could this big bird stay in the air on jet power alone?
No. The jets were for takeoff and extra speed over the target. The much smaller B-47 was considered a bit underpowered with six j-47s.
**James- posted
20 years ago
Re: b-36
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- posted
20 years ago
early ge's? there's one in the lobby of ge in lynn, ma. it's from the 50's and is a big old honker with what seemed like low thrust rate. did they shut the jets off for normal cruise? would seem hard for even a big plane like the 36 to carry a large bi-fuel load. the b-50's must have tanked a lot.
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20 years ago
They were J-47's same as the B-47 & F-86. The pods were the same as the dual engine pods on the B-47, except the outrigger gear was deleted and the doors sealed. They were shut down during cruise (often along with a couple of the R-4360's) and the louvers closed. They ran on 115/145 AVGAS, not JP. Added 20-30mph to top speed, IIRC.
**James- Vote on answer
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20 years ago
believe that's it. i know i've seen 36 take off pics with ratog, so they must have been fairly low powered.
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20 years ago
No, the jets were only for take off. I believe they only produced 6,000lbs of thrust each and gulped fuel. If there were an engine(s) out on a wing, then the jets were started to help keep the plane flying straight in simple terms. Steve
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20 years ago
The jets were added mainly to increase ceiling and speed over the target to reduce the B-36's vulnerability during the bomb run. They were shut down, as were a couple of piston engines normally, during the cruise portion of flight to save fuel. They were probably also used during takeoff, but the payload capability wasn't significantly increased over the early non-jet versions and the later B-36s could have taken off on piston engines alone, if needed.
Dave