know I am coming to this this thread late but I have picture of the B-36 I took myself when I was at the Air Force museum in Dayton. It is huge.
I would recommend a visit to this facility it dwarfs the Air & Space Museum.
Some other Pics if any one is interested.
Yah, we like it. They’re always rotaing aircraft around so you never know what to expect. There are buildings on base where they did load testing on the B36 and I’ve seen pictures of it hanging from it’s tail.
This is why I love the SDMB. Thanks, pullin, and everyone else who has participated in this thread so far. My question may not have been (entirely) answered, but I’ve learned a lot.
I can’t believe all the tidbits of information that came up from reading about this aircraft.
It was originally conceived of during WW-II to be a trans-Atlantic bomber as a contingency if England Fell. It would have been capable of doing round trips without refueling, fly at altitudes that were difficult for fighters and deliver 10 times the payload of a B-17.
I mentioned that I saw a picture of the B-36 being structurally tested at Wright Patterson and I found the same picture on the Wiki page where they talk about it. I’ve been in this building and it’s huge inside. It’s tough to gain perspective when standing in it.
The XC-99 cargo version is in storage at Wright Patterson:
Disassembly of the aircraft began at the former Kelly AFB in April 2004. Portions of the airframe were airlifted from the Kelly Annex at Lackland Air Force Base to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. The remaining parts will be airlifted as opportunity permits.[1] A full restoration is expected to be performed by the restoration crew of the Air Force Museum, though no timetable exists at this time. Following a complete restoration the aircraft is expected to be displayed inside in one of the Museum’s new hangars. Like its relative the B-36, it is expected to become a showpiece of the Museum.
The original B-36 at Wright Patterson was sold to Walter Soplata and the fuselage can be seen in birds-eye view at MSN Live (Owens Rd, Newbury, OH 44065). There is also a Google Earth marker for Walter Soplata Aviation Collection.
The jet engines had shutters on them. They closed when not in use. If you watch the movie Strategic Air Command you can see these in the closed position as the planes taxi around.
The Cessna 336/337 was never a big seller, and went out of production in 1980, give or take. Beech gave up on the too-expensive Starship several years back. There have never been a great number of pusher planes, and with (so far as I know) nothing in production now, their numbers are dwindling.
There are still new pushers being made, but they’re mostly in the homebuilt market which most people aren’t familiar with.
