| During the 1940's, America's fleet of about 250
B-36's were the core of the Strategic Air Command. With an incredible
wing span of 230 feet, this cold-war marvel was the largest bomber in the world.
Driven by six huge 3,500 horsepower engines uniquely geared to 19-foot
propellers mounted behind the wings, the B-36 could fly 10,000 miles under a crew of 16 men.
It was designed to carry a single Mark-17 air-dropped hydrogen bomb rated
at 40 megatons -- thousands of times larger than the weapon that incinerated
Hiroshima.
On December 11, 1953, one crashed in El Paso, Texas. (<--Or here for INHL Headquarters -------------------------------------Click here for Page 2 -- >) |