title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: Kempegowda International Airport is the third-busiest airport by passenger traffic, air traffic movements and domestic and total cargo handled in India, behind the airports in Delhi and Mumbai, and is the 29th busiest airport in Asia. In the FY 2021–22, the airport handled around 16.2 million passengers and of cargo.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The airport has a single passenger terminal that handles both domestic and international operations, and two runways, the second of which was commissioned on 6 December 2019. A second terminal (Phase-1) is completed and will begin operations for only domestic traffic in December 2022, and later international operations from 2023. Also, there is a cargo village and three cargo terminals. The airport serves as a hub for AirAsia India, Alliance Air, Go First, IndiGo, Star Air and DHL Aviation and is a focus city for Air India and SpiceJet. The airport was recognised as the best airport (25 to 40 million passengers per annum) in Asia-Pacific in 2020 by Airports Council International.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The original airport serving Bangalore was HAL Airport, located from the city centre. It was the primary airport serving Bangalore city until 2008. Originally established in 1942 for military and defence purposes, HAL began domestic operations for the first time in the late 1970s. The unexpected popularity of the newly offered domestic flights encouraged rapid expansion of the airport. In the late 1990s, the first international flights started. Air India was the first airline to offer international flights, flying to Singapore. In 2000, the first foreign airline started operations from HAL Airport, with Royal Nepal Airlines to Kathmandu, followed by Lufthansa's A340 a year later from Germany. Several other major international carriers such as British Airways and Air France were already serving the old airport by 2005.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: However, as Bangalore grew into the Silicon Valley of India and passenger traffic to the city rose, HAL Airport with a single runway and limited aircraft parking space was unable to cope with this increased traffic. In 2007 it saw a footfall of 8 million passengers, more than double its original capacity of 3.6 million. There was no room for expansion and the airport apron could only park six aircraft. In March 1991, former chairman of the National Airports Authority of India (NAAI) S. Ramanathan convened a panel to select the site for a new airport. The panel decided on Devanahalli, a village about north of Bangalore. The State Government made a proposal to build the airport with private assistance, which the Union Government approved in 1994. Finally in 1995, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Government of Karnataka decided to call for international consortia to own, build and operate the new Greenfield airport of the city.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: In December 1995, a consortium of Tata Group, Raytheon and Singapore Changi Airport signed a memorandum of understanding with the State Government regarding participation in the project. In June 1998, however, the consortium announced it was pulling out of the project due to delays in government approval. These included disputes over the location of the airport and the fate of HAL Airport.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: In May 1999, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Karnataka State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (KSIIDC) of the State Government signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the nature of the project. It would be a public–private partnership, with AAI and KSIIDC having a 26% share and private companies having the remaining 74%. In January 2001, the State Government created the company Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) as a special purpose entity and began searching for partners. By November, the project had attracted Unique Zürich Airport, Siemens Project Ventures and Larsen & Toubro. Construction was expected to begin in October 2002; however, governmental delays persisted. The concession agreement between the State Government, the Union Government and BIAL was signed in July 2004. In it, BIAL required the closure of HAL Airport.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: It took nearly a decade from the initial stage of land allocation and acquisition, to signing of shareholder agreements in 2002 and until start of construction.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: During the formation of legal framework, BIAL's main observation was the unprecedented growth that aviation industry faced.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: BIAL, when the project was first designated, had anticipated traffic of approximately 5 million in the first year of operations in 2008. However, HAL Airport had handled over 8 million passengers by the time the construction of the new greenfield airport started. It took more than nine months to redesign the process along with gaining the necessary approvals, and when the approval for increased project was sanctioned, the construction was half done. The project was well on track despite the challenge and was expected to be ready by its initial given open date.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The revised increased capacity project was constructed to cater to eleven million passengers per annum, up from the previous plan of 5 million passengers per annum. BIAL increased project had plans to build a terminal with eight passengers boarding bridges, one double arm aerobridge, nine remote bus gates and a runway measuring 4,000 metres with efficient taxiways. BIAL also planned to build an apron with 42 Code-C aircraft stands (with eight contact stands) as well as an air- and land-side road system. The estimated cost for the entire project was Rs 1,930 crore (approximately US$430 million).


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: Construction finally commenced on 2 July 2005. When a study predicted the airport would receive 6.7 million passengers in 2008, the airport was redesigned from its initial capacity of 4.5 million passengers to 11 million, with the terminal size expanded and the number of aircraft stands increased. The cost of the airport rose to . Construction was completed in 32 months, and BIAL set the launch date for 30 March 2008. However, due to delays in establishing air traffic control services at the airport, the launch date was pushed to 11 May and finally 24 May 2008.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: As the opening date for the airport approached, public criticism arose, mainly directed toward the closure of HAL Airport. In March 2008, AAI employees conducted a massive strike against the closure of HAL Airport along with Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad, fearing they would lose their jobs. The Bangalore City Connect Foundation, a group of citizens and businessmen, staged a rally in mid-May, claiming the new airport was too small for the latest demand projections. On 23 May, a hearing was held at the Karnataka High Court over poor connectivity between the city and the airport. Ultimately, the State Government decided to go ahead with inaugurating the new airport and closing HAL Airport.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The first flight to the airport, Air India Flight 609 from Mumbai, was allowed to land the previous night as it would be continuing to Singapore shortly after midnight. The aircraft touched down at 10:40 pm on 23 May. The airport became the third greenfield airport under a public–private partnership to open in India, after Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad and Cochin International Airport.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The original name of the airport was Bengaluru International Airport. In February 2009, the State Government sent a proposal to the Union Government to rename the airport after the founder of Bangalore, Kempe Gowda I. When no action was taken, the State Government passed a resolution for the name change in December 2011. The Union Government accepted the proposal in 2012 and formally approved it in July 2013. The airport was officially renamed Kempegowda International Airport on 14 December 2013 amid the inauguration of the expanded terminal building.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: Kingfisher Airlines once operated a hub and was one of the largest airlines at the airport. Following its collapse in October 2012, other airlines stepped in to fill the gap in domestic connectivity by adding more flights. In addition, Air Pegasus and AirAsia India launched hub operations at the airport in 2014.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The first phase of expansion was launched in June 2011 and finished in December 2013. The project doubled the size of the passenger terminal to , involving the construction of additional facilities for check-in, immigration, security and baggage reclaim. One domestic gate and three international gates were added as well. A large, sweeping roof connects the original building with the expanded areas. The expanded terminal, dubbed "Terminal 1A", has raised the annual passenger capacity of the airport to 25 million.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: In September 2022, Qantas began flying to Sydney with Airbus A330s. This is the first nonstop service between Bangalore and Australia. The following month, Emirates introduced the Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger plane, on one of its flights to Dubai, marking Bangalore's first A380 service. Air India started a scheduled flight to San Francisco aboard Boeing 777 aircraft in December.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The airport is owned and operated by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), a public limited company. The Government of India has granted BIAL the right to operate the airport for 30 years, with the option to continue for another 30 years. The company is a public–private consortium venture. GVK initially owned 43% of the shares in Bangalore Airport. In 2016, GVK decided to divest its 33% share of in BIAL to Fairfax Financial for ₹2149 cr. In March 2017, GVK confirmed having done so.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: Finally, in January 2018, GVK decided to sell the remaining 10% shares to Fairfax Financial for ₹1,290 crore and exit Bangalore Airport completely.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: 26% is held by government entities Karnataka State Industrial Investment and Development Corporation (13%) and Airports Authority of India (13%), and 74% is held by private companies Fairfax Financial (54%) and Siemens Project Ventures (20%).


