Another B-36 Peacemaker - delivered early?

[Diamondback]

Zen, what's your plan to keep the gunners warm and breathing once the gun bays are depressurized for turret deployment at 40,000'? Remember, even after they Plexi'd the waist positions keeping a B-17 waist gunner in shape to fight at only 20k was sporty and required heated suits jacked into the plane's power...

If we were gonna treat D as "super-size Superfort"... can the B-29 CFCS be networked, or would each system need its own permanent zone with more crew effort as targets cross between zones? Or would a full quad system (Nose/Port/Starboard/Tail) be a better fit? (Remember, we're looking at what GE could have quickly scabbed together off the shelf on a Rush Job.)

[zenrat]

Zen, what's your plan to keep the gunners warm and breathing once the gun bays are depressurized for turret deployment at 40,000'?...

Snugly 'jamies, ugg boots, and hot chocolate.

Or zombies...

[jcf]

If you want to speed up the timeline in regards to the engines, use a two-stage mechanical
supercharger variant of the R-4360 rather than the eternally problematic turbosupercharged
variant. The Boeing XF8B-1 and Boeing XB-44(B-29D) both had a two-stage variable speed
auxiliary supercharger setup, R-4360-10 and R-4360-33, respectively. The aux supercharger
assembly was designed to bolt on to the accessory case of any version of the R-4360. The
R-4360 was also designed so that it could be switched from a tractor to a pusher with minimal
work by changing the cam and flipping the cylinder assembly end-for-end. It's an incredibly
modular design. The R-4360 reengining of the B-29 was proposed by P&W in mid-1943,
work approved in 1944 and first flight in May 1945.

R-4360-10 as used on the XF8B-1, R-4360-33 is basically the same. The aux stage has two
outlets the supercharger intake is capped in the photos. Performance wise the  -33 used on
the XB-44, B-50 predecessor, was the equal of the turbosupercharged R-4360-25 of the B-36A
and R-4360-41 of the early B-36B*. But as testing had shown on the XP-72, XF8B-1 and XB-44,
far simpler and more reliable. Dimensions and weights are basically the same.
*The water injection -**41 and -41A were used on later B-36B and the D/E were higher
HP under some conditions primarily in "wet" mode.

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[Diamondback]

Jon, we've had our past friction but if SMF had upvotes I'd give you one for that and your help on this project in general. (With the favor I owe the guy I'm cooking this for, words cannot describe how I look forward to having this monkey off my back! ) Equal power and greater reliability makes you wonder why Convair insisted on fighting with the turbos unless it was trying to chase better SFC numbers.

[Wardukw]

If you want to speed up the timeline in regards to the engines, use a two-stage mechanical
supercharger variant of the R-4360 rather than the eternally problematic turbosupercharged
variant. The Boeing XF8B-1 and Boeing XB-44(B-29D) both had a two-stage variable speed
auxiliary supercharger setup, R-4360-10 and R-4360-33, respectively. The aux supercharger
assembly was designed to bolt on to the accessory case of any version of the R-4360. The
R-4360 was also designed so that it could be switched from a tractor to a pusher with minimal
work by changing the cam and flipping the cylinder assembly end-for-end. It's an incredibly
modular design. The R-4360 reengining of the B-29 was proposed by P&W in mid-1943,
work approved in 1944 and first flight in May 1945.

R-4360-10 as used on the XF8B-1, R-4360-33 is basically the same. The aux stage has two
outlets the supercharger intake is capped in the photos. Performance wise the  -33 used on
the XB-44, B-50 predecessor, was the equal of the turbosupercharged R-4360-25 of the B-36A
and R-4360-41 of the early B-36B*. But as testing had shown on the XP-72, XF8B-1 and XB-44,
far simpler and more reliable. Dimensions and weights are basically the same.
*The water injection -**41 and -41A were used on later B-36B and the D/E were higher
HP under some conditions primarily in "wet" mode.

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The Tauranga Aircraft museum has a R-4360 engine sitting in their main hall ...if ya never had the chance to stand beside one of these you'll have no idea on just how massive these things are 
Hell i'm 6'2 and this thing makes me look like i'm 3ft tall 
At some point i've gotta get back down there and get a pic of me standing in front of this monster 

[jcf]

Yep, I've been next to them a couple of times, one a cutaway teaching aid and another
from a C-97 complete with the turbosuperchargers and associated bits. 

