Forgotten B-36 "almosts"

Proposed B-36 record flight, 15,000 miles, 1947. The idea was strip one down
to its barest essentials and turn it into a flying fuel tank, boosted into
the air with JATO. Seems no one bothered to consult the Soviets about
intruding on their airspace. Maybe the pre-communist Chinese would have been
more accommodating. Perhaps it would have worked in the Southern
Hemisphere...

If the flight had gone off as planned..there is a very good chance
that in 1947, the Russians or Chinese didn't have any fighters
that could intercept the B-36. I have read that at 45,000 feet
even F-86's had trouble turning and maintaining that altitude
when doing an interception on a B-36



On Fri, 21 Aug 2015 23:32:04 -0500, "Byker" wrote:

Proposed B-36 record flight, 15,000 miles, 1947. The idea was strip one down
to its barest essentials and turn it into a flying fuel tank, boosted into
the air with JATO. Seems no one bothered to consult the Soviets about
intruding on their airspace. Maybe the pre-communist Chinese would have been
more accommodating. Perhaps it would have worked in the Southern
Hemisphere...