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: In March 2021 the Airports Authority of India announced their plans to sell their 13% stake in order to raise funds. Between FY 2022–2025, the Government aims to raise as much as ₹20,782 crore through aviation. The process will start with the selling of stakes of Bangalore Airport followed by Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: Four years after it was laid, the first runway (now designated 09L/27R) was entirely resurfaced because of a serious decline in quality. From 11 March to 3 April 2012, it was closed daily between 10:30 am and 5:30 pm. As a result, BIAL accused construction company Larsen & Toubro of building the runway poorly. South of runway 09L/27R are a full-length parallel taxiway and the apron, which extends from the Blue Dart/DHL terminal to the passenger terminal.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The construction of the second runway at the airport is now complete, and was officially in use from 6 December 2019, when an IndiGo airlines flight (6E 466) to Hyderabad took off from runway 09R. The runway will cater to all types of aircraft including Code-F aircraft like Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8 and will be equipped with CAT IIIB ILS. The runway also features an associated parallel taxiway and two cross-field taxiways on the east linking the new runway to the existing north runway and the aprons at Terminal 1 and the upcoming Terminal 2. The first runway (09L/27R) was also upgraded as part of the expansion work.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The old runway (Runway 09L/27R) was closed from 22 June 2020 for nine months for rehabilitation and strengthening. The runway was opened for service again on 31 March 2021 and put into service with the south runway, making KIA the first airport in South India to have parallel runway operations.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: A single integrated passenger terminal accommodates both domestic and international operations. It covers and can handle 20 million passengers annually. Check-in and baggage reclaim areas are situated on the lower floor, while departure gates are located on the first floor. Gates 1, 2, 12–18, 28–30 on the first floor are used for domestic departures, gates 31–42 on the first floor are used for international departures, gates 3–9 and gates 19–25 form the Western and Eastern bus gates respectively. Gate 41–42 is equipped to serve the world's largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380. Lounges are provided by Travel Food Services, which also operates a transit hotel in the terminal. For VIPs there is a separate lounge.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: There are two lounges in Terminal 1, the 080 Domestic and the 080 International lounges. Named "080" after the trunk dial code of the city of Bengaluru, the lounges aim to pay an ode to the Garden City of Bengaluru with local artistry, culture-inspired interiors and botanical elements, each zone in the lounge is carefully crafted to bring alive the stories of the city it’s inspired by. Both the lounges are operated by Travel Food Services.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The airport's second terminal, designed as a tribute to the "Garden City" of Bengaluru by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and constructed by Larsen & Toubro was inaugurated on 11 November 2022, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The first phase of terminal 2, built at a cost of around ₹ 5,000 crore, with a size of 255,000 sq.m., will help augment the capacity of the airport by an additional 25 million passengers per annum. The second phase of terminal 2 is planned and is expected to provide an additional capacity of 20 million passengers per annum, thereby increasing the overall capacity of the terminal to over 45 million passengers per annum. Construction of the first phase of terminal 2 commenced in 2018, but the project faced delays owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The arrivals area of terminal 2 is situated on the ground floor, while departures are planned on the first floor. The first phase of terminal 2 features 95 check-in counters, 17 security check lanes, 9 baggage claim belts, 34 conventional and 6 electronic immigration gates. With provisions for tarmac gates and jet bridge gates, including Code-F gates to handle larger aircraft like the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747-8, the first phase of terminal 2 will initially start with domestic operations in December 2022. The terminal will eventually handle both domestic and international operations in the early half of 2023.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: Technology & Sustainability were some of the key design goals of Terminal 2, with the terminal receiving a LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The airport has a fuel farm, spread over west of the cargo village and passenger terminal. It was built by IndianOil SkyTanking Ltd (IOSL) but is shared by multiple oil companies. In October 2008, Indian Oil commissioned a fuel pipeline between its storage terminal in Devanagonthi and Kempegowda Airport. Previously, jet fuel had to be transported to the airport by tank trucks, which created traffic and pollution problems.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: Kempegowda Airport has three cargo terminals. One is operated by AISATS (Air India Singapore Airport Terminal Services) Ltd and has a capacity for of cargo; it includes a facility for storing pharmaceuticals.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The third cargo terminal is operated by Menzies Aviation Bobba (Bangalore) Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture between Menzies Aviation and Bobba Group (a sales agency for Lufthansa Cargo). The 170,000 sq ft. cargo terminal began operations in May 2008.The terminal has the capacity to handle tons of cargo annually.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: BIAL inaugurated a separate cargo village in December 2008. The village is spread over and includes office space, conference rooms, a cafeteria for staff and parking space for nearly 80 trucks. It did not open for occupation until 2010 and initially suffered low occupancy, which some cargo agents attributed to the opening delay, high rent and limited infrastructure.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: On 4 September 2019, India's leading airline, IndiGo announced that it will extend its learning academy, ifly to Bangalore, its 2nd such facility in India. The facility will be built in the Airport campus.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: Starting 6 September 2019, ifly facilitated training to the airline employees. With over 27,000 employees, there are over 100 instructors in the academy, who conducts workshops on regular basis.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The Ifly learning academy of IndiGo Airlines facilitates special trainings throughout the year to its employees including required skills for job performance, customer services, ramp and marshalling training, safety and emergency procedures, departure control system, communication and leadership training and e-learning to name the few.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: IndiGo has its second facility to service their fleet of predominantly Airbus aircraft. The facility, which has a volume of around 218,000 ft.², has capacity for narrow-body aircraft and houses a single bay catering for widebody aircraft. The MRO is completed and is operational since November 2022.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: Food services provider SATS proposed to setup their first central kitchen, a 14,000sqm facility with an investment of Rs. 210 crore to cater to the demand in the region. SATS already has a long standing partnership with the airport through its aviation catering associate Taj SATS and ground handling associate AISATS. The facility will be located at the Kempegowda International Airport and is expected to be operational in the year 2022.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The second phase of expansion is underway, which encompasses the construction of a second runway and a passenger terminal in two phases. When fully completed, Kempegowda International Airport will be able to handle 55 million passengers per year. The estimated project received clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in September 2014.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: Ground work on the second runway began in February 2016 and the runway opened in December 2019. Located south of the original terminal, it is parallel to runway 09/27 and measures , wider than the original runway so it can accommodate larger aircraft. The new runway is also CAT III certified, allowing for landings in fog and other low visibility conditions.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: A second terminal is being constructed to meet the airport's expected growth, and it will be constructed in two phases. This terminal has been designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and the construction contract has been awarded to Larsen & Toubro. In the first phase, the terminal will cater to 25 million passengers annually, and in the second phase, it will cater another 20 million passengers annually. Terminal 2 is estimated to cost . Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a shortage of manpower and resulted in delays of work, Terminal 2 is now completed and was inaugurated in November 2022, with operations starting in December 2022. International flights will be commenced only after the terminal's second phase gets completed.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: A third runway, north of the current runway is being planned to cater to the growth of air traffic in the airport which will be situated 1500 meters north of the current runway. Dubbed as the "New North Parallel Runway", the officials hope to ease air traffic congestion with the third runway. A third passenger terminal is also planned, and it is expected to begin construction by 2034. It is expected be completed by late 2030s.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: Kempegowda Airport is connected to the city of Bangalore by National Highway 44 (NH 44). In January 2014, a six-lane flyover was completed over NH 44 between Hebbal and the airport, helping to reduce travel time to and from the city. Two alternative routes are under construction and will be completed by March 2017, one through Thanisandra and the other through Hennur. The airport car park is located at ground level and can hold 2,000 vehicles. The airport is served by several taxi and rental car companies. In addition, ride-sharing companies Ola Cabs and Uber have their own pick-up zones outside the terminal.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) provides bus transportation to major parts of the city through the "Vayu Vajra" (Kannada for "Diamond in the Air") service. It is operated using a fleet of Volvo B7RLE buses. In addition, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) operates a nonstop bus service called "Flybus" between Kempegowda Airport and Mysore, as well as a route to Manipal via Mangalore.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: A halt at the KIA boundary commenced operations in January 2021. The train halt is connected to the airport terminal via short five-minute shuttle busses. Every day five trains from the city towards Devanahalli stop at the KIA halt and five trains head back. Future plans include electrification of the route to introduce comfortable MEMU trains to the airport. MEMU trains from Mysore that terminate at Yelahanka could be extended up to Devanahalli via the KIA halt station, benefitting airport-bound passengers from Mysore, Channapatna, Ramanagaram and Bidadi.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: The plan to build a metro link between Bangalore and the airport with two stations at the airport was revived in 2020 and is now under construction. In January 2019, Karnataka Government approved the Bangalore Airport Metro line. The project which is envisioned to link Bangalore City with the airport is under Phase 2B of Namma Metro, and is 37 km long. The blue line also known as Line-5 (KR Puram-Hebbal-Kempegowda International Airport) will have 17 stations as an extension of Line-5 (ORR Line) via KR Puram, Nagawara, Hebbal And Yelahanka. The project is estimated to be completed by December 2024.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: There are two metro stops being built in the airport campus, one near the upcoming Airport City, which will be partly elevated and the other one in the Multi Modal Transport Hub opposite the upcoming Terminal 2. The cost of building these two stations is estimated to be Rs 800 crore. The total cost of the project is expected to be Rs14,788 Crores.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: To ensure last-mile connectivity for passengers, a service road will be provided around the Metro Stations in the Airport premises, for integration with BMTC buses. Plans are to build a 6m wide road.


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: In August 2021, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai declared plans of building a High Speed Rail Link (HSRL) connecting the airport and the city. If constructed, the airport will be connected by three different railway lines: the Metro, Suburban rail and High-speed rail, making it a distinctive airport connected with all three (modes of transportation).


title: Kempegowda International Airport

text: This is not the first time this is planned. Plans to build an HSRL was earlier planned in 2001 and was revived again in 2013, but was shelved both times due to issues in land acquisition and high costs involved. More recently, the plan has been revived, as the Chief Minister believes that this has been their dream and they are going to get it done as no international airport in the world has got all three (modes of transportation).


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" is a strategic bomber that was 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. It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built, at . The B-36 was the first bomber capable of delivering any of the nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal from inside its four bomb bays without aircraft modifications. With a range of and a maximum payload of , the B-36 was capable of intercontinental flight without refuelling.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: Entering service in 1948, the B-36 was the primary nuclear weapons delivery vehicle of Strategic Air Command (SAC) until it was replaced by the jet-powered Boeing B-52 Stratofortress beginning in 1955. All but four aircraft have been scrapped.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The genesis of the B-36 can be traced to early 1941, prior to the entry of the United States into World War II. At the time, the threat existed that Britain might fall to the German "Blitz", making a strategic bombing effort by the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) against Germany impossible with the aircraft of the time.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The United States would need a new class of bomber that would reach Europe and return to bases in North America, necessitating a combat range of at least , the length of a Gander, Newfoundland–Berlin round trip. The USAAC therefore sought a bomber of truly intercontinental range, similar to the German Reichsluftfahrtministerium's (RLM) ultralong-range "Amerikabomber" program, the subject of a 33-page proposal submitted to Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring on 12 May 1942.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The USAAC sent out the initial request on 11 April 1941, asking for a top speed, a cruising speed, a service ceiling of —beyond the range of ground-based anti-aircraft fire—and a maximum range of at . These requirements proved too demanding for any short-term design, far exceeding the technology of the day, so on 19 August 1941, they were reduced to a maximum range of , an effective combat radius of with a bombload, a cruising speed between , and a service ceiling of —above the maximum effective altitude of Nazi Germany's anti-aircraft guns, save for the rarely-deployed 12.8 cm FlaK 40 heavy flak cannon.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: As the Pacific war progressed, the USAAF increasingly needed a bomber capable of reaching Japan from its bases in Hawaii, and the development of the B-36 resumed in earnest. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, in discussions with high-ranking officers of the USAAF, decided to waive normal army procurement procedures, and on 23 July 1943 – some 15 months after the Germans' "Amerikabomber" proposal's submission made it to their RLM authority, and coincidentally, the same day that, in Germany, the RLM had ordered the Heinkel firm to design a six-engined version of their own, BMW 801E powered "Amerikabomber" design proposal – the USAAF submitted a "letter of intent" to Convair, ordering an initial production run of 100 B-36s before the completion and testing of the two prototypes. The first delivery was due in August 1945, and the last in October 1946, but Consolidated (by this time renamed Convair after its 1943 merger with Vultee Aircraft) delayed delivery. The aircraft was unveiled on 20 August 1945 (three months after V-E Day), and flew for the first time on 8 August 1946.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: After the establishment of an independent United States Air Force in 1947, the beginning in earnest of the Cold War with the 1948 Berlin Airlift, and the 1949 atmospheric test of the first Soviet atomic bomb, American military planners sought bombers capable of delivering the very large and heavy first-generation atomic bombs.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The B-36 was the only American aircraft with the range and payload to carry such bombs from airfields on American soil to targets in the USSR. The modification to allow the use of larger atomic weapons on the B-36 was called the "Grand Slam Installation".


