Sabrejet Posted March 30, 2012 Share #1 Posted March 30, 2012 This is a clip from the classic movie "Strategic Air Command". The crew may be actors but the hardware is most certainly the real thing!! :w00t: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wvEzhyY9F4...feature=related Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uplandmod Posted March 30, 2012 Share #2 Posted March 30, 2012 I remember reading somewhere how difficult it was to get that shot where Jimmy Stewart is playing baseball and the Peacemaker flies over, I'm sure the focus puller had a nightmare setting that shot up! Wonderful movie, I wish I could have seen a B-36 fly in real life.... : ( Leonardo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluehawk Posted March 30, 2012 Share #3 Posted March 30, 2012 I feel lucky to have gotten close to a Peacemaker, twice daily on the way walking to and from Hangar 2 at Chanute. My p/p barracks was nearby. That white rectangular sign at the nose stood about 6' tall, to give some idea of scale. When the base closed it was taken apart and reassembled at Castle AFB. (Photo by Barry Heiser in 1964) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Herd Posted March 30, 2012 Share #4 Posted March 30, 2012 I'm sorry I never saw one in the air, but I heard one once. I can remember one night when I was a kid and the whole house shook and my Dad told me it was a B-36. As big as they are it is really cramped in the nose. The SAC Museum would have crawl through the planes days and there was always a line to go in the B-36. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 30, 2012 Author Share #5 Posted March 30, 2012 Here's a B-36 squadron patch...26th BS (H) out of Carswell AFB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluehawk Posted March 30, 2012 Share #6 Posted March 30, 2012 Another Chanute view, showing scale (Photo by MattFitz): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 30, 2012 Author Share #7 Posted March 30, 2012 When a flight of those B-36s flew overhead virtually everything not nailed down must've vibrated... big time!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack's Son Posted March 30, 2012 Share #8 Posted March 30, 2012 I've not seen one up-close, but I love the movie! June Allison and Doris Day..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 30, 2012 Author Share #9 Posted March 30, 2012 I've not seen one up-close, but I love the movie! June Allison and Doris Day..... They don't make 'em like that any more JS. (nor the movies either! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Herd Posted March 30, 2012 Share #10 Posted March 30, 2012 To remember one airplane flying over my house back in the mid-1950's, a flight of them would have people running in panic. The windows rattled and the sofa shook. Later in the 1950's Lincoln AFB was opened and B-47's flew over all the time. It was fun to watch all the B-47's take-off on an alert, the turned black with jet exhaust, the planes toward the back had their wings flap like birds and it still was not as loud as that B-36. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack's Son Posted March 30, 2012 Share #11 Posted March 30, 2012 They don't make 'em like that any more JS. (nor the movies either! ) AMEN!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uplandmod Posted March 30, 2012 Share #12 Posted March 30, 2012 To remember one airplane flying over my house back in the mid-1950's, a flight of them would have people running in panic. The windows rattled and the sofa shook. Later in the 1950's Lincoln AFB was opened and B-47's flew over all the time. It was fun to watch all the B-47's take-off on an alert, the turned black with jet exhaust, the planes toward the back had their wings flap like birds and it still was not as loud as that B-36. Wow! What a memory!!! Leonardo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rr01 Posted March 30, 2012 Share #13 Posted March 30, 2012 Here's another video: I'll try to post the most recent photos from a few years ago on the restoration of the RB~36 now on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson. I have a lot of images of the interior which might take a little longer to find and "downsize" but I'll get what I can on here later. There were many final stages to that project but one I can tell you about is repairing the tires. Tractor wheel tubes were substituted for the original tubes. Yes, tubes. The one main gear tire I worked on, the tube was dated 1958 and still held air. The rubber on the outer side of a damaged tube was 1/4" thick. Of course we had none of the specialized wheel tools that came with the plane so putting the wheels back on was a minor ballet akin to the ballet scene in Fantasia. One of the stories told to us by the guys who had flown these planes and would stop by to offer "technical" advice was that the runways they normally operated from had to be 7' thick. Don't know the truth of the stories but these were interesting guys who were a part of that amazing time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rr01 Posted March 30, 2012 