Announcement from Virtavia about B-36

[Lonewolfee1]

Jan 22 : The Alphasim B-36 Peacemaker has finally been re-released as a Virtavia product. The usual vendors will be listing this great model package in the next few days. Both the B-36H and B-36B are featured. Both the FS9 and (native) FSX models have a 2D panel, old-style VC, sounds, illustrated checklist, 2 set of reflective textures, panel info images and a reame.txt which lists the keypresses for the animations.

http://www.virtavia.com/

[Lonewolfee1]

http://secure.simmarket.com/virtavia-convair-b-36-peacemaker.phtml

[Maarten -]

Thanks very much for the HU.:salute:

Cheers,
Maarten

[Blackbird686]

Saw this over at the FSX Forum... Hmmm..

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?75125-Announcement-from-Virtavia-about-B-36

OOPS! saw that sumbuddy beat me to the punch. Admins, you may delete this thread if you wish.

BB686:USA-flag:

[Jagdflieger]

That finally answers the question about what happened to the Peacemaker from Alphasim. For simmers interested in Coldwar aircraft, this is one of the biggest of the breed and it's fun to fly. Be sure to plan your maneuvers out in advance cause she doesn't turn on a dime!

When they flew over our house when I was a kid, the windows would shake.

[Motormouse]

IIRC wasn't there a plan to make a nuclear powered one of those, to stay airborne 24/7, the airborne equivalent of a SSBN submarine ?

ttfn

Pete

[Willy]

Yep and I think they did build one with a reactor but I don't know if they ever flew it. I think the thought of a nuke reactor crashing down to earth made them decide that maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all. Also from when I worked with nukes, there'd be a lot of weight considerations to overcome.

[HorusJ]

Yep.The NB-36H. A "flying nightmare" if you ask me.
79624

[Rallymodeller]

The NB-36 did fly in advance of the anticipated X-6 program, and while they did run the reactor in flight, but the reactor wasn't connected to anything -- it was just powered up. The entire nose section was incredibly shielded, with foot-thick leaded-glass windshield panels and a concrete-and-lead plug between the nose and the rest of the fuselage. The nose section weighed so much that the reactor was actually well aft of the NB-36s C of G, about where the rear pressurized compartment used to be. The cockpit entry hatch alone weighed well over a ton, and the insulation effect from the rest of the plane was so perfect that external cameras were required so that the flight crew could see what the engines were doing.

Needless to say the X-6 was never built, and the NB-36 was scrapped.

There was a Soviet counterpart to this, the Tu-95 LaL:
79635

and for a time the US Navy gave thought to buying everything that existed for the Saunders-Roe Princess flying boat program for their own airborne reactor experiment program.

[SSI01]

When they flew over our house when I was a kid, the windows would shake.

When I was a young buck sergeant back in '74, we had a TSgt from KS who said the same thing. Could hear it long before it got to the house. It was one of the reasons he joined the Air Force.

[Bjoern]

Yep.The NB-36H. A "flying nightmare" if you ask me.
79624

Looks kind of good with the modified cockpit position. Like a 1950s large freight hauler.

[Jagdflieger]

I read somewhere that when this beast flew, there was a chase plane complete with parachute qualified and equipped personnel ready to secure the crash site in case it ever went down with the reactor on board.

[Maarten -]

I read somewhere that when this beast flew, there was a chase plane complete with parachute qualified and equipped personnel ready to secure the crash site in case it ever went down with the reactor on board.

Scary!:frown:

[Maarten -]

Wow! This certainly is an interesting beast to fly. It has been described very well in the following (not mine) lines:

"The B-36 was not a particularly enjoyable aircraft to fly. Its overall performance, in terms of speed and maneuverability, was never considered sprightly. Lieutenant General James Edmundson likened it to "...sitting on your front porch and flying your house around"."

Finals and landing are interesting and I think that if you can land the B-36 you can land virtually everything. Happy to say that my first landing, just a few minutes ago, wasn't too bad at all. :jump:

More practising tomorrow.

Cheers,
Maarten

[Jagdflieger]

For lots of B-36 footage, pick up "Strategic Air Command" starring Jimmy Stewart, a real bomber pilot in WWII and a retired brigadier general from the USAF Reserves.

[Moses03]

Interesting that Virtavia is offering a B model in the re-release. The original one I bought way back when just came with the H.

[pfflyers]

I don't remember how long ago I bought mine, it was still AlphaSim, but I got both models.

[HorusJ]

I bought mine in 2007(if I remember correctly)and it was just the "H" model.I noticed a few months later that the "B" and some minor patching was done so I re-downloaded it.I have not stopped flying it since and I even experimented modifying the sounds.The big bird is too much fun!:mixedsmi:

[Bjoern]

Finals and landing are interesting and I think that if you can land the B-36 you can land virtually everything. Happy to say that my first landing, just a few minutes ago, wasn't too bad at all. :jump:


Probably a "line up early, line up right" affair.
I imagine a lot of go-arounds because necessary corrections couldn't be made in time with this brick of an aircraft.

[ITSMELKL]

I FLEW DOWN FROM WHITEMAN,AFB,MO (340TH ARS) ON MY KC-97F TO RAMEY FOR A TRAINING MISSION AND BLEW A JUG AND HAD TO WAIT FOR AN ENGINE CHANGE. SO, UNLUCKY WE HAD TO WAIT 10 DAYS FOR AN ENGINE TO BE FLOWN FROM WHITEMAN.....HA!
I USE TO LAY ON THE BEACH AND COULD HEAR THEM (B36'S) FLYING INTO RAMEY ALMOST A HOUR BEFORE THEY LANDED. THOSE GUYS HAD A LOT OF LONG HOURS FLYING.

[Jagdflieger]

Great insight to B-36 ops Itsmelkl.

When I bought my B-36, it was just the H Model. There was a free update to the B Model at the Alphasim site sometime after the original release.

[Maarten -]

Hi there,

I just tried out Bry Hardee's B-36 sounds, downloaded from Flightsim.com (b36_sd1.zip) which he tested with the then AlphaSim B-36. An amazing soundpack imho.

Cheers,
Maarten