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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 0144.PDF
92 FLIGHT, 25 January 1951 In the left-hand view, showing the complete nose section of a B-36, visible features of interest are the forward guns ; bomb-aimer's panel ; cockpit enclosure and astrodome, with emergency exit below. and somewhat to the rear ; gun-sighting blister ; radar fairing ; and twin, steerob/e nosewhcels. The black parallel lines to the rear of the sighting blister indicate the limits of the sliding door covering the upper barbette." In the lower picture the rear sighting-blisters, tai! surfaces and tail gun position are shown. y --y^S VISITING GIANTS . . . Bartlett himself—as "in excess of 435 m.p.h." Service ceiling is " over 45,000ft." The jets remain in action until the target area is cleared. They are, moreover, a valuable corrective for asymmetric power conditions arising from engine damage or failure, and with their aid a B-36 having two inoperative piston engines can take off (the redundant propellers having already been shipped aboard an attend- ant C-124) and return to base. Jet power was used during the trip to England whenever bombing attacks were simulated at unnamed points en route. When Lieutenant Horton's aircraft had descended to about 30,000ft over the English coast, it began to receive the attentions of a strong reception committee of Vampires and Meteors, whose manoeuvres seem to have made a deep im- pression on the bomber's crew. The sixteen loaded cannon were not, however, brought to bear for fear of accident. All the B-36s carried full ammunition and a simulated bomb load. On every long-range flight, in fact, they operate at maximum weight, for General Le May is insistent that the American people shall get the utmost value out of the 2,100- 2,200 dollars which is the hourly operating cost of a B-36. By the same token, the General insists that simulated attacks should be made on a number of targets on every long-range flight; during 15-20 hours in the air a B-36 might go through the motions of attack on five, six, or even eight occasions, using radar, photography, or other means to represent the bombing. A brief description of the B-36D, based on our own observations and on the latest information supplied by the makers, seems timely. The design was supervised by I. M. Laddon, who was also responsible for the Liberator, Catalina and other famed Convair types. The wing measures 230ft in span, has an area of 4,772 sq ft, and is of an N.A.C.A. laminar-flow section; it is mounted slightly forward of the fuselage mid-point. The total area of the electrically- operated flaps, which are in three sections on each side of the fuselage, is 519 sq ft—greater than the total mainplane area of the four-engined Handley Page Marathon. All control surfaces are manually operated through the medium of spring-tabs. Over the greater part of its 162ft length the fuselage is of circular section. The total area of the fuselage skin is 5,635 sq ft, and the volume, 17,724 cu ft. The pressurized forward and aft cabin spaces total 3,924 cu ft Extending the entire length of the bomb-bay section, on the port side of the fuselage, is a pressurized, magnesium communications tunnel, 85ft long and 2ft in diameter, through which transport is afforded by a four-wheeled trolley. The armament of six- teen 20 mm cannon is disposed in six remotely-controlled retractable barbettes, and in nose and tail positions. The designed bomb-load, for a 10,000-mile range, was 10,000 1b, but for an unspecified distance a load of 84,000 lb is possible. The six piston engines are Pratt and Whitney Wasp Major R-4360-41s, developing a total of 21,000 h.p.; they drive 19ft reversible-pitch Curtiss propellers. The four under- slung jets are axial-flow General Electric J-47s, which add 20,000 lb of thrust (equivalent to about 19,000 h.p.) to the power of the piston engines. The complete main bogie undercarriage units weigh together over 17,000 lb—a figure some 2,600 lb less than that for the original single-wheel main units. The nosewheel is of steerable twin-wheel type. Reluctantly leaving the B-36, we were conducted into the awesome presence of the three C-124 transports, the sheer bulk of which can be appreciated better from examination of the photograph on p. 90 than from the most apt descrip- tion. The C-124 is the largest military transport in pro- duction; it spans 173ft 3in, is 127ft 2in long and 48ft 3in high. The wing, power plants and tail are those of the C-74 Globemaster I, seen in Europe during the Berlin Air Lift operations, but the fuselage is totally new and of much greater capacity. Clam-shell nose doors afford an opening lift 8in high and lift 4in wide. There is a folding ramp of appropriate dimensions. With the removable inter- mediate deck in place 200 fully-equipped troops can be accommodated in the unobstructed fuselage space—77ft long, 13ft wide and 12ft lOin high. Centrally disposed is an electric lift for loading cargo. Certainly, these huge and well-liked machines are worthy allies of the B-36s. A MIG-15 ASSESSMENT SPEAKING in Tokyo last week, after a tour of AmericanFar Eastern Air Force units in Korea, General Vanden- berg, U.S.A.F. Chief of Staff, expressed great confidence in the efficacy of the F-86 Sabre fighter. The Russian Mig-15, he said, was not so good an intercepter as its American counterparts; and it was not much used as a fighter-bomber because its armament was inadequate. General Vandenberg felt that the Far Eastern Air Force could handle the air situation in Korea, and he greatly admired the "very professional job" its units were performing. He was particularly impressed by the successful night operations and armed reconnaissance which were making it difficult for the enemy to move supplies to the South. Strategic bombing of the enemy's bases would be most effective, but as this was prohibited armed reconnaissance was the only solution.
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