Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[NobleNerd]

Courtesy of a few dedicated researchers over at the Secret Projects forum: https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/consolidated-model-35-36-beginning-of-the-b-36.10631/

It's probably pretty obvious by now that this aircraft is my most recent obsession...

The B-36 Peacemaker was originally conceptualized as early as 1941, being referred to as the Consolidated Model 35 (later changed to 36 to differentiate it from the competing Northrop B-35 design). The design was a far cry from its well-known Cold War nuclear bomber role, instead intended for use as a transatlantic conventional bomber in case the Third Reich succeeded in conquering Britain and North Africa. With Britain holding out and successful advances in Africa, the intercontinental bomber program slowed to a crawl, never seeing action in WWII.





















Some aspects of these concepts seem strange. Only two gunners controlling all of the turrets seems horrendously impractical, unless those two crewmembers are just fire control spotters for the actual gunners. In addition, equipping 37mm cannons for the top and bottom turrets seems a bit excessive in caliber, lacking the versatility of 20mm cannons and their faster rate of fire (unless they used some kind of alternating fire or proximity-detonating shells).

In my mind, a proper 1946-scenario B-36 would be based on the XB-36, using the original combination of twin cannon and quad 50-cal turrets (all except the tail turret being retractable) but also being fitted with the later multi-wheel landing gear necessary for landing on less reinforced runways. Even though the YB-36 was chosen as the basis for the first production variant in 1945, it can be assumed that this armed version of the XB-36 would have already been produced in significant numbers in this alternate scenario, especially since the B-36A lacked defensive armament due to delays in the new turret system's development.

In WAW, I could see four variants of this:
- Consolidated Model 35 - The original tractor-prop twin-tail concept.
- Consolidated Model 36 - The revised twin-tail design with pusher-props.
- Consolidated XB-36 (Armed) - The XB-36 with its planned armament layout and updated multi-wheel gear.
- Consolidated YB-36B - Fictional prototype of the B-36B using the side-mounted nose armament proposal.

And in both WAW and JTW, the historical XB-36 and B-36A could be fun toys to goof around with.

[dsawan]

I for it but is up to a moddeler.

[NobleNerd]

I've gone as far as to brainstorm a variant progression of the B-36 in my alternate history.

YB-36 - Identical to Consolidated Model 36 concept; not the same as real-life YB-36. Deployed in late 1945 against the Chinese Communist Party.
B-36A - Armed and updated XB-36; not the same as real-life B-36A. Deployed in mid-1946 as war with the USSR breaks out.
YB-36B - Fictional prototype of B-36B variant using early side-mounted nose armamant layout. Deployed in late 1946 for combat trials.
B-36B - Same as real-life B-36B with its iconic design. Deployed in early 1947.
B-36C - Same basic idea as the real-life (and almost-built) B-36C, but with different or modified engines to handle the VDT cooling issues. Deployed in late 1947.
B-36D - Fitted with Wright T35 engines in a tractor-pusher combination; not the same as real-life B-36D. Deployed in mid-1948 towards the end of the conflict.