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The B-36 was arguably obsolete from the outset, being piston-powered, coupled with the widespread introduction of first-generation jet fighters in potential enemy air forces. However, its jet rival, the Boeing B-47 Stratojet, which did not become fully operational until 1953, lacked the range to attack the Soviet homeland from North America without aerial refueling and could not carry the huge first-generation Mark 16 hydrogen bomb.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The other American piston bombers of the day, the B-29 and B-50, were also too limited in range to be part of America's developing nuclear arsenal. Intercontinental ballistic missiles did not become sufficiently reliable until the early 1960s. Until the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress became operational in 1955, the B-36, as the only truly intercontinental bomber, continued to be the primary nuclear weapons delivery vehicle of the SAC.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: Convair touted the B-36 as the "aluminum overcast", a so-called "long rifle" giving SAC truly global reach. During General Curtis LeMay's tenure as head of SAC (1949–57), the B-36, through intense crew training and development, formed the heart of the Strategic Air Command. Its maximum payload was more than four times that of the B-29, and exceeded that of the B-52.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The B-36 was slow and could not refuel in midair, but could fly missions to targets away and stay aloft as long as 40 hours. Moreover, the B-36 was believed to have "an ace up its sleeve": a phenomenal cruising altitude for a piston-driven aircraft, made possible by its huge wing area and six 28-cylinder engines, putting it out of range of most of the interceptors of the day, as well as ground-based anti-aircraft guns.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation (later Convair) and Boeing Aircraft Company took part in the competition, with Consolidated winning a tender on 16 October 1941. Consolidated asked for a $15 million contract with $800,000 for research and development, mockup, and tooling. Two experimental bombers were proposed, the first to be delivered in 30 months, and the second within another six months. Originally designated Model B-35, the name was changed to B-36 to avoid confusion with the Northrop YB-35 piston-engined flying-wing bomber, against which the B-36 was meant to compete for a production contract.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: Throughout its development, the B-36 encountered delays. When the United States entered World War II, Consolidated was ordered to slow B-36 development and greatly increase Consolidated B-24 Liberator production. The first mockup was inspected on 20 July 1942, following six months of refinements. A month after the inspection, the project was moved from San Diego, California, to Fort Worth, Texas, which set back development several months. Consolidated changed the tail from a twin-tail to a single, thereby saving , but this change delayed delivery by 120 days.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The tricycle landing gear system's initial main gear design, with huge single wheels found to cause significant ground pressure problems, limited the B-36 to operating from just three air bases in the United States: Carswell Field (former Carswell AFB, now NAS JRB Fort Worth/Carswell Field), adjacent to the Consolidated factory in Fort Worth, Texas; Eglin Field (now Eglin AFB), Florida; and Fairfield-Suisun Field (now Travis AFB) in California.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: As a result, the Air Force mandated that Consolidated design a four-wheeled bogie-type wheel system for each main gear unit instead, which distributed the pressure more evenly and reduced weight by . Changes in the USAAF requirements did add back any weight saved in redesigns, and cost more time. A new antenna system needed to be designed to accommodate an ordered radio and radar system. The Pratt and Whitney engines were redesigned, adding another .


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The B-36 took shape as an aircraft of immense proportions. It was two-thirds longer than the previous "superbomber", the B-29. The wingspan and tail height of the B-36 exceeded those of the 1960s Soviet Union's Antonov An-22 "Antheus" military transport, the largest ever propeller-driven aircraft put into production. Only with the advent of the Boeing 747 and the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, both designed two decades later, did American aircraft capable of lifting a heavier payload become commonplace.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The wings of the B-36 were large even when compared with present-day aircraft, exceeding, for example, those of the C-5 Galaxy, and enabled the B-36 to carry enough fuel to fly the intended long missions without refueling. The maximum thickness of the wing, measured perpendicular to the chord, was , containing a crawlspace that allowed access to the engines. The wing area permitted cruising altitudes well above the operating ceiling of any 1940s-era operational piston and jet-turbine fighters. Most versions of the B-36 could cruise at over . B-36 mission logs commonly recorded mock attacks against U.S. cities while flying at . In 1954, the turrets and other nonessential equipment were removed (not entirely unlike the earlier Silverplate program for the atomic bomb-carrying "specialist" B-29s) that resulted in a "featherweight" configuration believed to have resulted in a top speed of , and cruise at and dash at over , perhaps even higher.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The large wing area and the option of starting the four jet engines supplementing the piston engines in later versions gave the B-36 a wide margin between stall speed ("V") and maximum speed ("V") at these altitudes. This made the B-36 more maneuverable at high altitude than the USAF jet interceptors of the day, which either could not fly above , or if they did, were likely to stall out when trying to maneuver or fire their guns. However, the U.S. Navy argued that their McDonnell F2H Banshee fighter could intercept the B-36, thanks to its ability to operate at more than . The USAF declined the invitation from the U.S. Navy for a fly-off between the Banshee and the B-36. Later, the new Secretary of Defense, Louis A. Johnson, who considered the U.S. Navy and naval aviation essentially obsolete in favor of the USAF and SAC, forbade putting the Navy's claim to the test.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The propulsion system of the B-36 was unique, with six 28-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major radial engines mounted in an unusual pusher configuration, rather than the conventional four-engine, tractor propeller layout of other heavy bombers. The prototype R-4360s delivered a total of . While early B-36s required long takeoff runs, this situation was improved with later versions, delivering a significantly increased power output of total. Each engine drove a three-bladed propeller, in diameter, mounted in the pusher configuration, thought to be the second-largest diameter propeller design ever used to power a piston-engined aircraft (after that of the Linke-Hofmann R.II). This unusual configuration prevented propeller turbulence from interfering with airflow over the wing, but could also lead to engine overheating due to insufficient airflow around the engines, resulting in inflight engine fires.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The large, slow-turning propellers interacted with the high-pressure airflow behind the wings to produce an easily recognizable very-low-frequency pulse at ground level that betrayed approaching flights.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: Beginning with the B-36D, Convair added a pair of General Electric J47-19 jet engines suspended near the end of each wing; these were also retrofitted to all extant B-36Bs. Consequently, the B-36 was configured to have 10 engines, six radial propeller engines and four jet engines, leading to the B-36 slogan of "six turnin' and four burnin' ". The B-36 had more engines than any other mass-produced aircraft. The jet pods greatly improved takeoff performance and dash speed over the target. In normal cruising flight, the jet engines were shut down to conserve fuel. When the jet engines were shut down, louvers closed off the front of the pods to reduce drag and to prevent ingestion of sand and dirt. The jet engine louvers were opened and closed by the flight crew in the cockpit, whether the B-36 was on the ground or in the air. The two pods with four turbojets and the six piston engines combined gave the B-36 a total of for short periods of time.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The B-36 had a crew of 15. As in the B-29 and B-50, the pressurized flight deck and crew compartment were linked to the rear compartment by a pressurized tunnel through the bomb bay. In the B-36, movement through the tunnel was on a wheeled trolley, pulling on a rope. The rear compartment featured six bunks and a dining galley, and led to the tail turret.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The XB-36 featured a single-wheel main landing gear whose tires were the largest ever manufactured up to that time, tall, wide, and weighing , with enough rubber for 60 automobile tires. These tires placed so much pressure on runways that the XB-36 was restricted to the Fort Worth airfield adjacent to the plant of manufacture, and to a mere two USAF bases beyond that. At the suggestion of General Henry H. Arnold, the single-wheel gear was soon replaced by a four-wheel bogie. At one point, a tank-like tracked landing gear was also tried on the XB-36, but it proved heavy and noisy. The tracked landing gear was quickly abandoned.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The four bomb bays could carry up to of bombs, more than 10 times the load carried by the World War II workhorse, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, and substantially more than the entire B-17's gross weight. The B-36 was not designed with nuclear weaponry in mind, because the mere existence of such weapons was top secret during the period when the B-36 was conceived and designed (1941–46). Nevertheless, the B-36 stepped into its nuclear delivery role immediately upon becoming operational. In all respects except speed, the B-36 could match what was arguably its approximate Soviet counterpart, the turboprop-powered Tu-95, which began production in January 1956 and was still in active service . Until the B-52 became operational, the B-36 was the only means of delivering the first generation Mark 17 hydrogen bomb, long, in diameter, and weighing , the heaviest and bulkiest American aerial nuclear bomb ever. Carrying this massive weapon required merging two adjacent bomb bays.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The defensive armament consisted of six remote-controlled retractable gun turrets, and fixed tail and nose turrets. Each turret was fitted with two 20 mm cannon, for a total of 16. Recoil vibration from gunnery practice often caused the aircraft's electrical wiring to jar loose or the vacuum tube electronics to malfunction, leading to failure of the aircraft controls and navigation equipment; this contributed to the crash of B-36B 44-92035 on 22 November 1950.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The Convair B-36 was the only aircraft designed to carry the T-12 Cloudmaker, a gravity bomb weighing and designed to produce an earthquake bomb effect. Part of the testing process involved dropping two of the bombs on a single flight mission, one from and the second from , for a total bomb load of .


