This Week’s Hints to help you along:
- Yes, that looks a bit like a B-36, but just what makes it different?
- The aircraft shown is in flight testing with a B-29 as a chase plane!
- Crashing one of these would have had very, very major implications.
So do you know what this aircraft is and why was it so dangerous?
The depicted aircraft is a specially modified B-36, used for research and testing of an airborne nuclear reactor. The chase aircraft appears to be a B-50, NOT a B-29.
Correct — the actual designation is a NB-36H and was called “The Crusader”. And yes, indeed, that is likely a B-50, which is very similar and derivative of the B-29, the so-called “Boeing Trimotor” (do you know why do they call it that?).
I have never heard the B-29 referred to as the “Boeing Trimotor.” Please explain.
Probably because they could only keep 3 of the 4 engines running at one time….
The original B-36 only had 6 pusher-type piston engines; later versions had 4 jet pods added, making for 10 engines. A B36-B crashed on 14Feb50 not far from where I used to live on NW British Columbia, three hours after dropping a Mk IV nuke near Prince Rupert, BC (see my recently published book “Lost Nuke-Last flight of Bomber 075” — Kindle Edition).
Probably dangerous to crash due to the on-board nuclear weapons ?