In addition, the museum is home to aBoeing B-52 Stratofortressand aRockwell B-1B Lancer.
Yet, as military aircraft go, nothing compares to the early Cold War B-36 strategic bomber.
It was designed to be capable of intercontinental flight without refueling.
A giant Convair B-36 in flight with its new jet pods during a demonstration for President Harry S. Truman at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. Image: NARA
Yet, the aircrafts development began seven years earlier to reach Europe from North America.
Efforts began to develop such a bomber.
The bombers were then operated by the 7th and 11th Heavy Bomb Groups of the Eighth Air Force.
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
The 8,100-mile (13,036 km) raid went undetected by local defenses!
Obviously, U.S. Air Force officials thought otherwise, and a showdown ensued.
That led to a Congressional investigation in 1949, which vindicated the original decision to buy the Peacemaker.
Overhead view of a Convair B-36 Peacemaker in flight over Cincinnati, Ohio. Image: NARA
The bomb weighed 21 tonnes and was 24 feet (7.3 meters) in length.
When not in use, six of the remotely aimed turrets could retract behind sliding panels.
The engines were later upgraded to six R-4360-41 engines and four 5,200-pound trust General Electric J47-19 single-shaft turbojets.
Aerial view of Yokota Air Base in Japan showing U.S. Air Force B-36 aircraft assembled for Strategic Air Command’s Operation White Horse training exercise in 1957. Image: NARA
The B-36H was outfitted with a new bombsight.
Some strategic reconnaissance aircraft carried a crew of 22.
Did the Aircraft Keep the Peace?
A Convair B-36 Peacemaker and a Northrop YB-49 Flying Wing pass the White House during a 1949 flight over Washington D.C. Image: NARA
However, its production was short-lived which was common for the era ending in August 1954.
Many planes of the era were rotated in and out of service due to rapidly advancing technologies.
In 1958, the B-36 was retired from service following the introduction of the faster B-52 Stratofortress.
Side view of nose of a B-36 assigned to the 4925th Test Group (Atomic) and was part of the Continental Nuclear Test Program at Indian Springs Air Force Base, Nevada. Image: NARA
Two additional bombers had been on display but have since been cut up for scrap.
It was a role not unfamiliar to Stewart.
During World War II, Stewart was a decorated bomber pilot who rose to the rank of colonel.
This underside view of the B-36 Peacemaker shows the plane’s six piston engines in the push configuration. Image: NARA
He retired as a brigadier general in 1968.
The designation Peacemaker may be the most apt of any aircraft.
A B-36 remote gun turret on display in the Cold War Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Image: U.S. Air Force
A B-36 Peacemaker flies behind Convair’s XC-99. The XC-99 was a jumbo-sized military transport that could carry 400 fully equipped soldiers. Image: NARA
Workmen at the Consolidated Aircraft plant in Forth Worth, Texas hook up control cables on the rudder of a B-36 strategic bomber, the heavyweight champion of the Air Force. Image: James Evans/NARA
A Convair B-36 Peacemaker is inspected by the Men’s Dinner Club of Oklahoma City on May 10, 1949. A B-29 can also be seen in the background. Image: DVIDS
A formation of B-36 strategic bombers fly over Washington D.C. during the inaugural festivities for President Harry S. Truman. Image: Abbie Rowe/National Park Service
An all jet version of the Peacemaker was developed as the B-36G. It was later renamed as the YB-60, shown here. A B-36F is in the background. Image: NARA
