B-36A at the 1948 Air Age Exhibition. A McDonnell XF-85 Goblin parasite fighter, built here at Lambert Field, is displayed with the bomber but note that the XF-85 was probably never actually carried by a B-36. Three days earlier on 14 October 1948, test pilot Edwin Schoch had managed the first successful hook-up with a B-29 over Muroc Dry Lake in the second XF-85 airframe. This Goblin may therefore be assumed to be the first, 46-523, repaired after falling from a crane during wind tunnel testing at Moffett Field. Photo from: McDonnell

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.

The massive Peacemaker has been beautifully restored and is so impressive. Ten engines turning and burning must have made a loud song when it was flying. Only four of them in existence.

The aluminium overcast. Photo from: Nederlands Instituut voor Militaire Historie

A very long nose moment on this bomber.

The third B-36 and the first production aircraft made its maiden flight before the YB-36 on 28 August 1947. Its second and last flight was two days later to Wright-Patterson AFB where it was ground-tested to destruction. Photo from: San Diego Air & Space Museum

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 Peacemaker was built by Convair at Fort Worth in December 1953 and delivered to the 7th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) (SAC) at Carswell AFB, TX. It was retired in April 1959 and flown to Offutt AFB, NE for display at the SAC Museum making this the second last B-36 flight. This museum moved to a purpose built building in Ashland in 1998 and was renamed the Strategic Air Command and Space Museum.

More than 380 B-36s were built for the USAF and served until they were retired during the late 1950s and replaced by B-52s. This aircraft had the distinction of performing the last ever B-36 flight when it flew from Davis-Monthan to Wright AFB on April 30, 1959 to be placed on display at the National Museum of the USAF.

Photographed in the restoration compound of the Pima Air & Space Museum. It is apparent that the guys working on her are really making progress now. This was the first time for me to see a Peacemaker and it will be a magnificent aircraft when finished.

A big gap in the middle of the Pima Museum meant that finally it was possible for me to get a side on shot of this incredible aircraft.

The bomb bay of the B-36 almost seems more reminiscent of the interior of a giant cathedral than a space designed to carry 86,000lb of a conventional or nuclear payload (almost 10x that of a B-17!). This B-36 is on display at the incredible National Museum of the USAF.

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.

Hundreds of people walked to the north end of SFO for a first look at the huge B-36. It was part of the San Francisco Air Fair celebration.

Quite a bit of progress had been made on the restoration since my last visit to the museum in April 2007.