The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" [N 1] is a strategic bomber built by Convair and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 is the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft ever built, although it was exceeded in …

Powered by six Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines, the B-36J cruised at 230 mph, but for additional bursts of speed its four General Electric J47s increased the maximum speed to 435 mph. It carried 86,000 pounds of nuclear or conventional bombs. When production ended in August 1954, more than 380 B-36s had been built for the U.S. Air Force.

The Convair B-36 Peacemaker was one of the largest aircraft ever built, and was instrumental in maintaining peace during the Cold War with Russia during the 1950s. It was originally conceived in 1941 as an intercontinental bomber, and came into production in the late 1940s.

On December 7, 1948, Lt. Col. John Bartlett climbed aboard the largest American warplane ever created—the B-36 bomber—and prepared for a flight that would change the course of the Cold War. Just sitting on the runway, the B-36 turned heads.

The B-36 Peacemaker is the largest production bomber ever built. Pilots referred to it as the “Magnesium Monster”. Although the B-36 was the largest bomber ever built and held the greatest combat unrefueled radius, it never dropped a bomb in combat.

The Convair B-36 peacemaker was developed by Convair in service with the United States Air Force (USAF) as a strategic bomber between 1949 and 1959. Produced from 1946 to 1954, the B-36 Peacemaker is the largest piston-powered combat aircraft ever built.

Convair B-36J Peacemaker The B-36 is the largest bomber and the last piston engine powered bomber produced by the United States. First designed to meet a World War II requirement for a plane capable of hitting targets in Germany from bases in the United States the prototype did not fly until August 8, 1946.

The Convair B-36 (nicknamed Peacemaker) was a strategic bomber built by Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation (Convair) and operated solely by the United States Air Force (USAF). The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston engined aircraft ever made and the biggest wingspan combat aircraft ever built, although there have been larger ...

The B-36 was the largest American bomber every produced. Its 230 foot wingspan was almost fifty percent longer than that of the huge B-52 that replaced it. During its eight years of service, it one of one of America's major deterrents to aggression by a potential enemy.

B-36 Peacemaker. The B-36 was under development in 1941 and first flew on August 8, 1946. The first operational models were delivered to SAC in 1948, but due to early problems the B-36 units were not fully operational until 1951. The B-36 cost $3.6 million each.