Size 36: The build of an 18' B-36

b-29er

Well-known member
So for my Flite Fest build, Pigfarm1403 and I are working on one of the lesser known bombers, the B-36.
untitled-design-32-1.jpg
The B-36 was one of the largest aircraft in the world, an engineering marvel of its time. Its roots can be traced back to 1941, before the U.S. was directly involved in WWII, when design requirements came up for an aircraft capable of a range of 10,000 miles and a ceiling of 40,000 feet. Consolidated Aircraft answered the call, but their aircraft wouldn't make its debut until August 20, 1945, just twelve days before the formal surrender of Japan, and wouldn't make its first flight until nearly a year later, on August 8, 1946.

When the B-36 did fly, it set records. For over a year before the Spruce Goose took its first flight, it was the largest flying aircraft in the world. The aircraft was so large that its rudder could not fit through the manufacturing facility doors at Ft. Worth, TX, forcing the nose of the aircraft to be lifted up by a gantry before exiting the facility.The Xb-36 had some of the largest tires in the world at nine feet in diameter, and as a result, only three runways in the U.S. were able to handle the massive aircraft before its big main wheels were traded out for eight smaller wheels and, in some test cases, tank tracks. Later models had the distinction of having the most engines on a manned aircraft, after the addition of four J-47 turbojets.

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This B-36 will most likely be a B or D variant, depending on if i am able to source some EDFs that are compatible with my current powertrain. The powertrain, selected for its ability to swing the slightly smaller than scale 16" tri-blade propeller, is a set of 6 M60K motors, a 1500w motor designed for a competitor to the RMRC Anaconda, being pushed by 80a ESCs. Up to 8 6s5200 LiPo batteries will be flying with this aircraft for power, depending on flight times and usage of EDFs. The wing will be 216" or 18 feet. This undercuts the 1/10 scale asked for by the WWII build-off, but as it stands an 18' aircraft will be... interesting to transport. The wing will be primarily foam sheet, with a pair of 1/4" balsa spars running the entire length of the wing. The fuselage will employ a box spar, defining the bomb bay width, running the length of the aircraft, with ribs on the box to form the tubular fuselage. A 3d-printed nosecone is being designed to represent the intricate design of the greenhouse, and Pigfarm is currently designing the landing gear.

The plan is to fly this aircraft at Flite Fest East. Because of the B-36's history with towed fighter aircraft, like the XF-85 and 86, we are looking for punjets with folding wings and their pilots to drop over FFE (we're dropping the aircraft, not the pilots!). If you are interested, shoot a reply here.
 

Tench745

Master member
This is probably my favorite Bomber. If you went to a 230" wingspan (19' 2") It would be true 1/12 scale. Can't wait to see it.
 

b-29er

Well-known member
This is probably my favorite Bomber. If you went to a 230" wingspan (19' 2") It would be true 1/12 scale. Can't wait to see it.

The problem is i'm trying to keep this
A. capable of being placed on top of/inside a Chrysler Town and Country van, and
B. under 55lbs.

Both of these are major challenges, especially B. Right now, the base powerplant, six m60k motors, four 6s5200 Lipos and ESCs will be around ten pounds. Probably could go a lot lighter but the issue is the propellers on the b-36 had a 2:1 reduction gearbox, and i'm the kind of person who likes something you can admire close-up and at ten fe...maybe more than ten feet, ten feet on this guy might give you a concussion.
 

ItMightFly

Active member
Wow! This is going to be awesome! I have only drempt of building one of these things, especially at that scale! Can't wait to see some build pictures!

For ease of transport, I would recommend folding, wings. The ones with spars through them, and you can pull it apart into half, or in forth for this size. Just an idea

Best of luck!
 
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wilmracer

I build things that fly (sometimes)
Mentor
Very ambitious build! One of the balsa builders I follow started on a one only a hair larger than this many years ago. That project eventually was mothballed when the wing design proved to be insufficient and he got into other projects, but there is a TON of good information here: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/sho...36D-Scratch-Build-6-a-turning-and-4-a-burning

I think he may have actually made his cad files available to anyone who was interested. I know the last post in that thread says he was quitting RC Groups, but he's back :) You could reach out to him and I'd bet he'd share his notes and drawings.

Good luck and build fast! FFE will be here in no time!
 

b-29er

Well-known member
Wow! This is going to be awesome! I have only drempt of building one of these things, especially at that scale! Can't wait to see some build pictures!

For ease of transport, I would recommend folding, wings. The ones with spars through them, and you can pull it apart into half, or in forth for this size. Just an idea

Best of luck!

That would be a sensible idea, and i am looking at having a second wing joint after engines 1 and 6, where that actually goes is up for interpretation. Again, weight concerns, and extra spars are weight. Full cad will be up in the next few weeks of the foam and balsa build, 3d models of the canopy will be linked here once my buddy gets done with em.


Very ambitious build! One of the balsa builders I follow started on a one only a hair larger than this many years ago. That project eventually was mothballed when the wing design proved to be insufficient and he got into other projects, but there is a TON of good information here: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/sho...36D-Scratch-Build-6-a-turning-and-4-a-burning

I think he may have actually made his cad files available to anyone who was interested. I know the last post in that thread says he was quitting RC Groups, but he's back :) You could reach out to him and I'd bet he'd share his notes and drawings.