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The first prototype XB-36 flew on 8 August 1946. The speed and range of the prototype failed to meet the standards set out by the USAAC in 1941. This was expected, as the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines required were not yet available, and the qualified workers and materials needed to install them were lacking.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: A second aircraft, the YB-36, flew on 4 December 1947. It had a redesigned, high-visibility, yet still "greenhouse-like" bubble canopy, heavily framed due to its substantial size, which was later adopted for production, and the engines used on the YB-36 were more powerful and more efficient. Altogether, the YB-36 was much closer to the production aircraft.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The first 21 B-36As were delivered in 1948. They were interim airframes, intended for crew training and later conversion. No defensive armament was fitted, since none was ready. Once later models were available, all B-36As were converted to RB-36E reconnaissance models. The first B-36 variant meant for normal operation was the B-36B, delivered beginning in November 1948. This aircraft met all the 1941 requirements, but had serious problems with engine reliability and maintenance (changing the 336 spark plugs was a task dreaded by ground crews) and with the availability of armaments and spare parts. Later models featured more powerful variants of the R-4360 engine, improved radar, and redesigned crew compartments.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The four jet engines increased fuel consumption and reduced range. Gun turrets were already recognized as obsolete, and newer bombers had been limited to just a tail turret, or no gunners at all for several years but the development of several air-to-air missiles, including the Soviet K-5 which began test firings in 1951, eliminated the last justifications for keeping them.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: In February 1954, the USAF awarded Convair a contract for a new "Featherweight" design program, which significantly reduced weight and crew size. The three configurations were:


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The six turrets eliminated by Featherweight I reduced the aircraft's crew from 15 to 9. Featherweight III had a longer range and an operating ceiling of at least , especially valuable for reconnaissance missions. The B-36J-III configuration (the last 14 made) had a single radar-aimed tail turret, extra fuel tanks in the outer wings, and landing gear allowing the maximum gross weight to rise to .


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: Due to problems that occurred with the B-36 in its early stages of testing, development, and later in service, some critics referred to the aircraft as a "billion-dollar blunder". In particular, the United States Navy saw it as a costly bungle, diverting congressional funding and interest from naval aviation and aircraft carriers in general, and carrier–based nuclear bombers in particular. In 1947, the Navy attacked congressional funding for the B-36, alleging it failed to meet Pentagon requirements. The Navy held to the pre-eminence of the aircraft carrier in the Pacific during World War II, presuming carrier-based aircraft would be decisive in future wars. To this end, the Navy designed , a "supercarrier" capable of launching huge fleets of tactical aircraft or nuclear bombers. It then pushed to have funding transferred from the B-36 to USS "United States". The Air Force successfully defended the B-36 project, and "United States" was officially cancelled by Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson in a cost-cutting move over the objections of both Secretary of the Navy John L. Sullivan and the Navy's senior uniformed leadership and to which Sullivan resigned in protest. Sullivan was replaced as Secretary of the Navy by Francis P. Matthews, who had limited familiarity with national defense issues, but was a close friend of Johnson. Several high-level Navy officials questioned the government's decision in cancelling the "United States" to fund the B-36, alleging a conflict of interest because Johnson had once served on Convair's board of directors. The uproar following the cancellation of "United States" in 1949 was nicknamed the "Revolt of the Admirals", during which time Matthews dismissed and forced into retirement the serving Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Admiral Louis E. Denfeld, following the CNO's testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The congressional and media furor over the firing of Admiral Denfeld, as well as the significant use of aircraft carriers in the Korean War, resulted in the Truman administration subsequently ousting both Johnson and Matthews in their respective secretary roles, and in the design and procurement of the subsequent of supercarriers, which were of comparable size to "United States", but with a design geared towards greater multirole use with composite air wings of fighter, attack, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, early warning and antisubmarine-warfare aircraft. At the same time, heavy manned bombers for the SAC were also deemed crucial to national defense and, as a result, the two systems were never again in competition for the same budgetary resources.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The B-36, including its GRB-36, RB-36, and XC-99 variants, was in USAF service as part of the SAC from 1948 to 1959. The RB-36 variants of the B-36 were used for reconnaissance during the Cold War with the Soviet Union and the B-36 bomber variants conducted training and test operations and stood ground and airborne alert, but the latter variants were never used offensively as bombers against hostile forces; they never fired a shot in combat.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The Wasp Major engines had a prodigious appetite for lubricating oil; each engine required a dedicated 100-gal (380-l) tank. Normal maintenance consisted of tedious measures, such as changing the 56 spark plugs on each of the six engines; the plugs were often fouled by the lead in the 145 octane antiknock fuel required by the R-4360 engines. Thus, each service required changing 336 spark plugs. Another frequent maintenance job was replacing the dozens of bomb bay light bulbs, which routinely shattered during test firing of the turret guns.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The B-36 was too large to fit in most hangars. Since even an aircraft with the range of the B-36 needed to be stationed as close to enemy targets as possible, this meant the plane was largely based in the extreme weather locations of the northern continental United States, Alaska, and the Arctic. Since the maintenance had to be performed outdoors, the crews were largely exposed to the elements, with temperatures of in winters and in summers, depending on the airbase location. Special shelters were built so the maintenance crews could be given a modicum of protection. Ground crews were at risk of slipping and falling from icy wings, or being blown off the wings by propeller wash running in reverse pitch. The wing roots were thick enough, at , to enable a flight engineer to access the engines and landing gear during flight by crawling through the wings. This was possible only at altitudes not requiring pressurization.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: In 1950, Convair (then still Consolidated-Vultee) developed streamlined pods, looking like oversize drop tanks, that were mounted on each side of the B-36's fuselage to carry spare engines between bases. Each pod could airlift two engines. When the pods were empty, they were removed and carried in the bomb bays. No record was made of the special engine pods ever being used.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: As engine fires occurred with the B-36's radial engines, some crews humorously changed the aircraft's slogan from "six turning, four burning" into "two turning, two burning, two smoking, two choking and two more unaccounted for". This problem was exacerbated by the propellers' pusher configuration, which increased carburetor icing. The design of the R-4360 engine tacitly assumed that it would be mounted in the conventional tractor configuration—propeller/air intake/28 cylinders/carburetor—with air flowing in that order. In this configuration, the carburetor is bathed in warmed air flowing past the engine, so it is unlikely to ice up. However, the R-4360 engines in the B-36 were mounted backwards, in the pusher configuration—air intake/carburetor/28 cylinders/propeller. The carburetor was now in front of the engine, so it could not benefit from engine heat. This placement also made more traditional short-term carburetor heat systems unsuitable. Hence, when intake air was cold and humid, ice gradually obstructed the carburetor air intake, which in turn gradually increased the richness of the air/fuel mixture until the unburned fuel in the exhaust caught fire. Three engine fires of this nature led to the first loss of an American nuclear weapon when a B-36 crashed in February 1950.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: Training missions were typically in two parts, a 40-hour flight—followed by time on the ground for refueling and maintenance—and then a 24-hour second flight. With a sufficiently light load, the B-36 could fly at least 10,000 mi (16,000 km) nonstop, and the highest cruising speed of any version, the B-36J-III, was at 230 mph (380 km/h). Engaging the jet engines could raise the cruising speed to over 400 mph (650 km/h). Hence, a 40-hour mission, with the jets used only for takeoff and climbing, flew about 9,200 mi (15,000 km).


