This is the RB-36H that is now at Castle Air Museum as it appeared at Chanute AFB in 1979, for some reason painted as B-36B 44-92065. It's possible that I flew on this aircraft when it was with the 718th Bomb Squadron at Ellsworth AFB, Rapid City, South Dakota. The circle W markings would be the 326th Bomb Squadron(H) 42nd Bomb Wing at Loring AFB, Maine.,

True Identity 51-13730

Slide taken when Chanute AFB was still active. This is actually RB-36H 51-13730 painted as B-36 44-92065. This a/c was assigned to Chanute AFB in 1957 as a ground instructional airframe. It was put on permanent display there. It was transferred (with great difficulty!) to Castle Air Museum in California in 1990 where it still resides.

This is one of the few RB-36H still existing today, another one is hangared at Dayton and one is being rebuilt at Tucson, Pima Air Museum.

For some reason it's painted as B-36B 44-92065, but it is in fact 51-13730. In 1992 this aircraft was disassembled and shipped to the Castle Air Museum in California where it is currently on display as the only RB 0f the 4 remaining B-36s.

Seen at Chanute AFB, IL in 1957 after being retired from active service with the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth AFB, Rapid City, SD. The red tail band is the color of the 718th Bomb Squadron, the unit to which I was assigned. I may have flown on this aircraft but can't be sure, because our flight records did not have tail numbers listed.

When this photo was taken at the National Air Show in Philadelphia in Septermber 1955, I was in flight training at Keesler AFB, MS to become an ECM Operator in SAC... on the RB-36H! It's possible that I later flew on this very aircraft as it was once in our squadron at Ellsworth AFB, SD. In 1957 it was put on display at Chanute AFB, IL and in 1991 was transported in pieces by rail to the Castle Air Museum, CA. Once restored it placed on display there, where it remains today. Of the 4 surviving B-36s, this is the only RB model.

In Mar 1957 this gigantic 10-engined B-36 was delivered to Chanute AFB for use as an instructional ground airframe. This lasted until 1970, when it was transferred to the United States Air Force Museum. They loaned the aircraft back to the Chanute AFB collection and it was placed on display there in Sep 1971, falsely painted "492065". In 1990 it was dismantled for transport to the Castle Air Museum, where it arrived on 27 Oct 1990, reportedly in 167 sections. It was stored there in dismantled condition until reassembly in 1993/1994. The work was completed in Oct 1994. The tail number 113730 is on the fin, but it is hard to read due to the flaking paint.

Quite a job to park this large plane on a streetcorner in between powerlines. This beast is posing as B-36B 44-92065, but it is in fact RB-36H 51-13730. It is currently on display at Castle AFB.

This is the only surviving reconnaissance version of the B-36 and was assigned to the 28th SRW at Rapid City AFB, SD (Ellsworth AFB after June 1953) from 1952 to 1957. In 1957, it was reassigned to Chanute Air Force Base, IL, and was used as a ground instructional airframe. After retirement, it was placed on display at the Chanute Aerospace Museum but now resides at the superb Castle Air Museum.

The enormous B-36 was originally designed to bomb Nazi Germany from Newfoundland if necessary. Four auxiliary jet engines were added to the production aircraft which, though still slow, fulfilled an important role until the advent of the B-52.