on 6/24/02 10:38 AM, Pedro Hobbyfrazoo at pjfraser_at_mac.com wrote:
>
> and let's not forget the B-36, that fantastic hybrid (sort of a
> stretched B-29 with 6 pusher props PLUS 4 jets) of which 3 or 4 still
> exist. "six turnin' and four burnin'" - a hardy band of hobbyists got
> pretty close to putting one of them back into airworthiness, but the US
> government stepped in and blocked them. i'd love to see/hear/feel one
> of them fly by sometime - i understand it was an earthshaking experience.
>
You got that right!!! I only ever saw one once, and it is one of my
earliest memories. I'm not 100% sure how old I was, but I couldn't have
been more than 4 or 5 (probably 4, which would make it 1963). I remember
that I was so transfixed that I sort of fell over backwards. And then the
sound just seemed to pin me to the ground. Looking back, it may have been
an older model, because I don't remember the jet engines, just the 6
pushers. It had to have been less than a mile up and passed almost directly
overhead. Given where I was (western Hunterdon Cty. NJ) it was headed in
the general direction of New York City. That may have done as much to
excite me about aerospace as watching the Mercury and Gemini launches.
So, yes, I would dearly love to see one flying again. But I bet it can
still go high enough and far enough to be considered a strategic bomber...
- Eric.
--Eric Strobel (fyzycyst_at_NOSPAM^mailaps.org)
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