Six Turnin and Four Burnin
An evening pause: From the 1955 Jimmy Stewart film Strategic Air Command. The B-36, with both propeller and jet engines, was soon superseded, but the takeoff, as captured so well in the movie, is impressive. It was a big plane.
Hat tip again to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
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An evening pause: From the 1955 Jimmy Stewart film Strategic Air Command. The B-36, with both propeller and jet engines, was soon superseded, but the takeoff, as captured so well in the movie, is impressive. It was a big plane.
Hat tip again to Phil Berardelli, author of Phil’s Favorite 500: Loves of a Moviegoing Lifetime.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
As an Air Force brat in Ft Worth, I watched some of the filming of this fine film. The B-36 Bombers flew over our house on Garza St, all the time, and one gets used to the noise. My Father was a Flight Engineer on these aircraft, so once, on a Sunday my Dad took me and my Brother to the Plant, to get a tour. It was most interesting, and later that day, we got to try our skill with tail gunner simulator, which is most likely the first video game ever produced!! I got two Migs!
Nice post, Dale! Thanks for sharing.
They had a B36 on display at Chanute AFB as well as a number of other rare aircraft. The B36 dwarfed the B52s.
Phil: The filming was a big deal, they held up traffic at the East Gate for some shots of the Gate Scene, they would let the traffic pass and try again. I think they finally did it on a Sunday. As kids we got to climb thru and sit in the crew positions of the new B-36 Bombers parked at Convair, keep in mind, in those days, Military Brats did mind their elders!! My Dad was assigned to the Convair side, doing the acceptance flights, not the active SAC side at Carswell. I did see the B-25 that was used to do the aerial filming parked on the Air Force side once or twice, I think that Paul Mantz or someone like him used the surplus bomber for the shots. It was the first and last time I saw a B-45 Tornado in the flesh, parked out on the ramp with the civilian B-25. I think this is visible in the film during the DC-3 landing scene with the Armored Car and the Air Police. One of my favorite films, ever!!
Great stuff, Dale! Thanks for this as well.
“The B36 dwarfed the B52s.”
That’s saying something!
A manly movie featuring a manly aircraft. My favorite scene is when Stewart’s character expresses concern about getting home on time, and his CO promises just one takeoff and landing. Of course, it’s a bomber mission. . . Fighters make headlines; bombers make history.
I’m not an Air Force brat (Army), but when we had a job in Honolulu directly adjacent to the airport, our intern would stop and watch every time a C-5 went by. I understood the attraction. That’s a lot of metal.