Making the last B-36 flight ever, this awesome aircraft flew to the museum from Davis-Monthan AFB in April 1959. I remember being mightily impressed by it during my first visit to the USAFM in 1973, but also disappointed that it was effectively impossible to photograph. Fast forward 51 years and this was the outcome

Impossible to shoot full-frame without some obstructions, so this was about the best photo possible.

Peacemaker on display in the Cold War Gallery at NMUSAF. It wears the emblem of SAC on its nose of an armored fist holding red lightning flashes and an olive branch. At its peak, SAC operated 342 Peacemakers, of which 209 were bombers and 133 were reconnaissance/bomber (RB) variants. Its B-36 units included the 5th, 6th, 7th, 11th, 28th, 42nd, 72nd, 92nd, 95th and 99th BW. As the big stick in nuclear deterrence, the B-36 held the line till replaced by the B-47 and B-52 in the all-jet SAC bomber force.

19 Jan 1954: TOS USAF; assigned to 11th Bombardment (Heavy) Wing (SAC), Carswell AFB, TX. 12/54: 42nd Bombardment (H) Wing (SAC), Loring AFB, ME. 5/56: 95th Bombardment (H) Wing (SAC), Biggs AFB, TX. 2/59: Davis-Monthan AFB for storage. 30 April 1959: Last flight of a B-36 when it flew to Wright Field, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, for storage while awaiting the building of a new Air Force Museum.

19 Jan 1954: TOS USAF; assigned to 11th Bombardment (Heavy) Wing (SAC), Carswell AFB, TX. 12/54: 42nd Bombardment (H) Wing (SAC), Loring AFB, ME. 5/56: 95th Bombardment (H) Wing (SAC), Biggs AFB, TX. 2/59: Davis-Monthan AFB for storage. 30 April 1959: Last flight of a B-36 when it flew to Wright Field, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, for storage while awaiting the building of a new Air Force Museum.

19 Jan 1954: TOS USAF; assigned to 11th Bombardment (Heavy) Wing (SAC), Carswell AFB, TX. 12/54: 42nd Bombardment (H) Wing (SAC), Loring AFB, ME. 5/56: 95th Bombardment (H) Wing (SAC), Biggs AFB, TX. 2/59: Davis-Monthan AFB for storage. 30 April 1959: Last flight of a B-36 when it flew to Wright Field, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, for storage while awaiting the building of a new Air Force 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.

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.