tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839973577967601.post641909281305757064..comments2023-10-16T08:53:17.602-05:00Comments on Paul In Houston: Peacemaker - OFTEN UPDATEDPaul Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16530815397182777195noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839973577967601.post-66387431212009538722019-03-20T13:11:29.292-05:002019-03-20T13:11:29.292-05:00THANK you, WagonDave. I strongly suspect you are ...THANK you, WagonDave. I strongly suspect you are DEAD RIGHT. I DID read SOMEWHERE, about a Boeing entry, but don't recall WHERE, and could NEVER find any confirmation of that. The B-35 designation of Northrup's Flying Wing is the best evidence for your comment. I plead GUILTY to being sloppy about that, and feel it's time I made a correction.Paul Gordonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16530815397182777195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839973577967601.post-34207413474056339192019-03-20T12:13:32.842-05:002019-03-20T12:13:32.842-05:00I would question one statement in your original po...I would question one statement in your original post, and that is Boeing was not the unsuccessful bidder in the 1941 competition. In fact, Boeing felt the specs were not within the capability of the (then) current state of the art. The only competitor was Northrop, with their B-35 Flying Wing bomber. It was, however, deficient in range (at least 20% short, and likely more than that), and there were questions about stability and control issues. Post-war, when n-weapon dimensions and weights became known to designers, the small "Bomb Cells" inherent in the B-35s design precluded the ability to carry any nuke. Realistically, if the USAF was going to have a credible threat against the Soviet Union, it was going to be the B-36 that would be doing it. And it did. WagonDavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14751775585622989026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839973577967601.post-1740875353479950072017-10-11T21:27:31.932-05:002017-10-11T21:27:31.932-05:00Go ahead. I'm FINE with THAT. :-)Go ahead. I'm FINE with THAT. :-)Paul Gordonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16530815397182777195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839973577967601.post-47182040284831861902012-01-05T21:04:02.674-06:002012-01-05T21:04:02.674-06:00There's an RB-36H on display at the Castle Air...There's an RB-36H on display at the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California. "Six turning and four burning!"PapayaSFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839973577967601.post-4489346314413847762012-01-05T07:58:57.753-06:002012-01-05T07:58:57.753-06:00If you get to Tucson, the Pima Air Museum has a B-...If you get to Tucson, the Pima Air Museum has a B-36 on outdoor display. We happened to get to watch it roll out after non-flyable restoration. Beautiful and imposing aircraft nestled among an impressive collection of other huge aircraft. (No affiliation with museum, just enjoy seeing the unsung old big birds up close and personal.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839973577967601.post-32451748455288053432012-01-03T23:02:45.233-06:002012-01-03T23:02:45.233-06:00Parts in loose formation makes me think of what a ...Parts in loose formation makes me think of what a former business partner showed me one time in 1985,..he was also in the Air Gaurd at the time and we were bored,so we wound up on the flight line at Little Rock AFB watching a group of C-130s take off ( they train on them at LRAFB,which seems to include flying over my house at crop duster altitude!)...after they took off a small parade of jeeps and pickups made passes down the runway for a while...Jim informed me that was normal routine to clean the strip of odd pieces and nuts and bolts from the Herkybirds,so other planes to avoid damage...makes you wonder sometime!Gary Binkleynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839973577967601.post-13279236129740847652012-01-03T18:22:37.149-06:002012-01-03T18:22:37.149-06:00And still she flies, a bunch of parts in loose for...<i>And still she flies, a bunch of parts in loose formation.</i><br /><br />I couldn't help flashing on the movie "Serenity" (sort of a final episode of one of my favorite short-lived future-fantasy (<i>not</i> science-fiction; the "science" would rattle around in a thimble) series "Firefly") where their ship is taking off end the end, a piece flies off, and the final line of dialog is "WHAT was THAT?" :-)<br />-Paul Gordonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16530815397182777195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839973577967601.post-40159672491815103772012-01-03T17:57:51.268-06:002012-01-03T17:57:51.268-06:00I once took a 24 hour flight on a B-36, just towar...I once took a 24 hour flight on a B-36, just toward the end of service of the ship. It was big, fairly comfortable, and the flight was uneventful.<br /><br />We were in the process of converting the original B-52 to the H model in which the tail gunner was in the main cabin above the bomb/nav compartment. We were also putting Hound Dog standoff missiles on the BUFF. The Buff is a lovely airplane. And still she flies, a bunch of parts in loose formation.<br /><br />Jerry PournelleJerry Pournellehttp://www.jerrypournelle.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5474839973577967601.post-3245523586608320612012-01-02T11:12:38.933-06:002012-01-02T11:12:38.933-06:00Thanks for the plug Paul. I would not have that i...Thanks for the plug Paul. I would not have that it possible to combine , even in limited fashion, discussions of the evolution of our strategic bomber force with alien prostitution. Nice post.GWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05814327154035433443noreply@blogger.com