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CONVAIR YB-60

History

During the Cold War (1947-1991), the showdown between East and West, with the advent of the jet age after World War II (1939-1945), technology developed tremendously. Turbojets replaced piston engines in the development of fighter jets and bombers, and since then, the sky has proven the limits of aeronautical engineers.

With this in mind, companies are scrambling to develop faster, higher-flying combat platforms to meet a new wave of battlefield deployments from their respective leaders.

Strategic heavy bombers are a category of particular interest to both parties. This group was represented during World War II by four-engine models such as the Avro Lancaster and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, but in the era of multi-engine, propeller-driven bombers, today's combat payloads and machines The numbers are modest - artillery defense programs are gone - we have new threats here, such as fast-closing interceptors and ground-based fires, and surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems that have yet to emerge.

For CONVAIR, the liaison between Consolidated Aircraft (maker of the classic B-24 "Liberator") and the Vultee aircraft, the B-36 "Peacemaker" made global headlines when it first took off on August 8th 1946 year. It was subsequently adopted by the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1948 and did not have a relatively long service life until early 1959.

Nearly 400 examples of this type were produced from 1946 to 1954, and that's what they were worth in service (the bomber later became a nuclear-capable weapon for an important branch of the US Air Force Strategic Air Command).

However, this bomb platform is a combination of technologies as the main power comes from 4 GE J47 turbojets (5,200 lb thrust each) plus 6 Pratt & Whitney R-4360-53 "Major Wasp" air -Cooled radial engines, each with an additional 3,800 hp propulsion. They were distributed on the main aircraft amidships, and the wings were wide, giving the large bomber "legs" in the air.

CONVAIR engineers believe they can rewrite the design with a more efficient all-jet propulsion scheme, sitting on a more efficient swept-wing main aircraft with inherent performance advantages and improved control.

The company presented its proposed bomber to US Air Force authorities and in March 1951 turned its attention to a new CONVAIR design - designated "B-36G" as part of the B-36 bomber program line A branch (mostly due to the cheap method of converting in-service airframes rather than developing expensive new ones). As the changes to the original bomber form proved so extensive (only about 70% of the original remained), the name was soon changed to "YB-40" to allow the aircraft to go its own way.

Brand new product.

The new wings are mounted on the fuselage in a typical fashion, with a pronounced sweep on the leading and trailing edges. Eight Pratt & Whitney J57-P-3 turbojets are mounted under each wing, arranged in four pods (two engines per pod), each delivering 8,700 pounds of thrust.

The fuselage remains largely faithful to the original B-36, save for the probes protruding from the nose and extensions of the aircraft.

Final dimensions include a barrel length of 171 feet, a wingspan of 206 feet, and a height of 60.5 feet. MTOW reaches 300,000 lbs.

Performance specs tested include a top speed of 508 mph, a combat range of up to 3,000 miles, a ferry range of over 8,000 miles, a service ceiling of up to 53,300 feet, and a climb rate of 1,060 feet per minute.

There will be a five-person operator inside, consisting of two pilots, a navigator, a communicator who also doubles as a bombardier, and another communicator who also doubles as a tail gunner. The only standard armament installed was a 2 x 20mm trainable automatic cannon in the stern position to protect the bomber's vulnerable "six" from approaching interceptors.

The rest of the armament will revolve around conventional or nuclear-launched bombs totaling 72,000 pounds.

The first flight of the completed YB-40 prototype was recorded on April 18, 1952. However, the YB-40 weakened in key areas, especially compared to its then competitor, the Boeing YB-52.

Despite carrying more bombs than the YB-52, the YB-40 suffered in terms of performance and handling and ended up taking second place. As a result of this, the development of the YB-40 did not go beyond its flight test form, and when the program ended in January 1953, the second prototype was partially completed.

The USAF turned its attention to the YB-52 and used it as the B-52 "Stratofortress" and never looked back, while two YB-40 airframes were accepted into service (to meet the terms of the deal), but soon It was scrapped in 1954 without much fanfare.

This ends the flying career of CONVAIR's latest "almost bomber" short-lived YB-40. Meanwhile, the B-52 has flown to date (2019) as the USAF's front-line strategic heavy bomber.