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: Due to its massive size, the B-36 was never considered sprightly or agile; Lieutenant General James Edmundson likened it to "sitting on your front porch and flying your house around". Crew compartments were nonetheless cramped, especially when occupied for 24 hours by a crew of 15 in full flight kit.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: War missions would have been one-way, taking off from forward bases in Alaska or Greenland, overflying the USSR, and landing in Europe, Morocco, or the Middle East. Veteran crews recall feeling confident in their ability to fly the planned missions, but not to survive weapon delivery, as the aircraft may not have been fast enough to escape the blast. These concerns were borne out by the 1954 Operation Castle tests, in which B-36s were flown at the combat distance from the detonations of bombs in the 15-megaton range. At distances believed typical of wartime delivery, aircraft suffered extensive flash and blast damage.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The B-36 was employed in a variety of aeronautical experiments throughout its service life. Its immense size, range, and payload capacity lent itself to use in research and development programs. These included nuclear propulsion studies, and "parasite" programs in which the B-36 carried smaller interceptors or reconnaissance aircraft.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: In May 1946, the Air Force began the Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft project, which was followed in May 1951 by the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP) program. The ANP program used modified B-36s to study shielding requirements for an airborne reactor to determine whether a nuclear-powered aircraft was feasible. Convair modified two B-36s under the MX-1589 project. The Nuclear Test Aircraft was a B-36H-20-CF (serial number 51-5712) that had been damaged in a tornado at Carswell AFB on 1 September 1952. This aircraft, designated the XB-36H (and later NB-36H), was modified to carry a , air-cooled nuclear reactor in the aft bomb bay, with a four-ton lead disc shield installed in the middle of the aircraft between the reactor and the cockpit. A number of large air intake and exhaust holes were installed in the sides and bottom of the aircraft's rear fuselage to cool the reactor in flight. On the ground, a crane would be used to remove the reactor from the aircraft. To protect the crew, the highly modified cockpit was encased in lead and rubber, with a leaded glass windshield. The reactor was operational, but did not power the aircraft; its sole purpose was to investigate the effect of radiation on aircraft systems. Between 1955 and 1957, the NB-36H completed 47 test flights and 215 hours of flight time, during 89 of which the reactor was critical.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: Other experiments involved providing the B-36 with its own fighter defense in the form of parasite aircraft carried partially or wholly in a bomb bay. One parasite aircraft was the diminutive McDonnell XF-85 Goblin, which docked using a trapeze system. The concept was tested successfully using a B-29 carrier, but docking proved difficult even for experienced test pilots. Moreover, the XF-85 was seen as no match for contemporary foreign powers' newly developed interceptor aircraft in development and in service; consequently, the project was cancelled.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: More successful was the FICON project, involving a modified B-36 (called a GRB-36D "mothership") and the RF-84K, a fighter modified for reconnaissance, in a bomb bay. The GRB-36D would ferry the RF-84K to the vicinity of the objective, whereupon the RF-84K would disconnect and begin its mission. Ten GRB-36Ds and 25 RF-84Ks were built and had limited service in 1955–1956.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: Projects Tip Tow and Tom-Tom involved docking F-84s to the wingtips of B-29s and B-36s. The hope was that the increased aspect ratio of the combined aircraft would result in a greater range. Project Tip Tow was cancelled when an EF-84D and a specially modified test EB-29A crashed, killing everyone on both aircraft. This accident was attributed to the EF-84D flipping over onto the wing of the EB-29A. Project Tom-Tom, involving RF-84Fs and a GRB-36D from the FICON project (redesignated JRB-36F), continued for a few months after this crash, but was also cancelled due to the violent turbulence induced by the wingtip vortices of the B-36.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: One of the SAC's initial missions was to plan strategic aerial reconnaissance on a global scale. The first efforts were in photo-reconnaissance and mapping. Along with the photo-reconnaissance mission, a small electronic intelligence cadre was operating. Weather reconnaissance was part of the effort, as was long-range detection, the search for Soviet atomic explosions. In the late 1940s, strategic intelligence on Soviet capabilities and intentions was scarce. Before the development of the Lockheed U-2 high-altitude spy plane and Corona orbital reconnaissance satellites, technology and politics limited American reconnaissance efforts to the borders, and not the heartland, of the Soviet Union.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: One of the essential criteria of the early postwar reconnaissance aircraft was the ability to cruise above , a level determined by knowledge of the capability of Soviet air-defense radar. The main Soviet air-defense radar in the 1950s was the American-supplied SCR-270, or locally made copies, which were only effective up to in theory, an aircraft cruising above this level would remain undetected.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The first aircraft to put this theory to the test was the RB-36D specialized photo-reconnaissance version of the B-36D. It was outwardly identical to the standard B-36D, but carried a crew of 22 rather than 15, the additional crew members being needed to operate and maintain the photo-reconnaissance equipment that was carried. The forward bomb bay in the bomber was replaced by a pressurized, manned compartment that was filled with 14 cameras. This compartment included a small darkroom, where a photo technician could develop the film. The second bomb bay contained up to 80 T-86 photoflash bombs, while the third bay could carry an extra , droppable fuel tank. The fourth bomb bay carried electronic countermeasure equipment. The defensive armament of 16 M-24A-1 20-mm cannons was retained. The extra fuel tanks increased the flight endurance to up to 50 hours. It had an operational ceiling of . Later, a lightweight version of this aircraft, the RB-36-III, could even reach . RB-36s were distinguished by the bright aluminum finish of the camera compartment (contrasting with the dull magnesium of the rest of the fuselage) and by a series of radar domes under the aft fuselage, varying in number and placement. When developed, it was the only American aircraft having enough range to fly over the Eurasian land mass from bases in the United States, and large enough to carry the bulky, high-resolution cameras of the day.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The standard RB-36D carried up to 23 cameras, primarily K-17C, K-22A, K-38, and K-40 cameras. A special 240-inch focal length camera (known as the Boston Camera after the university where it was designed) was tested on 44-92088, the aircraft being redesignated ERB-36D. The long focal length was achieved by using a two-mirror reflection system. The camera was capable of resolving a golf ball at an altitude and side range of . That is a slant range over . The camera and the contact print of this test can be seen at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright Patterson AFB.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The first RB-36D (44-92088) made its initial flight on 18 December 1949, only six months after the first B-36D had flown. It initially flew without the turbojets. The 28th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing based at Rapid City AFB (later renamed Ellsworth AFB), South Dakota, received its first RB-36D on 3 June 1950. Due to severe material shortages, the new RB-36Ds did not become operationally ready until June 1951. The 24th and last RB-36D was delivered in May 1951. A total of 24 RB-36Ds was built. Some RB-36Ds were later modified to the featherweight configuration, in which all but the tail guns were removed. The crew was reduced from 22 to 19. These aircraft were redesignated as RB-36D-III. Modifications were carried out by Convair from February to November 1954.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: With a range of , RB-36Ds began probing the boundaries of the Soviet Arctic in 1951. Although on-board equipment indicated detection by Soviet radar, interceptions at the B-36's service ceiling would have remained difficult. RB-36 aircraft operating from RAF Sculthorpe in England made a number of overflights of Soviet Arctic bases, particularly the new nuclear weapons test complex at Novaya Zemlya. RB-36s performed a number of rarely acknowledged reconnaissance missions and are believed to have frequently penetrated Chinese (and Soviet) airspace under the direction of General Curtis LeMay.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: In early 1950, Convair began converting B-36As to a reconnaissance configuration; included in the conversions was the sole YB-36 (42-13571). These converted examples were all redesignated RB-36E. The six R-4360-25 engines were replaced by six R-4360-41s. They were also equipped with the four J-47 jet engines that were fitted to the RB-36D. Its normal crew was 22, which included five gunners to man the 16 M-24A-1 20-mm cannon. The last conversion was completed in July 1951. Later, the USAF also bought 73 long-range reconnaissance versions of the B-36H under the designation RB-36H; 23 were accepted during the first six months of 1952, and the last were delivered by September 1953. More than a third of all B-36s were reconnaissance models.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: Advances in Soviet air defense systems meant that the RB-36 became limited to flying outside the borders of the Soviet Union, as well as Eastern Europe. By the mid-1950s, the jet-powered Boeing RB-47E was able to pierce Soviet airspace and conduct a variety of spectacular overflights of the Soviet Union. Some of these flights probed deep into the heart of the Soviet Union, taking photographic and radar recordings of the route attacking SAC bombers would follow to reach their targets. Flights that involved penetrating mainland Russia were termed sensitive intelligence (SENSINT) missions. One RB-47 flew inland and photographed the city of Igarka in Siberia.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: As with the strategic bombardment versions, the RB-36 was phased out of the SAC inventory beginning in 1956, the last being sent to Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in January 1959.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: With the appearance of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 in combat over North Korea in 1950, USAF propeller-driven bombers were rendered obsolete as strategic offensive weapons. Both the B-36 and the B-29/B-50 Superfortresses were designed during World War II, prior to the jet age. A new generation of swept-wing jet bombers, able to fly higher and faster, was needed to effectively overcome the MiG-15 or subsequent Soviet interceptors if the Cold War escalated into armed conflict. In 1952, while the Korean War was still in full combat, the Convair YB-60, developed from the B-36, entered a design competition with the Boeing YB-52. By early 1953, the Boeing product had emerged as the preferred design.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: After fighting in Korea had ceased, President Eisenhower called for a "new look" at national defense. His administration chose to invest in the USAF, especially SAC, retiring nearly all of its B-29/B-50s in favour of the new Boeing B-47 Stratojet, introduced in 1951. By 1955, the B-52 Stratofortress was entering the inventory in substantial numbers, which replaced B-36s.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: Two major factors contributing to the obsolescence of the B-36 and its phaseout were a lack of aerial refueling capability (instead requiring intermediate refueling bases to reach planned targets deep in the Soviet Union) and its slow speed (making it vulnerable to jet interceptors and thus severely decreasing its likelihood of reaching targets in Soviet territory).


