Evening star., 1953-05-26
Air Force DiscIoses
Secrets Of Giant
B-36-H 10 Reporters
By Harry Lever
Star Stoff Correspondent


BASE, Tex, May 26.-Many of
the long-kept secrets of the
B-36H, 1O-engined intercon-
tinental bomber-largest in the
world-can now be made known.
known.
For the first time, the Air
Force has permitted a handful
of reporters to fly simulated
radar and visual bomb runs
aboard the heretofore heavily
restricted heavy bomber, which
for a long time to come will be
the Sunday punch of the
Strategic Air Command. The
only things not shown were the
still secret bomb sight and the
ways in which enemy commune
cations can be jammed.
was among a group Of news
men who made nine-hour tao
tical bombing mission aboard
the $3.5 million ship. with the
flight originating and ending at
this base-home of the B-36H.
We bombed" Dallas and several
other Southwest cities at alti-
tudes ranging from 10000 to
nearly $4,000 feet.
23O-FOOt Wingspan.
The first impression one gets
of the bomber is backed up by
it's impressive specifications. It's
weight is about $4,000 pounds.
Its wingspan is 230 feet. The air.
plane is 162 feet long and nearly
At feet high.
The B-36H, the latest model
of the B-36 type in existence, has
six Pratt g. Whitney $780,
horsepower propeller driven
pusher engines, and four Cen
eral Electric J-47 jet engines of
$500 pounds thrust each. This
gives the bomber about 45,000-
horsepower, which can drive it
more than 435 miles an hour.
The propellers are a massive
19 feet in diameter. The B-36H
can carry 10000 gallons of fuel.
has a nonstop range of 10000
miles with 10000 pounds of
bombs, or half that distance with
$4,000 pounds.
The tremendous horsepower
was evident to our group as we
listened to a 35-minute engine
check over the intercom system.
Before the engine warmup, 1t.
Col. Artist Prichard, the aircraft
commander. and his 15-man
crew had checked the B-36H in
other ways. Col. Prichard, who is
with SAC's 7th Bomb Group, is
only 80, but he already has more
than 2,700 hours in the B-36H.
Maj. George A. Marshall, first
flight engineer, announced:
Power is set across the board.
Ready to CO."
The B-36H cleared about O.
500 feet of Carswell's $500 feet
runway before it became air.
borne. Then Col. Prichard gave
the order to cut in the jets, on
pods far out on the wings. At
once there was a tremendous
surge, as the bomber climbed at
a steep angle. Whatever was
loose in the cockpit flew through
the air. The newsmen required
all their strength to hang on.
An altitude of about $4,000
feet was reached in about 40
minutes, and the jets were cut
off. The long vapor trails they
made in the sky swiftly disap-
peared. At attitudes of more
than 10000 feet, the jet engines
are more efficient than the pis-
ton engines, but they are mostly
used for the takeoffs and land
ings. Their fuel lasts 20 hours.
Bombing by Radar.
After some flying at about 25,-
900 feet, over several Texas cities,
the bomber dropped down to
about 10000 feet at the begin
ming of the fifth hour. It's pri-
mary mission was to bomb" Dali
las by radar.
Several times, the B-36H ap-
preached Greenville, Tex, its
ZIP" or initial point about 81
miles from Dallas. 1t made test
runs between the two places,
testing wind direction, establish
ing a bombing pattern, checking
ground speed and SO on. Theo-
retically, it was out of sight at
about 10000 feet and using radar,
but the idea was to give the peo-
pie on the ground a chance to
see the ship on a bomb run.
When the test runs were COM
pleted towards the eighth hour.
the radar bombardier, 1t. Col.
Earl H. Yaden, said he was ready.
The objective was the Ford Mo-
tor Co. plant in Dallas. The
B-36H made for the Up and there
completed a 180-degree turn. 1t
started on the bomb run.
AS it neared Dallas, Col. Prich-
ard called tersely over the in
tercom:
40 seconds 10 seconds ..
five seconds
Bombs aWayI"
NHiScfnwn