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198SACREY
1st Nov 2014, 21:18
Having seen one entry on this subject I remember seeing a B36 at low level over Chesham Bucks at low level and escorted by two Meteor 8's. It was heading in roughly a W to E direction and heading in the general direction of Bovingdon Airfield. Does anyone know whether it landed at Bovingdon or was escorted to another base?

OUAQUKGF Ops
2nd Nov 2014, 08:39
I would have thought that the B36 probably overflew Bovingdon rather than landing there - the main runway at Bovingdon being barely 5000 feet long. Although the original specification for the B36 was that it could operate off a 5000 foot runway I doubt that this was ever achieved.

chevvron
2nd Nov 2014, 17:40
I witnessed 'a big aeroplane with 6 propellors at the back' (don't remember a Meteor escort though); from my home in Chesham in the '50s, I suppose I was about 5 years old. It was heading towards Bovingdon.
I ran indoors and told my older brother who hit me as he was in Germains School ATC and thus knew everything about planes and there was no such plane in England!

HEATHROW DIRECTOR
2nd Nov 2014, 18:16
Wish I could find my old log books. Waaaay back - probably late 50s - I saw a B36 apparently routing LYD-EPM-WOD Green 1. Saw a few later when we visited Wright Patterson Air Base in the mid-60s but they were non-flying pieces. Remarkable aeroplane and I'll never forget the sound..

Fareastdriver
2nd Nov 2014, 18:38
You'll have to remember the day you saw it. B36s didn't have clocks; they had calendars.

SpringHeeledJack
2nd Nov 2014, 19:31
Remarkable aeroplane and I'll never forget the sound..

B36 takeoff sounds - YouTube

It reminds me of the AN22 and TU95 to the ear :8 A big ol' beast and visually intimidating to the enemy no doubt.


SHJ

joy ride
2nd Nov 2014, 19:58
Nick-named The Rumbling Peacemaker IIRC. A sound I never heard but would love to!

l.garey
6th Nov 2014, 12:05
In the 1950s I once saw one over Peterborough. It seemed so low, but that was probably due to its size. The sound was unmistakable: how to call it - throbbing?

Laurence

HEATHROW DIRECTOR
6th Nov 2014, 14:26
Thanks SHJ - just as I remember it.

JW411
6th Nov 2014, 16:43
I used to see and hear them overflying Prestwick when I was a youngster and I agree that they were never to be forgotten.

I also remember seeing the one and only passenger version, the XC-99, outside Kelly AFB, Texas when I was driving Belfasts for Mrs Windsor. It was impressive but not particularly attractive or practical and I could well see why it never caught on.

l.garey
6th Nov 2014, 16:50
"It was impressive but not particularly attractive or practical and I could well see why it never caught on."

What never caught on? The XC-99, or driving Belfasts for Mrs Windsor?

Hen Ddraig
6th Nov 2014, 22:21
In I think it was 1956 I rushed out of my home on the Wirral to see what was creating so much noise. It turned out to be 11 B36s en route to Burtonwood a very impressive sight and sound.


Hen ddraig

sled dog
11th Nov 2014, 16:08
Hen, that easily trumps my memory of two at low level over my home in Essex, and yes, what a sound...........:cool:

Cornish Jack
11th Nov 2014, 16:58
Ah yes, the noise! Living in Cornwall, we rarely saw them but frequently heard them - unmistakeable!! ... from memory, (pretty ropey source, nowadays) it was a bit like a swarm of motorbikes:confused:.
Sometime in the 50s, one, inbound from the States, lost an engine and (rumour has it) SAC required total abandonment for such condition! Crew baled out and the beast continued on its own for about 45 minutes before crashing on three county boundaries, near Lechlade. My brother was sent out from Colerne on guard duty on the wreckage.

con-pilot
11th Nov 2014, 19:05
Sometime in the 50s, one, inbound from the States, lost an engine and (rumour has it) SAC required total abandonment for such condition!

Sorry, not true, if it was, not a single B-36 would have survived. :p

On very long range missions it was not uncommon to lose two engines and still carry on.

Curtis LeMay was very protective of his B-36s. Any aircraft commander that crashed a B-36 usually lost a grade in rank and faced possible court martial unless it was proved that the loss was totally beyond their control.