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The scrapping of B-36s began in February 1956. Once replaced by B-52s, they were flown directly from operational squadrons to Davis–Monthan AFB, Arizona, where the Mar-Pak Corporation handled their reclamation and destruction. Defense cutbacks in FY 1958 compelled the B-52 procurement process to be stretched out and the B-36 service life to be extended. The B-36s remaining in service were supported with components scavenged from aircraft sent to Davis–Monthan. Further update work was undertaken by Convair at San Diego (Specialized Aircraft Maintenance, SAM-SAC) until 1957 to extend the life and capabilities of the B-36s. By December 1958, only 22 B-36Js were still operational.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: On 12 February 1959, the last B-36J built, AF Ser. No. 52-2827, left Biggs AFB, Texas, where it had been on duty with the 95th Heavy Bombardment Wing, and was flown to Amon Carter Field in Fort Worth, where it was put on display. Within two years, all B-36s, except five used for museum display, had been scrapped at Davis–Monthan AFB.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: In 1951, the USAF asked Convair to build a prototype of an all-jet variant of the B-36. Convair complied by replacing the wings on a B-36F with swept wings, from which were suspended eight Pratt & Whitney XJ57-P-3 jet engines. The result was the B-36G, later renamed the Convair YB-60. The YB-60 was deemed inferior to Boeing's YB-52, and the project was terminated. Just as the C-97 was the transport variant of the B-50, the B-36 was the basis for the Convair XC-99, a double-decked military cargo plane that was the largest piston-engined, land-based aircraft ever built. Its length of made it the longest practical aircraft of its era. The sole example built was extensively employed for nearly 10 years, especially for cross-country cargo flights during the Korean War. In 2005, this XC-99 was dismantled in anticipation of its being moved from the former Kelly Air Force Base, now the Kelly Field Annex of Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas, where it had been retired since 1957. The XC-99 was subsequently relocated to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB for restoration, with C-5 Galaxy transports carrying pieces of the XC-99 to Wright-Patterson as space and schedule permitted.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: A commercial airliner derived from the XC-99, the Convair Model 37, never left the drawing board. It would have been the first "jumbo" airliner.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: Though the B-36 had a solid overall safety record, well above average for the class and time, 10 B-36s were involved in accidents between 1949 and 1954 (three B-36Bs, three B-36Ds, and four B-36Hs). A total of 32 B-36s were written off in accidents between 1949 and 1957 of 385 built. When a crash occurred, the magnesium-rich airframe burned easily.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: On 14 February 1950 off the northwest coast of British Columbia on Princess Royal Island, 17 crewmen parachuted from their blazing B-36B; 12 crewmen were found with one injured, and five were reported missing.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: On Labor Day, Monday, 1 September 1952, a tornado hit Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, damaging aircraft of the 7th and 11th Bomber Wings' complement of B-36s. Some two-thirds of the USAF's entire B-36 fleet was affected, as well as six aircraft being built at that point at Convair's Fort Worth plant. The base was shut down and operations transferred to Meacham Field. Joint repairs by Convair and the USAF got 10 of the 61 B-36s running within two weeks and repaired the other 51 aircraft within five weeks; 18 of 19 heavily damaged aircraft (and the six damaged and unfinished aircraft at Convair) were repaired by May 1953. The 19th (#2051) had to be scrapped, and was used as a nuclear testing site ground target. One heavily damaged aircraft (#5712) was written off and rebuilt as the NB-36H Nuclear Reactor Testbed aircraft.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: On 18 March 1953, RB-36H-25, 51-13721, flew off course in bad weather and crashed near Burgoyne's Cove, Newfoundland, Canada (). Brigadier General Richard Ellsworth was among the 23 airmen killed in the crash.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: B-36s were involved in two "Broken Arrow" incidents. On 13 February 1950, B-36 serial number 44-92075, crashed in an unpopulated region of British Columbia, resulting in the first loss of an American atom bomb. The bomb's plutonium core was dummy lead, but it did have TNT, and it detonated over the ocean before the crew bailed out. Locating the crash site took some effort. On 4 November 2016, however, an object similar to the bomb was reported to have been located by a diver near the archipelago of Haida Gwaii, off the coast of British Columbia; the Royal Canadian Navy said vessels would be deployed to investigate the object. After investigation, the Royal Canadian Navy determined that it was not the lost bomb. Later in 1954, the airframe, stripped of sensitive material, was substantially destroyed "in situ" by a U.S. military recovery team.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: On 22 May 1957, a B-36 accidentally dropped a Mark 17 thermonuclear bomb from the control tower while landing at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The weapon had come loose from its mount and fell through the bomb bay doors, creating a large hole in the bottom of the aircraft, and sending the aircraft into an uncontrollable climb due to the sudden and unexpected loss of weight. Only the conventional explosives detonated, as the bomb was unarmed. The aircraft made a safe landing. These incidents were classified for decades. See list of military nuclear accidents.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: In 1949, the B-36 was featured in the documentary film, "Target: Peace", about the operations of the 7th Bombardment Wing at Carswell AFB. Other scenes included B-36 production at the Fort Worth plant.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: "Strategic Air Command" is a 1955 American film starring James Stewart as a Major League Baseball star and World War II veteran who is called back to active duty to become a B-36 pilot and flight commander for SAC.


title: Convair B-36 Peacemaker

text: The documentary "Lost Nuke" (2004) chronicles a 2003 Canadian expedition that set out to solve the mystery of the world's first lost nuclear weapon. The team traveled to the remote mountain site of the 1950 British Columbia B-36 crash.


title: Jordyn Woods

text: Jordyn Woods (born September 23, 1997) is an American socialite and model. She is known for her role in the reality television show "Life of Kylie".


title: Jordyn Woods

text: Jordyn Woods was born in Los Angeles on September 23, 1997, to John Woods, a television sound engineer, and Elizabeth Woods, a talent and brand manager. She has two brothers named John Jr. and Joshua, and a sister named Jodie. She was raised in a predominantly white neighborhood in Oak Park, California and remembers being one of only two black girls at her school. Woods' parents later divorced, and she moved around frequently, eventually deciding to do homeschooling after her family moved to Calabasas, California when she was thirteen. Woods' father died from cancer when she was nineteen.


title: Jordyn Woods

text: Her father worked on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", and her family is close with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, who she considers her uncle and aunt.


title: Jordyn Woods

text: Woods was signed to Wilhelmina in 2015 after an agent discovered her on Instagram and asked if she was interested in modeling. In May 2016, Woods walked her first runway in the Lane Bryant and Christian Siriano fashion show. Woods was a model for Khloé Kardashian's clothing company, Good American, from 2016 until 2019.


title: Jordyn Woods

text: In 2017, Woods walked in her first New York Fashion Week show. She appeared on the September 2019 issue of "Cosmopolitan UK".


title: Jordyn Woods

text: Woods starred in all episodes of the 2017 reality television show "Life of Kylie", and also appeared in some episodes of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" Woods was also a celebrity guest on the 2019 season of VH1's "Hip Hop Squares". Woods competed in season three of "The Masked Singer" as "Kangaroo".


title: Jordyn Woods

text: Woods made her acting debut in 2019 on an episode of "grown-ish", in which she played Dee. Her character was living in a dorm and contemplating suicide, and the resident director worked to bring awareness to black mental health on campus. She later appeared on the BET+ film "Sacrifice" and had a leading role in a 2020 BET+ film "Trigger" as Vanessa Mass.


title: Jordyn Woods

text: In September 2018, Kylie Cosmetics launched the Kylie x Jordyn collection, a collaboration between the two friends. In June 2019, Woods launched a clothing line with Boohoo.com.


title: Jordyn Woods

text: In July 2019, Woods starred in Rick Ross's music video. In October 2019, Woods launched a hair extensions line with Easilocks.


title: Jordyn Woods

text: improve their mental and physical wellbeing. The app provides fitness plans created by expert trainers, and recipes by top nutritionists.


title: Jordyn Woods

text: Woods has been open about her struggle with her body image and the impact that growing up in Hollywood had on her self-image.


title: Jordyn Woods

text: Woods had a highly publicized friendship and lived with Kylie Jenner until February 2019 and often helped Jenner take care of her daughter, Stormi Webster.


title: Jordyn Woods

text: In May 2020, Woods began dating basketball player Karl-Anthony Towns. She rents a house in Los Angeles.


title: Dawn Wells

text: Dawn Elberta Wells (October 18, 1938 – December 30, 2020) was an American actress known for her role as Mary Ann Summers on the CBS sitcom "Gilligan's Island".


title: Dawn Wells

text: Wells was born to Evelyn (née Steinbrenner) and Joe Wesley Wells in Reno, Nevada, where she attended Reno High School. Her father owned a local Reno construction company called "Wells Cargo" (not to be confused with the trailer manufacturer). After high school graduation, Wells attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, where she majored in chemistry. She transferred to the University of Washington in Seattle, where she graduated in 1960 with a degree in theater arts and design. She was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority.


title: Dawn Wells

text: In 1959, Wells was crowned Miss Nevada and represented her state in the Miss America 1960 pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey.


title: Dawn Wells

text: In Hollywood, Wells made her debut on ABC's "The Roaring 20s" and the movie "The New Interns" and was cast in episodes of such television series as "The Joey Bishop Show", "77 Sunset Strip", "Cheyenne", "Maverick", and "Bonanza."


title: Dawn Wells

text: Wells appeared as a guest star on "Wagon Train", "Tales of Wells Fargo", "87th Precinct", "Surfside 6", "Hawaiian Eye", "Ripcord", "The Everglades", "The Detectives", "Bonanza", "It's a Man's World", "Channing", "Laramie", "Burke's Law", "The Invaders", "The Wild Wild West", "The F.B.I.", "Vega$", "The Love Boat", "Fantasy Island", "Matt Houston", "ALF", "Herman's Head", "Three Sisters", "Pastor Greg", and "Roseanne".


title: Dawn Wells

text: She took her signature role of Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island" in 1964. She reprised her character in the various "Gilligan's Island" reunion specials, including the reunion cartoon spin-off "Gilligan's Planet" and three reunion movies: "Rescue from Gilligan's Island", "The Castaways on Gilligan's Island", and "The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island". She also reprised her character in a 1992 episode of "Baywatch", "Now Sit Right Back and You'll Hear a Tale".


title: Dawn Wells

text: In 1993, Wells published "Mary Ann's Gilligan's Island Cookbook" with co-writers Ken Beck and Jim Clark, including a foreword by Bob Denver. Alan Hale Jr., who played The Skipper on "Gilligan's Island", contributed a family recipe ("Kansas Chicken and Dumplings") to her cookbook. Hale's character was the inspiration behind such concoctions as Skipper's Coconut Cream Pie, Skipper's Navy Bean Soup, and Skipper's Goodbye Ribeye, and he is depicted as Skipper Jonas Grumby in numerous photographs throughout the book. She said in a 2014 interview with GoErie.com, "Alan could not have been kinder to a young actress. He was a real peach."


title: Dawn Wells

text: In 1997, Wells starred as her "Gilligan's Island" character in a music video for the song "Mary Ann" by the pop-punk band Squirtgun (Lookout Records labelmates of Green Day). The song describes an infatuation with Mary Ann and sings praises to the wholesome character, specifically choosing her over Ginger. The video reached the top 40 of MTV's Alternative Music charts, and was featured as part of a variety of alternative-themed music video programs.


title: Dawn Wells

text: In 2005, Wells consigned for sale her original gingham blouse and shorts ensemble from her signature role. Beverly Hills auction house Profiles in History sold it for $20,700.


title: Dawn Wells

text: In 2014, Wells released "What Would Mary Ann Do? A Guide to Life", which she co-wrote with Steve Stinson. The book was released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of "Gilligan's Island".


