Awesome Airplanes!

[Oberon]

The A-10 isn't an aircraft

The A-10 is a gun with wings and a tail.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Oberon

The A-10 isn't an aircraft

The A-10 is a gun with wings and a tail.

*redneck*

Ain't nothin' wrong wit that...

A-10's are AWESOME!

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Oberon

The A-10 isn't an aircraft

The A-10 is a gun with wings and a tail.

And bombs. Lots of bombs.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

And bombs. Lots of bombs.

Don't forget rocket pods and AGM's.

[Sailor Steve]

For every winner there is usually at least one loser. When the USAAF was looking for a long-range heavy bomber the settled on Boeing's B-29 Superfortress. If the B-29 had for any reason failed in its mission Convair's B-32 Dominator might be a famous plane today.


In 1952 the USAF was looking for a heavy jet bomber. The Boeing B-52 won the contracts and is today a legend. Convair designed an built a jet-powered successor to the B-36 in an attempt to wing the prize.


America had the B-52. Britain had the 3 Vs - Valiant, Victor and Vulcan. The Russians also had a first-generation heavy jet bomber - The Myasishchev M-4 "Bison".


And lastly one of my all-time favorites: The North American B-45 Tornado, jet replacement for the B-25.

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

In 1952 the USAF was looking for a heavy jet bomber. The Boeing B-52 won the contracts and is today a legend. Convair designed an built a jet-powered successor to the B-36 in an attempt to wing the prize.

I think one factor that hurt the YB-60 was that the USAF was never fully satisfied with the B-36.Boeing on the other hand had already learned much with the B-47 design and the B-52 was a natural progression from that design.Of course as with the B-32 the B-60 was a back up to the B-52 program should it have failed to produce.Also as with the B-32 the Yb-60 was a back up in case the B-52 failed to pan out or (crossed fingers) congress allowed the USAF to have both aircraft.

Since the B-52 was a success and no extra money was going to come down the line the YB-60 faded away.this is a good thing as reading a book about the B-36 they actually took B-36 airframes and converted them and they swept the wings buy cutting them out and adding in some new sections which sounds to me like they wold not have had long term strength not enough to last as long as it has turned out for the BUFF.

The B-32 was built by Consolidated not Convair. Convair came into operation in 1943 when Consolidated and Vultee joined together but they used the name Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft.Technically the B-32 was a Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft desgin not a Convair splitting hairs I know.To split hairs even more the B-32 had its first flight in 1942 before the merger.

The B-32s did actually get to fly on a few missions aginst Japan in the last weeks of the war.

[Jimbuna]

Top 10 Fighter Jets Flyby Low Pass (debatable IMHO).

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

The B-32 was built by Consolidated not Convair.

True. I knew that but didn't think to mention it. Now that you have I'll say that I don't think it's splitting hairs and the correction is welcome.

The B-32s did actually get to fly on a few missions aginst Japan in the last weeks of the war.

As I said, if the B-29 had failed the Dominator would be a legend today. I really do like the way it looked.