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10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. 11th Bombardment Wing Convair B-36J-5-CF Peacemaker 52-2225: United States Air Force· Public domain
- 2. B-36GunTurret: Sturmvogel 66· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. B-36J located at Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland, NE: Leoparmr· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 4. B-36 bombbay: Taffy boeing b 17· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 5. B-36 tracked gear edit: United States Air Force , edited by Slashme· Public domain
- 6. Convair B-36J Peacemaker located at Pima Air & Space Museum.: Leoparmr· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 7. Convair B-36 Peacemaker in flight: Wikimedia Commons· Public domain
- 8. Convair RB-36H Peacemaker (28339777523): Clemens Vasters from Viersen, Germany, Germany· CC BY 2.0
- 9. Yb-52-b-36-carswell: USAF· Public domain
- 10. 31st Bombardment Squadron - B-36 B-52 Conversion: United States Air Force· Public domain
what is it?
The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" was a piston-engined, strategic bomber built by Convair and operated by the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command from 1948 to 1959. With 384 units built, the B-36 remains the largest mass-produced, piston-engined aircraft and has the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft. The B-36 was capable of intercontinental flight without refueling.
How to recognise it: 10 jet engines · 70.1 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 80 years ago, in 1946.
- Top speed is 5.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 70.1 m: about 16 cars parked nose to tail.
- Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 31 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Can fly 1.5× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).
jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1946-08-08
- introduced
- 1949
- retired
- 1959
- status
- retired
- number built
- 384
- role
- strategic bomber
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- makers
- Convair
- engines
- 10× Pratt & Whitney R-4360-53 Wasp Major / General Electric J47 / R-4360 Wasp Major
- crew
- 13
- length
- 49.4 m
- wingspan
- 70.1 m
- height
- 14.3 m
- max take-off weight
- 186 t
- top speed
- 700 km/h
- cruise speed
- 370 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 13,289 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q332657, Wikipedia: Convair B-36 Peacemaker (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.