First I've heard that the B-36 was originally designed to use the Lyc.
AFAIK it was always intended to use the Pratt 4360. The B-36 could
carry 84,000 lbs of weapons, on top of fuel and crew.
"Featherweighted" versions could exceed 48,000 ft (and outfly fighters
with heavier wing-loading), come close to 400 MPH over the target, and
flew missions of over 24 hrs (no inflight refueling). Not all at the
same time, of course. Range or payload, pick one.



"Bill Daniels" wrote in message hlink.net...
"Richard Isakson" wrote in message
...
"Steve Beaver" wrote ...
We have all seen the film of the Spruce Goose lifting off the water for
a
few seconds only to be retired to its hangar never to fly again but I
wonder, what would its performance have been? Did Hughes determine in
that
brief hop that the aircraft was no good or did ecconomic concerns ground
it?

I believe he discovered the airplane didn't have enough power to fly out
of
ground effect even at empty weight. Others say that he had to fly one
time
to collect the money from the contract. In either case, it's been shown
that it wouldn't have flown with a full load.

Rich

The prototype Hercules used 8 Pratt and Whitney R-4360 of 3500 HP each - the
wrong engines. The 5000 - 7000 HP Lycoming XR7755, then under development,
was the intended engine. The Convair B-36 and the Northrop B-35 were also
supposed to use the R7755. See:
http://www.aviation-history.com/engines/xr-7755.html

With a total of 56,000 HP instead of "just" 28,000 the "Spruce Goose" would
have been a outstanding success - don't blame the failure on the airframe.

It's interesting to speculate how these huge aircraft would have performed
with the enormous Liquid cooled Lycoming.

Bill Daniels