Convair B-36 Peacemaker
1949-59

Owner's Workshop Manual

Haynes Publishing

Reviewed by John Ham

Photographed with a crowd of Liliputian humans or parked next to a puny looking B-29 Superfortress, the first impression of the B-36 is its huge size. 

Everything was big: four cavernous bomb bays; a 7 foot high walk through wing root; 336 spark plugs for the six pusher engines. 

Problems caused by its huge size spawned innovative solutions and new technologies: ac instead of dc powered electrical systems; metal adhesives for skin panels eliminating thousands of weighty rivets; a four wheel undercarriage to reduce the ground pressure from a runway cracking single wheel. The colossal weight of a laden aircraft meant a continual battle to reduce weight to maintain performance and range. Underwing turbojets were added to boost takeoff speeds; retracting gun turrets to reduce drag. 

Built as a very long range bomber under accelerated re-arming concurrency programmes, the earliest versions suffered reliability issues – one bomber crashed ditching its atomic bomb into the sea. Nuclear bombing posed fresh challenges requiring solutions to protect airframe and crew from blast and radiation.

B-36 variants included the RB-36 reconnaissance planes that clandestinely mapped Russia, located factories and military sites, parasite adaptations carrying jet fighters such as the stunted Goblin released to counter enemy interceptors, cargo and all-jet powered versions. 

A lifetime passion of the writer, the B-36 is a fascinating “missing link” in military aviation spanning a time of evolutionary change from piston engine to jet aircraft and missiles and a captivating read. 

Available online from http://www.haynes.com/

Images and Text by Copyright © 2020 by John Ham
Page created 30 October, 2020
Last updated 30 October, 2020

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