title: Dawn Wells

text: A recurring theme, in the form of a rivalry, developed from the show that posed the question, mainly to men, as to which one of the female stars they preferred: Ginger or Mary Ann? Wells embraced the good-natured rivalry. During a 2014 interview with the Vancouver Sun, Wells said that she had a t-shirt that read: "Ginger or Mary Ann, the ultimate dilemma." The question of which of these two characters men prefer endured long after the end of the series. "You can go anywhere and say 'Ginger or Mary Ann?' You don't have to say what show it is. Everybody gets it. And I always win."


title: Dawn Wells

text: Wells had small roles in the early-1960s films "Palm Springs Weekend" and "The New Interns", and later starred with Michael Dante in the independent 1975 film "Winterhawk", playing a Western settler kidnapped by a Native American chief. Her other films include "The Town That Dreaded Sundown", "Return to Boggy Creek", "Lover's Knot", "Soulmates", "Forever for Now", and "Super Sucker". In fall 2011, she began filming "Silent But Deadly" (originally titled "Hotel Arthritis"), a comedy horror film released in 2012.


title: Dawn Wells

text: Following "Gilligan's Island", Wells embarked on a theater career, appearing in nearly one hundred theatrical productions as of July 2009. She spent the majority of the 1970s and 1980s touring in theater productions, notably the second national (bus and truck) tour of Neil Simon's "Chapter Two" (in the role of Jennie Malone), and replacing Lorna Luft as Sonia Walsk in the second national tour of "They're Playing Our Song". She also had a one-woman show at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in 1985.


title: Dawn Wells

text: In May 2016, Wells was named Marketing Ambassador to MeTV Network, which had begun airing reruns of "Gilligan's Island".


title: Dawn Wells

text: For several years, Wells operated a business, Wishing Wells Collections, making clothing for people with limited mobility. She was the founder of the Idaho Film and Television Institute, a not-for-profit (501(c)(3)) educational organization with "a vision of education, technical training and economic development in Southeastern Idaho." She organized SpudFest, a regional annual family movie festival, and promoted Idaho Potatoes.


title: Dawn Wells

text: Wells lent her support to the Denver Foundation, a West Virginia charity chaired by Dreama Denver, widow of Wells' "Gilligan's Island" co-star Bob Denver. In November 2009, she appeared at the Denver Foundation's Christmas Wish Celebrity Auction, helping to raise funds for the disabled and disadvantaged in West Virginia.


title: Dawn Wells

text: Wells married Larry Rosen, a talent agent, on October 27, 1962. The couple had no children and divorced in 1967.


title: Dawn Wells

text: In 2018, a GoFundMe page was set up to help Wells cope with financial trouble from medical care after a fall.


title: Dawn Wells

text: Wells died from COVID-19-related causes in Los Angeles on December 30, 2020, at age 82, during the COVID-19 pandemic in California. The week prior to her death, she had a Happy New Year video prerecorded to be released on the holiday.


title: Dave Matthews

text: David John Matthews (born January 9, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band (DMB). Matthews was born in Johannesburg, and moved frequently among South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States while growing up. Matthews started playing acoustic guitar at the age of nine.


title: Dave Matthews

text: From 1991 to 2003, Matthews predominantly focused on songwriting and performing with the Dave Matthews Band, which he started in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. He also has done various solo performances and produced other records. During the period from 2000 to 2010, his band sold more tickets and earned more money than any other act in North America. The band's 2012 album "Away from the World" made them the only group to have six consecutive studio albums debut at number one on the "Billboard" charts. This record was extended to seven consecutive number one albums with the 2018 release, "Come Tomorrow."


title: Dave Matthews

text: In addition to music, Matthews has had multiple acting roles. He has also won two Grammy Awards: one with the Dave Matthews Band in 1997 for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ("So Much to Say") and one in 2004 for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ("Gravedigger") from his solo album.


title: Dave Matthews

text: David John Matthews was born in Johannesburg, the third of four children of parents John and Val Matthews. At the age of two years, Matthews moved with his family to Yorktown Heights, New York, where his father, a physicist, started working for IBM.


title: Dave Matthews

text: In 1974, the Matthews family moved to Cambridge, England, for a year, then returned to New York, where his father died from lung cancer in 1977. At some point, while residing in New York, Matthews attended his first concert, when his mother took him to a performance by Pete Seeger. The family returned to Johannesburg in 1977.


title: Dave Matthews

text: Upon Matthews's graduation from Damelin College high school in 1985, he was faced with conscription into the South African military just as civil disobedience to the practice was becoming widespread. As a Quaker (and consequently pacifist), Matthews left South Africa to avoid service.


title: Dave Matthews

text: Matthews moved to New York in 1986 where he worked for IBM for a short time, then joined his mother that same year in Charlottesville, Virginia, a town Matthews's family had lived in before he was born. In Charlottesville, he became part of the local music community. Although Matthews had started playing the guitar at age nine, it was only in Charlottesville that he started performing publicly. Through a mutual friend, Nic Cappon, Matthews met local star (and future collaborator) Tim Reynolds. In time, Reynolds had Matthews join him on stage, and Matthews was persuaded to record some of his own songs. This led to his first professional musical gig at a modern dance performance by the "Miki Liszt Dance Company", based at McGuffey Art Center in Charlottesville, singing "Meaningful Love", composed by John D'earth and Dawn Thompson. In 1991, he hatched the idea to form his own band. Before recording his first demo, Matthews bartended at Miller's in Charlottesville.


title: Dave Matthews

text: After writing his first few songs, including "I'll Back You Up", "The Song That Jane Likes" and "Recently", Matthews formed Dave Matthews Band in early 1991 with LeRoi Moore, Carter Beauford, Stefan Lessard, Peter Griesar (who left the band in 1993), and Boyd Tinsley while working at Miller's as a bartender. The band's first show was on March 14, 1991, as part of a benefit for the Middle East Children's Alliance at Trax Nightclub in Charlottesville, Virginia.


title: Dave Matthews

text: Matthews's older sister Anne, who lived in South Africa, was murdered by her husband in early 1994. Her husband then died by suicide on or around January 27 of that year. The event had a profound effect on Matthews's outlook on life and was referenced in a few of his songs. On January 29, 1994, he performed with Tim Reynolds at the Wetlands in New York, where he dedicated that performance "to her [Anne's] memory". Dave Matthews Band's "Under the Table and Dreaming", released later that year, was dedicated to her. Anne Matthews was survived by her two children, and they traveled to the United States following her death. Dave and his younger sister Jane (after whom the Dave Matthews Band song "The Song That Jane Likes" is named) took responsibility for the children's upbringing.


title: Dave Matthews

text: Matthews focused primarily on songwriting and performances with the Dave Matthews Band from 1990 to 2003. DMB is an artistic blend of acoustic guitar, bass, sax, drums and fiddle music. In 1994, DMB signed with RCA Records. Since that period, he has occasionally ventured outside the band in various solo performances and records.


title: Dave Matthews

text: Matthews sang on the track "Sing Along" on Blue Man Group's second album "The Complex" in 2003. Later that year he released the solo album "Some Devil", which went platinum; its single "Gravedigger" won a Grammy Award in 2004. Dave Mathews drew motivation for this song from the long-running Monster Jam celebrity Grave Digger. To support the album, Matthews toured with a group of musicians (many of whom performed on "Some Devil") under the name Dave Matthews & Friends.


title: Dave Matthews

text: Dave often collaborates with banjoist Béla Fleck. Fleck is the frontman and namesake of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones; Matthews appears as guest vocalist with the band on their 1998 release, "Left of Cool". Both Fleck and the Flecktones' bassist Victor Wooten have made numerous live appearances and in studio with the Dave Matthews Band. Wooten soloed in the second part of the Daniel Lanois song "The Maker", and also in "#41" on the 1998 live album "Live in Chicago". The Flecktones also opened for DMB on several tours. Matthews performed a duet with Emmylou Harris on "My Antonia" on her 2000 album "Red Dirt Girl". They also appeared together on the musical television show "CMT Crossroads", where the two performed Matthews's "Gravedigger" and the folk song "Long Black Veil".


title: Dave Matthews

text: Matthews played a cover of Neil Young's song "The Needle and the Damage Done" at the 2010 tribute MusiCares Person of the Year, honoring Young on January 29, 2010.


title: Dave Matthews

text: The Dave Matthews Band opened for the Rolling Stones on their Bridges to Babylon Tour (1997–1998), and Matthews sang "Wild Horses" and "Memory Motel" with Mick Jagger.


title: Dave Matthews

text: Before he was known as a musician, Dave Matthews was an amateur actor, appearing onstage in several productions at Charlottesville's Offstage Theatre and Live Arts theater in the early 1990s; the role for which he is best remembered is as a used car salesman in Offstage Theatre's "Just Say No," directed by John Quinn, co-starring Kylie Suture. He played Will Coleman in the 2003 adaptation of the novel "Where the Red Fern Grows". In 2005, he played in "Because of Winn-Dixie" as Otis, a man who works at a pet store and plays guitar.


title: Dave Matthews

text: In 2007, Matthews appeared briefly in the movie "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry", where he plays a homosexual salesman. In 2008, he appeared in the Adam Sandler movie "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" as a racist redneck character named James. He also had a significant role in "Lake City" with Sissy Spacek and Troy Garity, in which he portrays the character Red. He was also in three movies in 2011: "The Other Side" with Giovanni Ribisi and Jason Lee, "In the Woods", starring Debra Winger and Terrence Howard, and the Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston comedy "Just Go with It".


title: Dave Matthews

text: In 2007, Matthews guest-starred in the medical-drama series "House" in the episode "Half-Wit". He played a piano-playing musical savant who had the two hemispheres of his brain severed from each other in order to recover from his epilepsy, but at the expense of his musical abilities. Dave had a piano double for the complex pieces, but played the simpler pieces himself. In the season one episode of "House", "Love Hurts", the song "Some Devil" can be heard playing at the end. In another episode, one of the tracks from "Stand Up", "You Might Die Trying" was played in the season five episode, "Not Cancer".


