A group of dedicated volunteers, many of them retired Convair employees who had worked on the original B-36 assembly line, spent 40,000 man-hours restoring the plane. The aircraft is officially owned by the National Museum of the United States Air Force (NMUSAF), but was on loan to the B-36 Peacemaker Museum.

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 aircraft. The B-36 was capable of intercontinental flight without refueling.

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.

2023年2月12日 · With a range of 10,000 miles and a maximum payload of more than 43 tons, B-36 was capable of intercontinental flight without refueling. The B-36 had an unsurpassed …

On February 12, 1959, the last operational flight of the B-36 took place, as 52-2827 flew from Biggs AFB to Fort Worth. It remained on display for several years there, until its move to the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson where it is currently located. The last Peacemaker to be scapped was S/N 49-2712, on July 25, 1961.

2025年2月12日 · The Last Peacemaker: This gigantic airplane, a Convair B-36J-75-CF Peacemaker, serial number 52-2827, was the very last of the ten-engine strategic bombers built by the Convair Division of General Dynamics at Fort Worth, Texas. It was completed 1 July 1954.

From its origin in 1947 until its last flight in 1957, the roar of the massive 10-engine RB-36 Peacemaker over South Dakota was a conspicuous reminder of SAC's mission to project strategic power and deter potential aggressors from starting a major international conflict.

Making the last B-36 flight ever, the aircraft on display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force flew to Wright Field from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, on April 30, 1959. The serial number of this B-36J is 52-2220. All photos below were taken by the author during September, 2016.

The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston engined aircraft ever made and the biggest wingspan combat aircraft ever built, although there have been larger military transports. The B-36 was the first bomber capable of delivering thermonuclear weapons from …

2025年3月3日 · The B-36, 52-2827, currently located at the Pima Air & Space Museum was originally retired to Fort Worth, Texas. Christened Spirit of Fort Worth, this particular bomber had the distinction of being the very last B-36 to ever roll out of the Convair assembly plant.