The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" [N 1] is a strategic bomber built by Convair and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 is the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft ever built, although it was exceeded in span and weight by the one-off Hughes H-4 Hercules. It has the longest wingspan of any combat ...

Early models of the B-36 Peacemaker intercontinental bomber relied on concentrated fire from multiple gun turrets for protection from fighters. This concept had been used in World War II bombers, and the B-36 was the last U.S. bomber to employ massed gun turrets for defense.

Responding to the U.S. Army Air Forces' requirement for a strategic bomber with intercontinental range, Consolidated Vultee (later Convair) designed the B-36 during World War II. The airplane made its maiden flight in August 1946, and in June 1948 the Strategic Air Command received its first operational B-36.

General arrangement of a late model B-36 illustrates the upper gun turrets in the extended position. Two turrets, each equipped with two 20mm cannon could be extended from behind sliding doors at three positions, two above and one below the fuselage.

2021年7月26日 · When America needed a club with which to threaten the Russians, Convair produced the six-engine—eventually 10—B-36 long-range heavy bomber. It was the largest and heaviest piston-engine airplane ever to go into production. The B-36 was nicknamed the Peacemaker, with a nod to the infamous Colt six-shooter.

2024年10月19日 · The Convair B-36 strategic bomber was envisioned as a way to strike Nazi Germany from the United States. It instead became a long-range nuclear bomber to oppose the Soviet Union. Image: NARA. Yet, as military aircraft go, nothing compares to the early Cold War B-36 strategic bomber. Ready to Go the Distance

2022年6月30日 · Named the “Peacemaker”, this B-36’s turrets can retract out of the compartment to brutally bring peace to its foes. Each turret had two 20mm cannons fitted to it to really demonstrate its peace-making ways.

As mentioned, the B-36 fleet was tasked with the nuclear strike mission and could carry several fission bombs; from 1953, fusion weapons were available, with the B-36 carrying two Mark 17 "Runts", with a weight of 19,050 kilograms (42,000 pounds) each.

2023年10月3日 · The B-36J was introduced as a high-altitude strategic bomber variant and brought along increased fuel stores for improved range, a reinforced undercarriage, and tail-gun-only defensive armament. 33 of this type were completed. The B-36J featured a length of 49.4 meters with a wingspan of 70 meters and a height of 14.25 meters.

The defensive armament of the Model B consists of 2 x 20mm guns in the nose, 2 x 20mm guns in the stern and 2 x 20mm guns above the 6 retractable fuselage turrets, for a total of 16 guns. Its bomb load can reach 86,000 pounds, but the total exercise capacity is closer to 72,000 pounds.