HOME | DD
DouglasCastleman β Peacemaker
#aircraft #airforce #airplane #aviation #aviationart #bomber #coldwar #flying #military #pilot #usaf
Published: 2018-08-01 19:28:04 +0000 UTC; Views: 2273; Favourites: 95; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description
"Convair RB-36H Peacemaker," 8" x 24" oil on canvas painting of the huge bomber from the 1950s. This example is from the 28th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, Ellsworth AFB. This airplane survives as a static display at Castle AFB Aviation Museum in California.Related content
Comments: 27
π: 0 β©: 0
π: 0 β©: 0
π: 0 β©: 0
Awesome painting and interesting aircraft...but why peacemaker?
π: 0 β©: 2
π: 1 β©: 1
Name worked...I had never though about it that way, but its kind of true
π: 1 β©: 1
π: 0 β©: 0
Thank you very much. It was the name the USAF gave to the airplane...although, like most, I'm sure it was rarely used by the crews, who tend to give their own nicknames to their planes, like "BUFF" for the B-52 Stratofortress.
π: 0 β©: 1
Thanks for info! And yes, the nicknames are interesting, I like U-2s Dragon Lady especially
π: 0 β©: 0
My favorite plane of all time! I know her well! She's under restoration at the moment.Β
π: 0 β©: 1
Awesome...that restoration is most welcome...too historical to let wear away in the elements of Central California.
π: 0 β©: 0
Your aviation paintings continue to blow me away. 
π: 0 β©: 1
Thanks very much, eightyator.
π: 0 β©: 1
You are very welcome.Β
π: 0 β©: 0
The last World War II bomber, the genesis of which started in early 1941 (work began at Convair in 1942) when it was feared England would fall and the US would need a bomber that could fly from bases in North America. The B-29 was at first just a step toward what would be the B-36 Peacemaker. When it turned out England was safe, work on the Peacemaker was placed to the back of the queue and all the work was put into the Boeing project for an "intermediate bomber" for use against Japan. The first flight of the '36 was in August 1946 and production ran from 1946-1954 with the D and later models having four jet engines mounted on the wings: "Six Turning, Four Burning."
The fast evolution of jet technology cut the Peacemaker's life short and even though an all-jet model, the Convair YB-60 was developed, the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress ultimately got the job (and still has it). Overall only 382 B-36 were produced.
π: 0 β©: 1
There was no way the YB-60 was going to beat out the all new B-52...main reason being the very thick wing it had (with too much drag). It was at least 100 mph slower than the 52, using the same engines and layout. I've read the genesis of this plane actually began during the Battle of Britain, when it really appeared that England might fall.
π: 0 β©: 1
The YB-60 was, at best, an updated old design from during the age of the prop plane. The Stratofortress was the better overall design from the engines to the shape of the wings and fuselage and using the knowledge and experience from the B-36 and the mostly forgotten B-47. The B-52 is so reliable that when the first generation of those who built and operated it is gone, the BUFF will still be in service. Probably for as long as a human crew is physically required.
The idea of an intercontinental bomber can arguably be traced back to air power theorists coming out of the First World War.Β
π: 0 β©: 0
Is the triangular tail decoration a regular and systematic insignia, or a one off?
π: 0 β©: 1
The triangular tail markings are for the 28th SRW...this one is a bit strange, as the S isn't at all centered...but I paint them the way they were, not what might "look right."
The tail markings on the actual airplane on display is mostly gone now...but still a very impressive display.
π: 0 β©: 0
Thanks, David.
π: 0 β©: 1
Good picture and good plane, but like people say: Β«two turning, two burning, two joking, two smoking and two more unaccounted forΒ».
π: 0 β©: 1
Excellent representation.
While it was impressive as the only bomber of the time that could haul the Mk-16/17 monsters nonstop to the USSR, in its time, this was the SR-71.
They stripped down a B-36 and loaded it with cameras.
She could run a 54,000 ft above the contemporary jet fighters for a few years.
NB even carried a test nuclear reactor.
Now those were the good old days.
π: 0 β©: 1
Thank you, Don...And pretty interesting it was first thought about during the Battle of Britain, in case England lost...and we'd have to bomb Germany all the way from the East Coast.
π: 0 β©: 1
The Germans at the time also had an Amerika Bomber program.Β
But the B-36 wasn't living in a vacuum when you consider that the B-52 was considered as a turboprop.
Turbine could have changed the whole story on the B-36, i.e. the Bear.
It was something that until the B-52, the B-36 was the only Lower 48 to USSR unrefuelled capable bomber.
The HALFMOON war plan of 1948 committed the B-29s and B-50s to a one way mission.
π: 0 β©: 0