Inside the Cold War - Project Gutenberg Consortia Center

THE WEAPON SYSTEMS
the same time with reasonable precision. The result was that
the B-36 couldn’t “sneak up” on anyone—it sounded like a
flight of bass-throated bumblebees about to attack and
projecting its noise miles ahead and behind. My wife used to
comment that she could begin hanging her wash on the
clothesline when a B-36 could be heard coming from high over
the horizon, and finish hanging the clothes by the time its
“moan” disappeared in the distance. The initial mock-up
design of the B-36 was fitted with a twin tail assembly, which
was later changed to a single vertical stabilizer. The vertical
tail was deemed more stable, but it measured 46 feet, 10
inches from the ground to the top. This latter feature of its
large dimensions required special very heavy bomber (VHB)
hangars to be built with a padded circular hole in the hanger
doors to permit the tall tail to always remain outside. Each
wing section had three rubber-coated self-sealing fuel tanks,
for a total of six. Together, the six tanks could hold 21,053
gallons of fuel. Outer panel tanks added 2,770 gallons and
auxiliary wing tanks added another 9,577 gallons. A bomb bay
tank, added later, held approximately three thousand gallons
of fuel. The B-36J, the last major modification, had a fuel
capacity of 32,965 gallons or roughly 214,273 lbs, which gave
the aircraft a takeoff weight of approximately 410,000 lbs.
The wingspan of the bomber from initial design throughout
production was maintained at 230 feet, and the fuselage
measured 163 feet. An unusual feature was a single wing
spar that extended from wing tip to wing tip and supported
90 percent of the engine and wing fuel tank load. The bomber’s
electrical system operated on a 208/115-volt, 400-cycle
alter nating current system. DC converters were used to
operate instruments and other components requiring direct
current power.
The prototype cockpit in the Peacemaker had a much
smaller canopy than the final “green house” version that was
adopted for the production models. The cockpit was reasonably
“roomy,” with a wide expanse between the two pilots and
an equally wide console to house the six throttles, trim
controls, and some radios. The flight engineer’s console sat at
an angle behind the pilots and contained “all” of the engine
operating controls and instruments, electrical power, fuel
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