Good luck and build fast! FFE will be here in no time!

Ah yeah, i've seen Dag's work. I may need to get in touch with him on RCG. And thanks! Goal is to get this guy ready by mid-June and test flown while i still have time to clean up the pieces :p

Current work is based off of this drawing, if anyone's interested. Be sure to have your Russian dictionary out
XzslZZx.jpg
 

F106DeltaDart

Elite member
Awesome project! A few local friends and I are working on a 14’ B-36 for FF Texas. Would be awesome to see both in the air at once!
 

b-29er

Well-known member
Awesome project! A few local friends and I are working on a 14’ B-36 for FF Texas. Would be awesome to see both in the air at once!

Thought you looked familiar! I'm out on RCG a lot more frequently, i'm kind of on here for FF specific stuff. if you need any reference drawings or CAD work, let me know! The nosecone on this one is going to be all 3d printed, so feel free to re-scale to your purposes if you want to save yourself some sanding! As for texas, i'm in michigan, so i don't currently have plans for FFS, and that kind of trip would involve renting a truck, but we'll see.

Can’t wait to see it fly. Good luck!

Thanks!
 

F106DeltaDart

Elite member
Thought you looked familiar! I'm out on RCG a lot more frequently, i'm kind of on here for FF specific stuff. if you need any reference drawings or CAD work, let me know! The nosecone on this one is going to be all 3d printed, so feel free to re-scale to your purposes if you want to save yourself some sanding! As for texas, i'm in michigan, so i don't currently have plans for FFS, and that kind of trip would involve renting a truck, but we'll see.



Thanks!

That would be awesome, thanks for the offer! We are just starting our CAD now, and it’s funny how similar the designs are already. We came to the same conclusion on where to split the wing sections for transport. And yes, I’m over on RCG a lot as well, mostly in the Warbirds and edf sections. Totally understand on the travel as well, I would be in the same boat coming to FFE.
 
Good Luck to You (B-29er & F-106Delta Dart)

Good luck to you B-29er & F106DeltaDart on your builds. My father was a crew chief on B-36D's out of Roswell, NM in the early 50's. He was responsible for the six R-4360 Wasp Major radials. He said that he only had to go TDY w/ the bombers a couple of times to Greenland, but on one of the trips they snowed into their barracks and it took two weeks before the weather broke so that they could get out and head for home. I'll be looking forward to following along.
 

b-29er

Well-known member
That would be awesome, thanks for the offer! We are just starting our CAD now, and it’s funny how similar the designs are already. We came to the same conclusion on where to split the wing sections for transport. And yes, I’m over on RCG a lot as well, mostly in the Warbirds and edf sections. Totally understand on the travel as well, I would be in the same boat coming to FFE.

Hey, Dag214 sent me his folder (9.2gb!) of documents reguarding the b-36. I'll probably be pulling the pictures for reference imagery and posting it on imgur with a link here. There's some valuable stuff, like the entire user's manual for the b-36

Good luck to you B-29er & F106DeltaDart on your builds. My father was a crew chief on B-36D's out of Roswell, NM in the early 50's. He was responsible for the six R-4360 Wasp Major radials. He said that he only had to go TDY w/ the bombers a couple of times to Greenland, but on one of the trips they snowed into their barracks and it took two weeks before the weather broke so that they could get out and head for home. I'll be looking forward to following along.

Wow...that's awesome. Do you happen to have any pictures?
 

b-29er

Well-known member
Just an aside: the B-36 played a part in the James Stewart movie "Strategic Air Command" from the '50s. Some nice footage as I recall.

Passworthy

P.S.

Sorry to butt in again. Just found this: scroll down and run the "Six Turnin' and Four Burnin'" video. It'll get your avgas flowing.

https://www.airplanesofthepast.com/strategic-air-command-movie.htm

Ha! I just watched that movie about a week and a half ago. Its on Amazon if you have prime. Lots of nice, high grade B-36 footage. The rest is very 50s though. And don't worry about butting in! You never know what someone knows.
 
Sorry no usable pictures. I only found one of a B-36 flying at altitude over Ft Bliss where one of Dad's brothers was stationed at the same time.
 

b-29er

Well-known member
So, Dag214 was kind enough to provide me with a folder of information for the B-36. A lot of it is close-up stuff, so if you want to get those little details right, good information to have.

https://imgur.com/a/u1Fk0

Here's a Flickr group of B-36 photos. There is some off-topic stuff, pictures of crashed b-36s, an f-100 and the Spruce Goose, but there's also some very unique content like shots inside the aircraft.

https://www.flickr.com/groups/946626@N22/pool/

Finally, for those of us interested in some oversized night flying

fDXIBbY.jpg


The interior lights were red and/or white, so lighting up the greenhouse with red or warm white LEDs would be very appropriate.

I'll be posting some progress on the CAD work i have wednesday evening. As of Friday, i've accepted a new job and am looking at housing options in area. With a garage. Or a basement with a large door. We'll see.
 

Tench745

Master member
My Fiance and I actually just got back from a trip to Dayton to see the B-36 they had there. There's an App that the museum has called Cockpit 360. The app has 360 degree photos of the interior of various aircraft in the collection, including the B-36. Maybe worth a look if you're interested.
 

Ketchup

4s mini mustang
18 foot wing huh? This should be very interesting, and it is nice to see another American bomber like mine. Best of luck!