Six turning 4 burning

[texaxile]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FJVxtTNjJk

I know there are none airworthy, but are there any good model kits of the B-36 around?.

Is it true there is only one place in the USA to see one of these in Tucson?.

[aeropilot]

texaxile said:

Is it true there is only one place in the USA to see one of these in Tucson?.

Nope, there's more than one B-36 on display.

Also one at USAF Museum in Dayton, one at Castle Air Museum in California & one at the SAC Museum in Nebraska.

[Eric Mc]

texaxile said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FJVxtTNjJk

I know there are none airworthy, but are there any good model kits of the B-36 around?.

Is it true there is only one place in the USA to see one of these in Tucson?.

The only mainstream injection moulded kit of the B-36 is this one. It is quite old now (1980) and features raised rather than recessed panel lines. However, I have seen it built and it is very impressive .
It was originally released by Monogram. It is now available under the Revell label.

[yellowjack]

Four complete airframes survive...

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force - Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. B-36J-1-CF 52-2220
Pima Air and Space Museum - Adjacent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona. B-36J-10-CF 52-2827
Strategic Air and Space Museum - Near Omaha, Nebraska. B-36J-1-CF 52-2217
Castle Air Museum - Atwater, California. RB-36H-30-CF 51-13730

http://www.airplanesofthepast.com/b36-survivors.ht...



Big, isn't it?!?

There is/was another one, in pieces at a private collection (hoard)... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVYWfHca5Ts

[Eric Mc]

That's the prototype - which has, as you can see, quite a different cocp[it glazing arrangement.

[FourWheelDrift]

I always like this photo of them stored at Davis Monthan, not the aircraft as much as the fence that has been created at the bottom using their propellers. I can't find a bigger photo that shows the line of propellers at the bottom clearly, although there is a bigger photo online but it cuts them off.

[Cold]

"(Engines roaring)"
"(Inspiring music)"

[Eric Mc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82VM1rq2hnA

[texaxile]

Eric is that your model of the B-36? If it is then that is absolutely stunning!

There are some monogram kits on Ebay for upwards of $90, but it would be a waste of money for me as they're beyond my skill level, couldn't see any Revell ones though.

I'm currently cutting my teeth on some of the cheap Airfix kits and am in the process of making an airfield diorama with a few ground vehicles (slightly different scale but it's for fun).

Great link BTW!.

[Johnnytheboy]

I made the Revell kit in the early 2000's and it appeared to be good quality.

[Eric Mc]

texaxile said:

Eric is that your model of the B-36? If it is then that is absolutely stunning!

There are some monogram kits on Ebay for upwards of $90, but it would be a waste of money for me as they're beyond my skill level, couldn't see any Revell ones though.

I'm currently cutting my teeth on some of the cheap Airfix kits and am in the process of making an airfield diorama with a few ground vehicles (slightly different scale but it's for fun).

Great link BTW!.

Sadly, it's not mine.

Although these days the kit is sold in Revell boxes, the moulds were made by Monogram. In their hey day and by the standards of their era, , Monogram produced some lovely kits.

The company was absorbed by the US wing of Revell in the 1980s.

[S7Paul]

I've been a B-36 fan ever since I first saw the old James Stewart film "Strategic Air Command". I've now seen two of the four survivors (Castle & Pima), and they truly are amazing machines. The one at Pima is parked near a B-29, and that really puts things into perspective. Incidentally, the 6 piston engines from the XC-99 (a one-off transport derivative) are still sat in a row in the "Boneyard" (AMARG).

[yellowjack]

S7Paul said:

I've been a B-36 fan ever since I first saw the old James Stewart film "Strategic Air Command". I've now seen two of the four survivors (Castle & Pima), and they truly are amazing machines. The one at Pima is parked near a B-29, and that really puts things into perspective. Incidentally, the 6 piston engines from the XC-99 (a one-off transport derivative) are still sat in a row in the "Boneyard" (AMARG).

Some interesting stuff on the XC-99 here... https://www.johnweeks.com/b36/xc99.html

[Eric Mc]

The XC-99 still exists and is in store at Davis Monthan.

I saw it at Kelly Air Force Base, Texas back in 1981 when it was lying forlornly out on the airfield.

[yellowjack]

Additional XC-99 stuff here... http://www.air-and-space.com/xc99.htm

It might still exist, Eric (unlike the poor pair of Lockheed Constitutions), but it's been cut up into fairly small pieces, and the NMUSAF seem to have said that they have no money to restore it, and it's no longer a priority case. Sad, if something so unique were to corrode itself back into the desert floor at Davis–Monthan...



This is the the only XC-99 ever built. Once it was retired, it sat at Kelly AFB for years before it was taken apart in sections and sent by C-5's up to the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson.


It sat there at Wright Patterson AFB, where it was slated to join the Air Force Museum.


And now it's been moved once more by C-5 out to Davis-Monthan AFB...

[S7Paul]

Thanks for the XC-99 links. I note that it says that restoration was suspended as they needed the funding for the 4th hangar. They've now got a 5th hangar, so I guess it still hasn't got to the top of the "to do" list. Shame; it would be good to get it assembled and parked next to the B-36.

[tonyvid]

Better late than never! Here is the one at the PIMA museum in Tucson

And one of our own little beauties...

[tonyvid]

[BrettMRC]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing