[lysander]

12 February 1959 marks a very important date for the USAF.

On this date B-36J-10-CF, serial number 52-2827, the last B-36 produced, took flight from Biggs AFB, to Amon Carter Field, Fort Worth, and was transferred from 95th Heavy Bombardment Wing to the city of Fort Worth. This ended the service of the big ten engined bomber in the service of the USAF.

B-36J, 52-2827, entered service on 14 August 1954, she was less than 5 year old at the time of her retirement.

12 Feb 1959 marks a watershed for USAF strategic bombing, as with the retirement of the B-36, SAC became an all jet bomber force. Propeller tankers would soldier on for another 6 years, until the last KB-50s were retired due to old age.

 

[Casimirblue]

AS a kid (and an adult) I was always enthralled with Jimmy Stewart in " Strategic Air Command"

 

[Sorry Dude]

Pretty cool.

 

[103498]

I lived near McClellan AFB as a kid and can remember seeing B-36s landing and taking off from there.
We'd also see another Convair plane that didn't get much press, the XC-99.
At the time, McClellan was expanding as an Air Material Command base so it seems like cargo aircraft were constantly in the air.
The 36s and the 99s were noteworthy because their size dwarfed anything else in the air.
C-119s were in and out like street cars.

 

[XXIV Corps]

The B-36s are large, just walking under them from wing tip to wing tip is amazing in length. Picture taken at Castle AFB, California.

USAF2

 

[Jim Horton]

Propeller tankers soldiered on in the form of KC-97s until the 70s. Used to watch them fly out of Otis AFB in the 60s.

 

[AzMedic]

Six Turning and Four Burning ----USA2

 

[AzMedic]

XC-99 & World Smallest Plane

"...
We'd also see another Convair plane that didn't get much press, the XC-99..."

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/4590229950/

Courtesy of San Diego Air & Space Museum

 

[5594]

They are/were a magnificent machine! I've had a love affair with the behemoths my whole life. I had the privilege to sit in the right seat of one once. Roomy! Much nicer than the B-52. Of course, the B-36 crews were known to take 40-hour flights. GI2

 

[lysander]

Propeller tankers soldiered on in the form of KC-97s until the 70s. Used to watch them fly out of Otis AFB in the 60s.

Yes, you are correct, but these were assigned to TAC or the ANG. SAC was 100% jet by 1965.

 

[smleenfield]

When I was a kid we had six of these fly over our house less then 1000 feet high in two formations of three each. It felt like every nail in the house was going to vibrate out of the walls. It was the most incredible sound you ever heard and something you would never forget.

 

[M1A's r BEST]

To give you an idea of how big the B36 really was. Two "big" bombers on the pad. A B29 and a B36. Hard to understand, till you see them side by side.

 

[Ted Brown]

This caught my eye because I was stationed at Biggs AFB from 62 to 65. At that time the 95th Bomb Wing had the B52. I was PCS to the 431st Air Refueling Squadron (TAC) which was flying the last KB50J's the Air Force had. When I transferred to Lockborne AFB, OH in 65 the last of our KB50J's went to the bone yard with the exception of one that went to Wright Patterson. I was a parachute rigger at the time and the parachute shop was consolidated so we had to pack chutes for everything on the base. I attended the Rigger School at Chanute AFB, IL in 61-62. They had a B36 on static display that was missing 30 feet of the fuselage. It was still a big mother!

 

[Tex1001]

Six Turning and Four Burning ----USA2

Two turning, two burning, two smoking, two choking, and two more unaccounted for.

--Beautiful monsters, but a maintenance nightmare.

 

[jmm14534]

Wow that is so cool. What I love about this forum is all the ancillary story’s that come up on what seems like a mundane post.
God Bless the USA!