All three Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major reciprocating engines on the bomber’s right wing were inoperative. Insufficient electrical power was available to feather the propellers on two of those, increasing the drag on the right wing.
The four GE J47 turbojet engines, placed under the wings in 2-engine pods, could not be started.
With only three of the B-36’s ten engines operating, and all on the left wing, combined with the two unfeathered propellers on the right wing, the giant bomber yawed to the right.
Captain Young declared an emergency and returned to Carswell AFB, setting up a straight-in approach to the runway.
Problems with the hydraulic system prevented the airplane’s flaps from being lowered, and required that the landing gear be lowered by hand. Without flaps, the approach speed would have to be higher than normal to prevent the wings from stalling. With only three engines, there was insufficient power to “go around” for another attempt to land.
Following the emergency procedures, the crew was able to lower the landing gear just before the B-36 touched down.
In what has been described as “The Miracle Landing,” Captain Young made a “superior landing” and rolled until it came to a full stop.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported:
Miracle Landing Saves Crewmen, Crippled B-36
Nimble aircraft maneuvering saved 19 lives and a costly B-36 bomber here Friday.
While hundreds of anxious airmen looked on, a B-36 landed at Carswell Air Force Base with a squadron of troubles aboard.
Three engines were out.
The landing flaps were out of commission.
But Capt. Berry H. Young, aircraft commander and native Texan, landed the giant bomber safely on Carswell’s runway.
General on Hand
First to pump Young’s hand was Brig. Gen. John D. Ryan, 19th Air Division commander, who rushed to the airplane as Young stepped to the ground.
Here are the misfortunes that overtook the plane in sickening quickness just about 1 p.m. Friday:
The No. 4 engine conked out. Captain Young feathered the prop.
Seconds later, the No. 5 engine “ran away.” That means the propeller began to revolve at excessive speed.Young was forced to feather that prop, too.
After a brief breather, the No. 6 engine started cutting out and quit.
Young tried to start his outboard jets on his right wing. They refused to function.
He declared an emergency condition and started to return to the base.
As young neared the field he discovered he couldn’t lower the landing gear. The gear had to be lowered by emergency procedure, which included lowering the wheels by hand.
Superior Landing
With all this facing him, Young executed what seasoned Carswell observers called a superior landing.
Captain Young is a native of Dallas. His co-pilot was 1st Lt. Roland J. Reidy of Worcester, Mass. His flight engineer was 1st Lt. William E. Nunnery of San Diego, Cal., second flight engineer was 1st. Lt. John W. Williamson of Cedarville, Ohio.
General Ryan said the entire crew of the ship behaved in sterling fashion and deserved full credit for saving the lives of those aboard the plane.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Vol. 74, No. 55, Saturday, 27 March 1954, Page 1, Columns 3–5
Captain Young’s crew received the Strategic Air Command’s Crew of the Month Award, and the personal congratulations of General Curtiss E. LeMay.
The B-36H was 162 feet, 1 inch (49.403 meters) long with a wingspan of 230 feet (70.104 meters) and overall height of 46 feet, 8 inches (14.224 meters). The total area of its wings was 4,772 square feet (443.3 square meters). The wings’ leading edges were swept aft 15° 5′ 39″. Their angle of incidence was 3°, with -2° twist and 2° dihedral. The empty weight of the B-36H was 165,887pounds (75,245 kilograms) and the maximum takeoff weight is 357,500 pounds (162,159 kilograms).
The B-36H was the fastest variant of the Peacemaker series, with a cruise speed of 216 knots (249 miles per hour/400 kilometers per hour) and a maximum speed of 382 knots (440 miles per hour/707 kilometers per hour) at 35,500 feet (10,820 meters). The service ceiling was 47,000 feet (14,326 meters) and its combat radius was 3,190 nautical miles (3,671 statute miles/5,908 kilometers). The ferry range was 7,120 nautical miles (8,194 statute miles/13,186 kilometers).
