrets look awesome

Fun B-36 fact. The J-47 engines mounted on each wing were actually the Boeing design used on the B-47 bomber.

When I was a child these flew over our house often. We lived between Dallas and Ft. worth in the country at that time. I was 7 years old in 1955 so remember well. Especially the low frequency buzz that rattled things, even when passing over at 10,000+. My X father in law was an engineer at the plant about that time and made several test fly along trips. Said usual shake down was Ft. Worth, Alaska and back. Don’t recall the number but that service ceiling per him was well above 45,000’.

I visited the crash site in Newfoundland 2 years ago, 30min hike from the logging road, most of the wreck is still there covering a very large area, with a memorial at the peak If you find yourself on The Rock be sure to make the time to see it

That was a good one, cheers megaprojects team

It was an informative and wonderful historical coverage video about a US designed (Peace Maker) B-36 bomber .designed during WW2 and served western hemispheres during the early years of the Cold War channel

The first versions of the B-36 did not yet have the four jet engines. The B-36D version was the first model with four jet engines. Afterwards, all other existing versions also received these four engines.

There was a version planned the b36C featuring forward faceing gas turbine engines called Vdt180's turbocharged compounds, this was before the yb60 , also as far as movies go next to strategic air command a movie called 'high frontier' was shelved , b36's can be spotted in John wayne's jet pilot and william holden toward the unknown

Simon casually referencing a never-built supercarrier, knowing full well that we'll want that video next.

Thanks for the wrap up on this really special plane. Just one remark, the experimental nuclear reactor in the NB-36 was only brought to criticality in flight and produced heat. It did not power the plane, this was still done by the conventional 10 (wow - ten!) powerplants.

You can see one at Castle Air Museum outside of Merced California. Just take HW 99 south of Modesto. I saw it years ago, in a non bomber configuration. It looked like a corn silo on its side with wings. Amazing aircraft!

Never knew we had a broken arrow event here in ABQ, NM - thanks for always teaching me something!

I remember them at loring a.f.b. in northern maine , In fact i have pictures of them when they had a openhouse at the base in the early 60's.

19.01 The NB-36h wasn't powered by the nuclear reactor it carried...which was termed Aircraft Shield Test Reactor, ASTR.....the purpose was to test radiation levels in the aircraft. To this end, the front compartment was redesigned with lead lining...and weighed 105,000 lb... 47 flights were made before the aircraft was decommissioned in 1957.

B-36 crew members told of the extremely long fuselage wiggling back and forth during flight, which they could see when using one of the domed observation windows.

Can you do an article on the USS United States? It seems like a great ( if fictitious) Megaproject video!

I think the title "production aircraft with the most engines" goes to the Dornier DO-X. Granted, only 3 were produced, but they did have 12 engines, each. I believe the biggest problem with the B-36, was either engine overheating, or carb icing. That, and the pre-flight inspection for one aircraft took 8 hours! There's a total of 5 B-36's that still survive, plus the XC-99, which was a cargo version of the aircraft. The 5th B-36 is in pieces, in the Walt Soplata collection.

It’s displayed at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Nebraska, along with the SR-71 Black Bird, U-2, and the F-117, there are many more cool planes to see also.

I would love it if u cover the super carrier

You should do a video on the USS United States Super Carrier, I would love to hear about that.

Fun random fact- the Wright Flyer, in its first ever powered flight, flew less distance than the wingspan of that plane!

Carswell AFB used to have one of these in their boneyard. Very impressive!

When I saw this video on my RU-vid app the time covered up the a and the n in titan. So I clicked on it anyways because sure Simon has to tie it all together

A B36 crashed a couple of miles from Melksham in Wiltshire UK, apparently it had crossed the Atlantic and was supposed to land at Fairford but it was fogged in as where all other suitable air bases, so the crew bailed out and it just ran out of fuel and crashed into a wood. According to a few older residents the whole incident was hushed up and no mention of it appeared in either the national or local press although as small boys they went to have a look and find souvenirs until chased of by US air force MPs.