Share #14 Posted March 30, 2012 I have three pictures in sequence. The first one shows the redimentary but effective way in which the wing was lifted into place; our biggest forklift with a couple guys inside the manlift attachment doing the initial jockeying while our biggest crane tries to get the right angle for mating. Sorry for the lack of closer detail but I'm a volunteer and I don't get any closer to that type action than my Tricare will allow me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rr01 Posted March 30, 2012 Share #15 Posted March 30, 2012 Field expedience; a come~along and angle iron cinching the two wing parts together. Each side took several days just to mate because the wings were never really intended to break down this far so the holes were a bear to match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uplandmod Posted March 30, 2012 Share #16 Posted March 30, 2012 Very Cool RR01, I would love to see more pictures, the B-36 always facinated me, I even build the 1/72 Monogram model kit, that kit was a monster! I've yet to see one in person but its on my list of things to do. Yes I read somewhere about the thickness of the runway. My uncle was in the Marines in the 1950's and went over the Air force later on, one of his jobs was to guard B-36's on the runway. They were state of the art back in day and he was never allowed to go inside one as it was a top secret on what the interiors looked like, at least thats what he told me. Leonardo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rr01 Posted March 30, 2012 Share #17 Posted March 30, 2012 I could be wrong but I believe these brackets were fabricated off site. There were two of us working inside until it just got too hot, usually around 11 AM. Safety by the staff and us volunteers in particular was an absolute. The staff did a tremendous job painting and their work is seen each day out in "the yard". I have many more pixs as well as my videos of the rollout but there just isn't enough room here and I don't do social media. PM me an E~mail and I'll try to find my shots of the interior that I can send back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootsandbooks Posted March 31, 2012 Share #18 Posted March 31, 2012 In the early 60's one of my running buddies' father was a volunteer who worked on restoring the "City of Fort Worth" B-36 when it was parked at Amon Carter Airport. Whenever he drove his dad's car the gate key would be on the ring and we would stop by and explore late at night. Once I crawled from the bombay doors all the way to the nose and back. It was quite difficult in the dark because we were afraid any flashlight would be detected. I don't recall any specifics and would not have known what to look for anyway. Here are a couple of accounts of the many attempts to restore and display the plane which is the one referenced above now in Pima Arizona. Cowtown The Last B-36 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted March 31, 2012 Share #19 Posted March 31, 2012 Here's a link of a B-36 filmed by the Japanese Air Self Defense Force (no sound, but nice angle) http://dvice.com/archives/2011/11/darpa-moves-int.php The B-36 at the Strategic Air and Space Musuem in Ashland, NE just dominates the floor... it's tough to get a decent photo angle on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluejacket Posted March 31, 2012 Share #20 Posted March 31, 2012 Another Chanute view, showing scale (Photo by MattFitz): Bluehawk, Thanks for posting this photo. I haven't seen this plane in 40 years, and like you, marched by it for nine months on my way to and from Avionics Instrument classes. We had a story we always told visitors who asked about the engines being on the back of the wings. We explained that the plane was built at a time when it was necessary to use airplanes in case we would have had to bomb the USSR. Since these bombers flew so high, the ground observers could only see them using binoculars, and when they saw the plane, the engines would make them think the planes were actually leaving the USSR...NOT attacking it. I remember it worked most of the time, especially with my girlfriend who came to Chanute to visit. That is it worked until she asked why we airmen were all laughing so hard. Remember the never ending stream of home-made chocolate chip cookies at the USO??? Great memories. Thanks again. Bluejacket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share #21 Posted March 31, 2012 The "office" of a B-36! :w00t: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share #22 Posted March 31, 2012 Maintenance. Now that's what I call a wing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share #23 Posted March 31, 2012 ...and a tail-fin several storeys high!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share #24 Posted March 31, 2012 The communications tunnel fore > aft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share #25 Posted March 31, 2012 All lined up and ready for take-off at a moment's notice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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