Roden 337 Convair B-36D Peacemaker 1:144

In 1946, one of the most massive aircraft in the history of aviation came into being, the Convair B-36 Peacemaker strategic heavy bomber. For the next 10 years it became the principal weapon threatening retaliation in the event of a new world conflict, startling the imagination even today with its extremely large size. This was the instrument which was to deliver the deadly nuclear weapon as deep as possible into the territory of a potential adversary, which for the United States, soon after the end of World War II, meant the Soviet Union.

As early as 1947, after testing, series production of the B-36A and B-36B versions began, which started their military service in 1949.

Even for such a powerful country as the United States, building such a technologically complex aircraft as the B-36 was a difficult and very costly task. In 1948, the question of terminating the B-36 program was raised, but the sharp deterioration of the political situation due to the conflict in West Berlin forced politicians to heed the military’s advice and continue the program after 75 of the A and B versions had already been built.

The main limitation of the B-36B was its relatively low speed. The quickest way to solve this problem was to install additional engines, beyond the six that were already available. At the same time, the Boeing B-47 jet bomber was already being tested, which was fitted with the latest General Electric J-47 engines with a thrust of 2,720 kgf.