The MiG-15 could get high enough be level with a B-36, but at that altitude it couldn't keep up or maneuver to get a good shot. My grandpa new some of the pilots of the American interceptors that tried to intercept the B-36 in war games. There was just no way for the early jet engines in the fighters to be of use at that altitude.

It would seem that history will come to recognize that this amazing piece of machinery was correctly named. It was, admittedly, peace you agree to when a gun is aimed at you, an uneasy peace, but the red ball never dropped during this mighty craft's service. You have to think that the powers that were in the USSR had a meeting, drank some vodka, and wisely decided that trying their luck vs.SAC , the USAF, the USN, and the US army was attempting as we poker players say " pushing a weak hand "..... Great video.

It's unofficial slogan "2 turning, 2 burning, 2 choking, 2 smoking, and 2 more unaccounted for".

AWESOME! Thank you!

Wish i was around when the peacemaker was around. They were built right down the street from were i live here in Ft.Worth.

That video was very interesting. I had heard of the Peacemaker, but never knew very much about it. And I'd like to learn more about the U.S.S. United States, that gigantic carrier that was never built. She sounds like a Cold War version of that iceberg carrier proposed during World War II.

So can we get the editors to not do unnecessary radio voice distortions over Simon? It just makes it difficult to hear what he's saying in that moment and I care more about what he is saying than the videography provided.

Can you do one on the XB-19 next please !

16:46 that mig says us airforce…. I love America

Here is the thing about being on the bleeding edge, ESPECIALLY in WW2 and the era after: We were pushing limits beyond safe known limits the entire time with materials sciences often lagging behind what we wanted. We look back and see the flaws through the eyes of folks that have had decades of high speed, high weight flying machines made from materials that were not even dreamed of yet in the 1940s-1950s. They also pushed limits without knowing how materials behave under certain conditions yet, and folks at the time often accepted the fact they were pushing new limits and the dangers that came with that. There was a time in this country that we accepted the consequences to everything, and people were willing to take their chances to help protect the country and help push new technologies into the future.

The "test" NB-36 only carried a working nuclear reactor that didn't power anything aboard the plane. There was only a 3 man crew in the extreme nose, shielded by at least an inch of lead plate to test the plane. The plane was based at Carswell in Ft. Worth, Texas and was parked at the end of the runway between flights and the Reactor lowered into a shielded pit under the airplane between flights.

The B-36 was never meant, nor would it have been possible to launch such a large plane from the United States-class super carriers. Being a USAF project the B-36 was in fact a direct competitor to the United States-class in the role of a nuclear deterrent, and was one of the reasons the ships were canceled.

Been awhile since I watched it, but I think this is the plane Jimmy Stewart flew in Strategic Air Command.

Wasn’t this the same bomber in an early scene in the movie Strategic Air Command with Jimmy Steward and June Allyson?

-I flew at my airline in 2007 with Wally Soplata. His dad collected junk airplanes and kept them around his farm in Ohio. He managed to get half of a fuselage of a B-36. A company called "Plane Tags" bought a section of the fuselage and produced luggage tags with the B-36 details on one side and a name and phone number on the other side. I have a B-36 part on my roll-away bag, a Japan Airlines 767 part on my backpack, and one of my Porsche 981 Cayman S keys has a Messerschmitt Bf-109 part attached.

I saw one at the Pima Air Museum, but it was off by itself and not accessible; it was either undergoing restoration or it was being contemplated. I’m pretty sure I read the restoration was finished and that it is a static display. Maybe a flyover is in order. Edit, and there it is, parked next to a B-52. The satellite view shows just how much larger the Peacemaker is compared to the Stratofortress.

A few years ago there was a B-36 project available from the Soplata Collection No one would take on the restoration and it was scrapped and turned into jewelry.