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Monogram B-36 Peacemaker


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That is very impressive!  And big!  Great looking Peacemaker sir. :clap2:

 

Many years ago, the last B-36 built, "City of Fort Worth" was on static display in that city.  When I was about 10 or 11, my Dad, Uncle, and my cousin drove over from their home in Garland, Texas to take a look at it.  I can still recall how impressed I was by its immense size.   There was a boarding ladder extended down from the belly of the beast.  My cousin, about 13, and I climbed it right up into the aircraft.  To this day, it's hard for me to believe that it was open like that.  

 

Our little group were the only folks there, and cousin Mike and I walked made our way into the cockpit and took a seat, me on the left and Mike in the right-hand seat.  I was enjoying the view and looking around the cockpit when Mike flipped a console switch and somewhere, a whirring sound commenced.  He and I looked at each other and bolted out of that plane! 😲  I never knew what happened or how it could've activated anything on a long-parked display aircraft.  I do recall my Dad and Uncle standing beside the main gear when we exited the craft and was amazed at the size of those tires.

 

Here's a bit about that particular B-36:

 

"City of Fort Worth"

 

 

A photo of the bomber while on display at Amon Carter Field, Ft. Worth, around 1965, very near the time when we visited I imagine.

 

CVity%20of%20Fort%20Worth-1965%20Amon%20

 

 

City%20of%20Ft.%20Worth%201965.jpg

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Beautiful!  The red markings are very striking and your NMF is very realistic!

 

My Dad and I tackled one of these 4 or 5 years ago. I had to hang it in my modelling room and use some anchors to make sure it wouldn't fall!

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12 hours ago, keefr22 said:

That's a real beauty Tom, gorgeous model! :thumbsup:

 

How high was the stepladder needed to get it all in frame?!

 

Keith

 

 

Ha ha! It did take some creativity with the background paper to get it in!

11 hours ago, Gary Brantley said:

That is very impressive!  And big!  Great looking Peacemaker sir. :clap2:

 

Many years ago, the last B-36 built, "City of Fort Worth" was on static display in that city.  When I was about 10 or 11, my Dad, Uncle, and my cousin drove over from their home in Garland, Texas to take a look at it.  I can still recall how impressed I was by its immense size.   There was a boarding ladder extended down from the belly of the beast.  My cousin, about 13, and I climbed it right up into the aircraft.  To this day, it's hard for me to believe that it was open like that.  

 

Our little group were the only folks there, and cousin Mike and I walked made our way into the cockpit and took a seat, me on the left and Mike in the right-hand seat.  I was enjoying the view and looking around the cockpit when Mike flipped a console switch and somewhere, a whirring sound commenced.  He and I looked at each other and bolted out of that plane! 😲  I never knew what happened or how it could've activated anything on a long-parked display aircraft.  I do recall my Dad and Uncle standing beside the main gear when we exited the craft and was amazed at the size of those tires.

 

Here's a bit about that particular B-36:

 

"City of Fort Worth"

 

 

A photo of the bomber while on display at Amon Carter Field, Ft. Worth, around 1965, very near the time when we visited I imagine.

 

CVity%20of%20Fort%20Worth-1965%20Amon%20

 

 

City%20of%20Ft.%20Worth%201965.jpg

What an amazing story - fantastic! When I saw the real deal in the flesh I simply stood there in awe. Standing under the bomb bay was like being in a cathedral! It’s mind-blowing!

11 hours ago, billn53 said:

Beautifully done. And I love the red Arctic ops markings, your B-36 and my YB-35 would make quite a pair!

I followed your build of the YB-35 and loved it. I’m on the look out for one too!

10 hours ago, John_W said:

Stunning. Only ever seen one of these built, and it was huge.

Yup - nearly 3ft across...

7 hours ago, Robin-42 said:

A very impressive build of a rarely finished kit. My photo has as it’s backdrop a wing section of one of Canada’s three B36 wrecks. This one near Gander Newfoundland. 

I read a story about one going missing with nukes on board - same plane?

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12 hours ago, Gary Brantley said:

That is very impressive!  And big!  Great looking Peacemaker sir. :clap2:

 

Many years ago, the last B-36 built, "City of Fort Worth" was on static display in that city.  When I was about 10 or 11, my Dad, Uncle, and my cousin drove over from their home in Garland, Texas to take a look at it.  I can still recall how impressed I was by its immense size.   There was a boarding ladder extended down from the belly of the beast.  My cousin, about 13, and I climbed it right up into the aircraft.  To this day, it's hard for me to believe that it was open like that.  

 

Our little group were the only folks there, and cousin Mike and I walked made our way into the cockpit and took a seat, me on the left and Mike in the right-hand seat.  I was enjoying the view and looking around the cockpit when Mike flipped a console switch and somewhere, a whirring sound commenced.  He and I looked at each other and bolted out of that plane! 😲  I never knew what happened or how it could've activated anything on a long-parked display aircraft.  I do recall my Dad and Uncle standing beside the main gear when we exited the craft and was amazed at the size of those tires.

 

Here's a bit about that particular B-36:

 

"City of Fort Worth"

 

 

A photo of the bomber while on display at Amon Carter Field, Ft. Worth, around 1965, very near the time when we visited I imagine.

 

CVity%20of%20Fort%20Worth-1965%20Amon%20

 

 

City%20of%20Ft.%20Worth%201965.jpg

What a great story! I'm intrigued by the whirring noise, so cool. Maybe a fan perhaps, cockpit cooling or similar? Have to admit whenever I sit in a cockpit at a museum I always press and pull things and every time feel a tiny bit of disappointment when nothing happens!

 

Is the B-36 still there?

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6 hours ago, Lord Riot said:

What a great story! I'm intrigued by the whirring noise, so cool. Maybe a fan perhaps, cockpit cooling or similar? Have to admit whenever I sit in a cockpit at a museum I always press and pull things and every time feel a tiny bit of disappointment when nothing happens!

 

Is the B-36 still there?

 

L.R.-from the link in my post:

 

"It was displayed at Amon Carter Field, later Greater Southwest Airport, from 1959 until the late 1970s, when it was moved to Carswell Air Force Base. Exposed to the extremes of Texas weather, the giant aircraft slowly deteriorated. In the early 1990s the aircraft was disassembled and moved indoors to hangar space at the factory where it was built, donated by Lockheed Aircraft. 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. In 2006, it was agreed that the Peacemaker Museum did not have the proper resources to restore and exhibit the aircraft, and the aircraft was trucked to the Pima Air & Space Museum (PASM) in Tucson, Arizona where it was restored and is currently exhibited. In the arid Tucson climate, it is possible to display aircraft outdoors without the kind of deterioration that occurred in Fort Worth. As the National Museum of the United States Air Force still retains ownership of the aircraft, the future direction of the B-36 Peacemaker Museum is still undecided."

 

In the years since, I've often wondered about that noise Mike activated in that bomber.  I wonder if there was something attached to a battery, left with a charge somewhere... At any rate, it certainly scared us kids.  I remember thinking that Mike might've broken something, lol. and we were going to get in big trouble!   We were there on a Sunday and as mentioned, the only visitors.   I've also wondered if that entry "hatch" had been accidentally left open; in todays world, that would almost certainly never happen would it?   Think of the possible liability claims waiting!  😉

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