title: Dave Matthews

text: The fifth time Matthews appeared as musical guest on "Saturday Night Live" in November 2009 (which was also the fourth time the Dave Matthews Band appeared on the show), he made an appearance as Ozzy Osbourne in a skit called "The Mellow Show". Bill Hader impersonated Matthews in the same skit.


title: Dave Matthews

text: Matthews was also a cast member and performer in the popular music documentary "Before the Music Dies". In 2018, Matthews guest-starred on "Pete the Cat" as the voice of Gustavo's father, a platypus.


title: Dave Matthews

text: In 1999, Matthews purchased more than 10 acres of land in Albemarle County, Virginia, known as Blenheim Farm, to preserve its historical significance. He later decided to plant grapes on the property, since it is located within both the Virginia and Monticello viticultural areas. Blenheim Vineyards was founded in 2000, and currently produces 5,500 cases of wine per year, including its signature Petit Verdot and several special edition wines that have featured unique labels with drawings by Matthews.


title: Dave Matthews

text: In 2011, Matthews collaborated with wine makers Steve Reeder and Sean McKenzie in creating the Dreaming Tree Wines.


title: Dave Matthews

text: In April 2012, Matthews was credited as producer on the documentary "Last Call at the Oasis", directed by Jessica Yu.


title: Dave Matthews

text: In early 2013, Matthews participated in a jam session at Blade Studios in Shreveport, Louisiana, with Jakob Dylan, Charlie Sexton, Blade studios co-owner Brady Blade, and Sexton's brother Will. This led to the formation of a band named The Nauts with Matthews, Dylan, Blade, and the Sexton brothers as members. However, there has been no news regarding an album release since that jam session.


title: Dave Matthews

text: On May 16, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 quarantine, Matthews appeared streaming on the virtual graduation ceremonies for the University of Virginia. He wished students his best and said "it is now your small opportunity to make the world a better place, as you see fit." He then sang the song "Singing from the Windows".


title: Dave Matthews

text: Dave Matthews married longtime girlfriend Jennifer Ashley Harper in 2000. They have twin daughters born in 2001, and a son born in 2007. They reside in Seattle. In a 2001 interview, Matthews stated that he was agnostic. He joined the Farm Aid board of directors in 2001, to serve alongside fellow musicians Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young to raise money for family farmers in the United States.


title: Dave Matthews

text: Matthews published an Internet video before the 2000 U.S. presidential election, urging viewers to vote without advocating any candidate. He mentioned only Ralph Nader by name, and updated fans about the recording sessions for "Everyday". Although his music often explores political and social issues, Matthews refrained from public campaigning for presidential candidates until 2004. He cast his support strongly with Democratic nominee John Kerry, performing at political events including the Vote for Change tour.


title: Dave Matthews

text: Matthews also supported Barack Obama for president in 2008, both in the primaries and in the general election. On April 6, 2008, he and Tim Reynolds played a concert titled "Change Rocks" at Indiana University to encourage students to register to vote. The tickets were distributed by the Obama campaign. Questions regarding his citizenship were answered by advertisements and videos on YouTube, where he says he is a "real American" and a "real Virginian," stating that "real Virginians get out and vote." Although bereaved by the loss of band co-founder and saxophonist LeRoi Moore on August 19, 2008, he and Tim Reynolds played for the Democratic National Convention delegates on Sunday, August 24, at Red Rocks, and again with Reynolds at Virginia Commonwealth University on October 26, 2008, among other places. Matthews has often supported environmental initiatives, such as biofuel availability and the fight against global climate change.


title: Dave Matthews

text: On September 21, 2009, Matthews stated that some of President Barack Obama's harsher critics were motivated by his race, and stated that he "sees it [racism] everywhere" in the United States. Matthews is also a strong supporter of gay rights and participated in "Love Unites Shepard Fairey Equality Project", a gay marriage advocacy project.


title: Dave Matthews

text: On May 10, 2012, Matthews entertained a sellout crowd at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle where President Obama was hosting a campaign fundraiser.


title: Dave Matthews

text: In a September 28, 2015, interview with "Rolling Stone", Matthews said that "when I hear someone like Bernie Sanders talking, I think there's a hope." Matthews performed at a San Francisco rally for Sanders during the 2016 presidential primaries and later, during the general election campaign. He was a major donor to the 2017 gubernatorial campaign of progressive Charlottesville politician Tom Perriello.


title: Dave Matthews

text: On October 30, 2021, Matthews performed at a Democratic get out the vote event in Charlottesville VA with Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe. During the 2022 election campaign, Matthews performed at campaign events for Democratic candidates Tim Ryan in Ohio and John Fetterman in Pennsylvania.


title: Dave Matthews

text: Two shows have been released as part of the Dave Matthews Band's "DMBlive series" available only for online download.


title: The Expendables 3

text: The Expendables 3 is a 2014 American action film directed by Patrick Hughes and written by Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt and Sylvester Stallone. It is the third installment in "The Expendables" franchise and the sequel to "The Expendables 2" (2012). The film features an ensemble cast of stars including Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Antonio Banderas, Jet Li, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, Kelsey Grammer, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.


title: The Expendables 3

text: The story follows the mercenary group known as "The Expendables" as they come into conflict with ruthless arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks, the Expendables' co-founder, who is determined to destroy the team. The film premiered in London on August 4, 2014 and was released theatrically on August 15, 2014, by Lionsgate. Unlike the first two films in the franchise, "The Expendables 3" received a PG-13 rating instead of an R rating, which upset many fans of the franchise. Partly due to negative critical reviews and being leaked three weeks before its scheduled release, the film grossed $214 million worldwide on an estimated $90–100 million budget, becoming the lowest-grossing film of the trilogy. A sequel, "The Expendables 4", is scheduled to be released in 2023.


title: The Expendables 3

text: The Expendables—led by Barney Ross and formed by Lee Christmas, Gunner Jensen, and Toll Road—extract former member Doctor Death, a knives specialist, and team medic, from a military prison during his transfer on a train. They recruit Doctor Death to assist them in intercepting a shipment of bombs meant to be delivered to a warlord in Somalia. Arriving there, they reunite with Hale Caesar, who directs them to the drop point, where Ross is surprised to find out that the arms trader providing the bombs is Conrad Stonebanks, a former co-founder of the Expendables who went rogue and was presumed dead. In the ensuing firefight, The Expendables kill all but Stonebanks, who shoots Caesar. They are forced to retreat when Stonebanks drops a glide bomb on them from his helicopter, and Caesar is severely injured.


title: The Expendables 3

text: Back in the United States, CIA operative Max Drummer, the Expendables' new missions manager, gives Ross a mission to capture Stonebanks to bring him to the International Criminal Court to be tried for war crimes. Blaming himself for Caesar's injuries, Ross disbands the Expendables and leaves for Las Vegas, where he enlists retired mercenary-turned-recruiter Bonaparte to help him find a new team of younger mercenaries. The recruits include former U.S. Marine John Smilee, nightclub bouncer Luna, computer expert Thorn, and weapons expert Mars. Skilled sharpshooter Galgo asks to be included in the team, but Ross turns him down.


title: The Expendables 3

text: The four new team members rendezvous with Ross's rival Trench Mauser, returning a favor for Ross. Drummer has traced Stonebanks to Bucharest, where he is set to make an arms deal. Ross and the new recruits infiltrate an office building Stonebanks is using and, having to kill a few men in the process including arms buyer Goran Vata, capture Stonebanks. In transit, Stonebanks taunts Ross and explains why he betrayed The Expendables. Ross nearly kills him to shut him up but, despite Stonebanks egging him on, he stands down. Stonebanks' men catch up to them, with the aid of his GPS Tracker, and fire a missile at the team's van. Ross is thrown into a river, while Smilee, Luna, Thorn, and Mars are captured by Stonebanks' crew. Ross kills Stonebanks' retrieval team and escapes.


title: The Expendables 3

text: Stonebanks sends Ross a video, challenging Ross to come after him and giving him his location in Azmenistan. While preparing to leave and mount a rescue alone, Ross is found by Galgo, who offers his services again. Ross accepts, later accompanied by the veteran Expendables. They rescue the young mercenaries, only to learn from Stonebanks that he has rigged the place with explosives with only 45 seconds left for them to explode. As both the young and veteran Expendables fight one another, Ross convinces them to work together to take down Stonebanks. As the final battle begins, Thorn uses a jammer device to delay the countdown, giving them just under half an hour before detonation. Stonebanks orders the Azmenistan army to attack the building with full force, including tanks and attack helicopters. Drummer and Trench arrive in a helicopter to help, alongside returning Expendables member Yin Yang.


title: The Expendables 3

text: The new and veteran members of the Expendables work together to kill Stonebanks' men. When a second wave moves in, Drummer lands on the building to evacuate the team. As everyone makes it to Drummer's chopper, Stonebanks personally attacks Ross after shooting him down. Having been forced to remove the armor and his weapon, Ross and Stonebanks engage in hand-to-hand combat. Both are evenly matched, but Ross knocks down Stonebanks before they both reach for their guns. Stonebanks shoots, but Ross gets the better of him. At his mercy, Stonebanks questions Ross about delivering him to the International Criminal Court. Ross coldly shoots Stonebanks in response. Seconds after Stonebanks' death, the batteries of Thorn's device run out, causing the building to explode and collapse. The team makes it to Drummer's helicopter and flies away to safety, as Ross clings to it from the outside. In the aftermath, Caesar recovers from his wounds, and Ross officially accepts Galgo, Smilee, Luna, Thorn, and Mars into the team. They all celebrate at a bar together.