[Wardukw]

Yep, I've been next to them a couple of times, one a cutaway teaching aid and another
from a C-97 complete with the turbosuperchargers and associated bits.

If i remember rightly ,,the one at Tauranga is complete ,,same as those pics Jon ,,,i'll have to find some pics of it or convince my mate Perrin to go take pics of it for me .

[Rick Lowe]

Yep, I've been next to them a couple of times, one a cutaway teaching aid and another
from a C-97 complete with the turbosuperchargers and associated bits.

If i remember rightly ,,the one at Tauranga is complete ,,same as those pics Jon ,,,i'll have to find some pics of it or convince my mate Perrin to go take pics of it for me .

How in the world did they ever score one of those?
It's not something I'd ever have expected to see over here, least of all in the Boonies. 

[Wardukw]

Yep, I've been next to them a couple of times, one a cutaway teaching aid and another
from a C-97 complete with the turbosuperchargers and associated bits.

If i remember rightly ,,the one at Tauranga is complete ,,same as those pics Jon ,,,i'll have to find some pics of it or convince my mate Perrin to go take pics of it for me .

How in the world did they ever score one of those?
It's not something I'd ever have expected to see over here, least of all in the Boonies. 

Done know mate but its off other aircraft like the B-50 Superfortress and of course the B-36 ....also they might have nicked it 
Or a USAF mechanic got into a poker game with some RNZAF crews and he lost   

[zenrat]

28 cylinders, two valves per cylinder, six engines per Peacemaker.  Imagine setting the valve clearances...   

[PR19_Kit]

28 cylinders, two valves per cylinder, six engines per Peacemaker.  Imagine setting the valve clearances...   

You'd need either a HECK of a lot of engine techs, with a lot of ladders too, or a whole MONTH to do them in! 

[Diamondback]

Part of why the B-36 had them in removable "power eggs"... crane it off and lower into a ground cradle. With budget and forethought, it's not too much of a stretch to imagine having some spare eggs so you can rotate engine stock between "MRO," "flight-ready standby spare" and "mounted for flight"...

Back when I was in college 20 years ago, Clive Cussler had some choice things to say about the Corncob from his Air Force days in his "behind the scenes" book on the Dirk Pitt literary universe. (This book was Required Reading in my frat, if you weren't a serious CC reader you weren't welcome.)

[jcf]

A QEC (Quick Engine Change) installation was a common feature of most of the aircraft that were designed, or considered, for R-4360 power.
The Northrop wings had the most complex, and very difficult to work on, installation. Which is not at all
surprising given its nature. 
Margaret Bourke White photo of a Boeing B-50A R-4360 QEC being
unloaded from a C-124. Thule, Greenland 1951.
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[Diamondback]

Update: MOST of 42-13571's engines (well, motors) arrived today. 6mm 3v/40mA micros I found on AliExpress. With only one motor and one 1.5v AAA, it turns so slow you can track the flat spot on the output shaft with no motion blur. Plan is surgical-tube splines to connecct the output and prop shafts.

Next problem, figuring out what kind of coin-cells or AAA arrangement I need (be it just two in series or several pairs in series-parallel) to keep all six spinning... or maybe since the game I'm building these things for has "low" and "high" speeds for each aircraft have a two-stage switch that idles the middle engine on each wing in slow.

Just wanted to let y'all know that the project is at a dead-slow crawl but it IS still moving.

[Diamondback]

Just had another idea for the "Operation Fast Forward" mission-pack... let's say that somehow the IJNAF gets a singe G10N1 Fugaku airworthy. Would that bird vs the YB-36 in the proposed "six quad-.50s plus paired nose and tail 20mm's" WHIF armament be a fair fight?

Mission concept: Japan made several Critical Successes in a row on its die-rolls just as Convair did fast-forwarding 571 and is getting ready to throw the G10N prototype loaded with nuke-packing Ohkas at the West Coast, and the YB is the only plane with the altitude and reach out into the ocean to be Goalkeeper and stop it.