Warplanes of the USA: Ohio, Dayton, National Museum of the USAF: Convair aircraft
Warplane Survivors USA: Ohio, Dayton, National Museum of the USAF: Convair
(NMUSAF Photos)
(Martin McGuire Photo)
Convair B-36J Peacemaker (Serial No. 52-2220), C/N 361. The B-36 made its maiden flight in August 1946, and in June 1948 the Strategic Air Command received its first operational B-36. Some B-36s served as photographic reconnaissance aircraft, and others were adapted to launch and retrieve specially modified RF-84F/K reconnaissance planes. Powered by six Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines, the B-36J cruised at 230 mph, but for additional bursts of speed its four General Electric J47s increased the maximum speed to 435 mph. It carried 86,000 pounds of nuclear or conventional bombs. When production ended in August 1954, more than 380 B-36s had been built for the USAF. In 1958-1959, the USAF replaced the B-36 with the all-jet B-52. Although never used in combat, the B-36 was a major deterrent to enemy aggression. Making the last B-36 flight ever, the aircraft on display flew to the NMUSAF from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, on 30 April 1959.
(USAF Photo)
Convair XC-99 (Serial No. 43-52436) in flight near La Jolla, California, a prototype heavy cargo aircraft, which first flew on 23 November 1947.
(USAF Photo)
Convair XC-99 at Kelly AFB, Texas, 1954.
(USAF Photo)
Convair XC-99 (Serial No. 43-52436), a prototype heavy cargo aircraft, which first flew on 23 November 1947. In 1953, an AN/APS-42 weather radar with its distinctive “thimble” radome (the black dome on the nose of the aircraft) was installed. The spectators are looking into the cargo bay, which used a special hoist to load cargo, 31 Dec 1952.
(Mike Freer, Touchdown Aviation Photo)
Convair XC-99 (Serial No. 43-52436).
Convair B-58 Hustler in flight. (USAF Photo)
(USAF Photo)
Convair RB-58A Hustler (Serial No. 58-1011), with two component pod (TCP).
(USAF Photos)
Convair B-58A Hustler.
(NMUSAF Photos)
(Martin McGuire Photo)
Convair B-58A Hustler (Serial No. 59-2458), C/N 61. Convair built 116 B-58s: 30 test and pre-production aircraft and 86 for operational service. Hustlers flew in the Strategic Air Command between 1960 and 1970. Setting 19 world speed and altitude records, B-58s also won five different aviation trophies. The B-58A on display in the NMUSAF set three speed records while flying from Los Angeles to New York and back on 5 March 1962. For this effort, the crew received the Bendix and Mackay Trophies for 1962. It was flown to the museum in December 1969.
(USAF Photo)
Convair XF-92 next to the nose of a B-36 Peacemaker.
(NMUSAF Photos)
Convair XF-92A (Serial No. 46-0682), (XP-92), C/N 7-002. The XF-92A was the world's first jet aircraft to fly with the radical delta-wing configuration pioneered by Germany's Dr. Alexander Lippisch. Convair used the knowledge learned from the XF-92 to design the delta-wing F-102, the USAF’s first operational supersonic interceptor. The original 1945 F-92 design concept was a short-ranged, swept-wing, supersonic interceptor powered by a ramjet and several rocket engines. In the end, this propulsion system proved impractical, and the USAF canceled the F-92 interceptor program. The USAF, however, accepted the turbojet-powered XF-92A prototype to conduct delta-wing flight research. The sole XF-92A was flown by Air Force and NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), predecessor to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), test pilots from 1948 until its nose gear collapsed on landing in October 1953. The NMUSAF’s aircraft was delivered in 1969 from the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee.
(NMUSAF Photos)
(Valder137 Photo)
(Clemens Vasters Photos)
(Martin McGuire Photo)
Convair F-102A Delta Dagger (Serial No. 56-1416), C/N 8-10-363. The F-102A on display in the NMUSAF served the 57th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in Iceland . On various occasions, it encountered Soviet aircraft flying reconnaissance missions over the arctic. It was flown to the museum in 1971.
(NMUSAF Photo)
Convair F-106A Delta Dart (Serial No. 58-0787), painted as (Serial No. 59-0082), C/N 8-24-118. 49th FIS. The aircraft on display in the NMUSAF was involved in an unusual incident. During a training mission from Malmstrom Air Force Base on 2 Feb 1970, it suddenly entered an uncontrollable flat spin forcing the pilot to eject. Unpiloted, the aircraft recovered on its own, apparently due to the balance and configuration changes caused by the ejection, and miraculously made a gentle belly landing in a snow-covered field near Big Sandy, Montana. After minor repairs, the aircraft was returned to service. It last served with the 49th Fighter Interceptor Squadron before being brought to the museum in August 1986.
(NMUSAF Photo)
Convair C-131D Samaritan (Serial No. 55-0301), C/N 329.
(NMUSAF Photos)
(Clemens Vasters Photo)
(Valder137 Photo)
Convair NC-131H TIFS (Serial No. N793VS), C/N 245. Total In-Flight Simulator. This one-of-a kind aircraft was an important in-flight simulator primarily used to study how an aircraft would handle before building an expensive, full-scale prototype. It was created for the USAF in the late 1960s by the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory of Buffalo, New York (later the Calspan Corp.). Engineers found the TIFS especially useful for studying how large aircraft would handle during takeoff and landing. Vertical fins on the wings generated side forces to simulate crosswinds and provided test data. The TIFS first flew in 1970, and its first research project simulated the B-1 bomber’s flying characteristics. During its long and successful career, the TIFS simulated many military and NASA aircraft, including the X-40, Tacit Blue, Space Shuttle, B-2, YF-23 and C-17. Civilian aircraft development projects included the Boeing Supersonic Transport (SST), MD-12X and Indonesian N-250. It also served to train test pilots. The TIFS came to the NMUSAF in 2008.