The B-36H has six remotely-controlled retractable gun turrets mounting two M24A1 20 mm autocannon, each, with 600 rounds of ammunition per gun. The tail turret was radar-controlled, and another 2 guns were mounted in the nose.
The B-36 was designed during World War II, when nuclear weapons were unknown to the manufacturer. The bomber was built to carry up to 86,000 pounds (39,009 kilograms) of conventional bombs in fours bomb bays. It could carry two 43,000 pound ( kilogram) T-12 Cloudmakers, a conventional explosive earth-penetrating bomb, or several Mk.15 thermonuclear bombs. By combining the bomb bays, one Mk.17 25-megaton thermonuclear bomb could be carried.
© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes
Is any of those planes still intact anywhere in the world for viewing? I don’t remember seeing one at Dayton.
Convair B-36J 52-2220 Peacemaker is in the collection of the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Another B-36J, 52-2827, the very last B-36, is at the Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona. B-36J 52-2217 is at the Strategic Air Command Museum, Ashland, Nebraska. RB-36H 51-13730 is at the Castle Air Museum, Atwater, California.
Selecting the satellite view on this Google Maps link gives a look at Pima’s B-36, along with the other interesting aircraft in their outdoor display area:
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.1412048,-110.8699995,117m
Yes. There are several. But the one I know for sure of is in the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton Ohio.
Pima Air Museum, Tucson AZ
Amazing work by that pilot, the asymmetric control forces must have been enormous. In the early fifties, these flew regularly in and out of the UK, but I don’t remember ever seeing one. The nearest I ever came was in 1977, when I saw one parked up on an airfield on a visit to the US, but I can’t recall where it was. I was told it was awaiting restoration. It is still a mind-blowing aeroplane,
The plane picture is not a Featherweight version. It has a nose gun and blisters. Featherwights only had a tail gun. The J model war the last and the fastest. It has all of the modifications and was lighter could go faster and higher.
Jim, you did not say which photograph. The photo at the top of the article is of Convair RB-36H-40 Peacemaker 51-13741. It was a Featherweight II. These had teh retractable turrets removed. The second photograph, of RB-36D-5-CF Peacemaker, 49-2686, is “similar in appearance” to the airplane in the article. . . Just the last 14 B-36J Featherweight IIIs had only the tail guns.
Another great article Bryan! The B-36 is one of my favorite aircraft. I remember as a child back in the late 60’s, my father taking me to an old model.shop he used to frequent as a boy in his hometown of Binghamton NY. I wanted to buy something else, but he strongly suggested we get the model of the B-36. He told me that he could hear them making practice bombing runs over Binghamton late at night when he was in bed. That always fascinated me. And I’m glad he pushed me to get the B-36 model. It started a life long interest in this aircraft. I also love the photo of the RB-36 you include in your fine article. It is one of my all-time favorite aircraft photos. The perspective, the framing, and the gorgeous black and whiteness of it makes it art in my eyes. Keep up the great work Bryan!
Thank you very much, Pete.
I remember the B-36 that was on display in Fort Worth (I lived there as a child from 86-90) at the Southwest Aerospace Museum. If my dad and I were in that area of Fort Worth, he would take me there and observe the aircraft on display (F-105, F-111, B-52, a U.S Marine H-34, etc.). It is now on display at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson.
Ok I’ll be the one to say it “three engines were out” Oh NO the dreaded 7 engine approach!
I understand with this aircraft that and with the props feathered that was an extremely dangerous situation BUT it still sounds like a strange thing to say. But I have no doubt at the O club that night those pilots were given a good ribbing with that very phrase.
Will, apparently you didn’t read the article carefully. Three engines on the B-36’s right wing had failed, and the four turbojet engines could not be started. If I remember my kindergarten arithmetic correctly, that leaves only 3 out of 10 engines operating, not 7. Throw in the fact that all operating engines are on the left wing, and two propellers on the right wing could not be feathered, that seems to me to be a fairly dire situation. The flaps could not be lowered and the crew got the landing gear down just short of landing. Calling it “The Miracle Landing” seems appropriate.