Convair YB-60, 49-2676 |
First flight of Convair YB-60, 49-2676. Beryl
Erickson was the pilot on the first flight of the YB-60 on April
18, 1952, three days after the first flight of the Boeing YB-52
Stratofortress.
Wingspan: 206 feetLength: 171 feetWing Area: 5,239 square feetMaximum Take-off Weight: 410,000 poundsMaximum Bomb Payload: 72,000 poundsPowerplant: 8x 8,700 pound J57-P-3 turbojets |
The YB-60, 49-2676
was Convair's alternative to the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. It
is seen here in flight over Texas.
The cruise speed of the YB-60 was only 467 miles per hour compared to the Stratofortress's cruise speed of 521 miles per hour. The flight controls had been designed for operation at much lower airspeeds, so the control forces were very high and the response of the airplane was slow. Photo courtesy AFFTC/HO.
The stalling speed of the YB-60 was 140 miles per hour. That is about 30 miles per hour slower than the stalling speed of the B-52. The wing of the YB-60 (5,239 square feet) was much larger than the wing of the B-52 (4,000 square feet) and the maximum weight of the YB-60 was only 410,000 pounds compared to the maximum gross weight of 450,000 pounds for the B-52.
Convair made 20 test flights of the YB-60 and
accumulated 66 hours of flight time. The Air Force cancelled the
B-60 production program on August 14, 1952. Photo courtesy
AFFTC/HO.
YB-60 on Edwards Air Force Base old
south base flightline. It was assigned to Edwards Air Force Base
in January 1953 for the Phase II tests of the type. Lt. Col. Boyd
L. Grubaugh was the flight test pilot and Frederick N. Stoliker
was the flight test engineer. Photo courtesy AFFTC/HO.
YB-60 and B-36F-5, 49-2683 on
Edwards Air Force Base south base flightline. Photo courtesy
AFFTC/HO.
YB-60 takes off from the old main
runway of Edwards Air Force Base. Photo courtesy AFFTC/HO.
YB-60 in flight. Only four flights of the Phase
II test series had been completed when the Air Research and
Development Command cancelled the test program on January 20,
1953. The YB-60 was flown for fifteen hours and forty-five
minutes in the course of the four flights. Photo courtesy
AFFTC/HO.
YB-60 in flight over Kramers
Junction at the intersection of Highways 58 and 395 northeast of
Edwards Air Force Base. Photo courtesy AFFTC/HO.
Night shot of YB-60 on south base
ramp. Photo courtesy AFFTC/HO.
There's a new sheriff in town. The cowboy in the
foreground is Bill Whiteside, the son of Walter W. Whiteside, the
chief maintenance officer at Edwards in the early 50's. The photo
appeared on the front page of the Edwards Air Force Base paper
and possibly on the front page of the Air Force Times. Note the
enormous hydrogen bomb test shape just to the left of the access
stand. Photo courtesy AFFTC/HO.
Rare color photo of the YB-60 over
Rogers Dry Lake on the approach to the old main runway. Photo
courtesy AFFTC/HO.
Giant Jet Airplanes |
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| First Flight | Wing Span | Length | Wing Area | Gross Weight | Engines | |
| Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner | ? |
197ft, 03in |
206ft |
3,501 |
545,000 |
2 x 71,000 lb General Electric GEnx or Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 |
| Boeing 747-8 Jumbo Jet | 2010 |
224ft,07in |
250ft,02in |
? |
975,000 |
4 x 66,500 GEnx-2B67 |
| Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner | 2009 |
197ft, 03in |
186ft |
3,501 |
502,500 |
2 x 64,000 lb General Electric GEnx or Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 |
| Airbus A380 | 2005 |
261ft,10in |
239ft,06in |
9,100 |
1,235,000 |
4 x 84,000 lb RR Trent 900 or Engine Alliance GP-7200 |
| Boeing 777-300ER | 2003 |
212ft,07in |
242ft,04in |
4,700 |
775,000 |
2 x 115,300 lb GE90-115B |
| Airbus A340-600 | 2001 |
208ft,02in |
247ft,01in |
4,729 |
811,300 |
4 x 56,000 lb RR Trent 556 |
| Boeing 777-200 | 1994 |
209ft,01in |
199ft,11in |
4,605 |
545,000 |
2 x 74,000 lb PW4074, GE90-75B, or RR Trent 875 |
| Airbus A330-300 | 1992 |
197ft,10in |
208ft,10in |
3,892 |
507,000 |
2 x 51,590 lb GE CF6-80E, PW4000, or RR Trent 700 |
| Boeing 747-400 Jumbo Jet | 1988 |
211ft,05in |
231ft,10in |
5,650 |
833,000 |
4 x 45,000 PW4062 or GE CF6-80C2B1F |
| Antonov An-225 Mryia | 1988 |
290ft,00in |
275ft,07in |
10,280 |
1,300,000 |
6 x 51,590 lb DT-18T |
| Antonov An-124 Ruslan | 1984 |
240ft,00in |
227ft,00in |
6,760 |
890,000 |
4 x 51,590 lb DT-18T |
| Tupolev 160 Blackjack | 1981 | 182ft, 09in | 177ft, 06in | 3,660 | 606,000 | 4 x 50,900 lb NK-321 |
| Lockheed C-5A Galaxy | 1968 |
222ft,08in |
247ft,10in |
6,200 |
769,000 |
4 x 50,000 lb GE TF-39 |
| Boeing 747-100 Jumbo Jet | 1968 |
195ft,08in |
231ft,04in |
5,500 |
850,000 |
4 x 50,000 lb P&W JT9D |
| Antonov An-22 Antheus | 1965 |
211ft,04in |
189ft,07in |
3,713 |
550,000 |
4 x 15,000 shp Kuznetsov NK-12MV |
| North American XB-70A Valkyrie | 1964 |
105ft,00in |
189ft,00in |
6,297 |
530,000 |
6 x 33,000,lb J-93 |
| Boeing B-52 Stratofortress | 1952 |
185ft,00in |
157ft,07in |
4,000 |
450,000 |
8 x 8,000 lb J-57 |
| Convair YB-60 | 1952 |
206ft,05in |
175ft,02in |
5,239 |
410,000 |
8 x 8,000 lb J-57 |
Books about the Convair B-36 from Amazon.com |
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Visit the Lockett Books Amazon Webstore for a selection of aviation and space related books and DVDs. |
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The history of the efforts to preserve B-36J, 52-22827 at Fort
Worth is well documented in "B-36: Saving the Last Peacemaker"; Second Edition, an html
book on CD.
Go
to the main Convair B-36 page.
Go to home page of the Goleta Air and Space Museum.
Send a message to Brian.
