@MCCCANM The thing that amazes me about aircraft of that era is that designers—American and Soviet—seemed completely unconstrained by precedent.
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Formerly Aloft
10.2K posts
Formerly Aloft
@FormerlyAloft
Retired Navy. Former airline pilot. Catholic, husband, father.
United Stated Joined Şubat 2024
392 Following1.1K Followers
The B-36 “Peacemaker” (sometimes called “Aluminum Overcast”) was an intermediate step in the transition to jet bombers.
At the end of each wing is a pod with two jet engines, giving it a total of 10 engines. “Six turning & four burning” as they used to say.
The jets were only used for takeoff & quick sprints in cruise; in cruise this could increase maximum speed from 230 MPH to about 400. Most of the time the jets were turned off; they had inlet covers that would close to make them aerodynamic.
Interesting ideas for the B-36 included a tread system for the landing gear, kind of like tanks. A nuclear powered version was envisioned, but testing only got so far as running a reactor onboard before the idea was scrapped.
The B-36 was slow, but had enormous range for the time. It could remain aloft for 40 hours…impressive for a plane that can’t be air-refueled but probably painful for the crew of 13. Its’ maximum altitude of 43,000’ helped protect it from early jet fighters, but that advantage was quickly lost as jets got better.
It’s said that when it flew over your house, the whole house shook, an effect portrayed in the film “Strategic Air Command”, in which Jimmy Stewart plays a bomber pilot (as he was in real life, even during his Hollywood heydays, serving in the Air Force Reserve).
Happens to be my son’s favorite aircraft, and I have to say he has good taste!
Laocoon of Troy@LaocoonofTroy
Undated (1950s?) photo of a Convair B-36 bomber coming in to land at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field for maintenance at the local Convair plant.
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Jon Hamm, 55, seen with his 37-year-old wife.
Be honest... what's your first thought?
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@EricLDaugh If he ran for president of Venezuela, he’d win. If he lived long enough, the US would eventually be paying tribute to Venezuela.
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🚨 OMG, funniest president EVER!
"I will go to Venezuela. I'm going to run for president."
"So after I'm finished with this, I can go to Venezuela. I will quickly learn Spanish. It won't take too long. I'm good at language!" 😭
"They say if I ran for president of Venezuela, I'm polling higher than anybody has ever pulled in Venezuela."
There will never be another like him!
I think Marco Rubio could help Trump with this 🤣
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@xAviation NY controllers the best in the country, in my opinion.
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Rocking the middle seat 💺 blues … exit row at least!
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I wrote "My Way" in 1968, and one of my greatest decisions was handing it my friend Frank Sinatra.
Stream "My Way" here: tinyurl.com/y3jt4fjh
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@Chicago1Ray Security was private before 9/11. It evolved to the lowest bidder which contributed to the tragedy.
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BRILLIANT 🚨
Trump is looking at a plan to privatize airport security and make airports be the ones who pay for it
Why should folks in Boise pay for security in NY or LA
Taking away the Democrats ability to hold the TSA hostage
He also instructed Sec Mullin to pay all DHS employees
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@ron_eisele @VoicesofWW2 In my country, we would call him a bad ass. It’s a compliment.
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4 April 1945. Death of Heinrich Ehrler (b. 14 September 1917). German WWII fighter ace. After over 400 combat missions and achieving 208 victories, he rammed a B-24 with his Me-262 after having run out of ammunition.
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This gets funnier as you go along.
Luce@lucyshow11
Today’s kids trying to figure out a rotary phone 🤣🤣🤣
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Henry Mancini performs the iconic “Pink Panther Theme” in 1983, joined by Plas Johnson, the original soloist on the track, and the Terry Gibbs band.
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@myth_pilot The book was amazing. Along with “Iron Coffins” it was why I joined the Navy.
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To this day Das Boot is still the top-grossing German film in terms of worldwide box office. A critical success. I don't think a film like this could be made now. What a masterpiece.
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Formerly Aloft retweeted
🚨🚨🚨Breaking:
The German government to build 15 new nuclear power plants and lift sanctions immediately on all Russian oil and natural gas.
German Chancellor Merz has also agreed to pay to rebuild the Nord Stream pipeline to Russia.
All wind and solar projects have been cancelled.
"It's time for Germany to open our energy economy. The best way to do this is via free markets, lowering taxes and regulations".
For Immediate Release.
Berlin, April 1 2026.
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@VoicesofWW2 I’ve read that guests preferred the smaller rooms of the original structure over the grand rooms of the newer. Speer (not the architect) pointed out in his book that the exhaust from cars in the garage under the terrace sometimes was a nuisance.
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@DavidAsmanfox Huge numbers in this year’s OCIA class at my church. Almost all young people and they often know more about the church than their sponsors!
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Four weeks ago, we took time out from a friend’s wedding celebration to attend Mass at the Las Vegas Cathedral. There’s a renaissance of faith there…a big increase in attendance and new members of the Church. If it can happen in Sin City, it can happen anywhere!
Happy Holy Week!
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@Keg767 Thanks Keg! You pointed out the positives without picking sides.
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…appreciated jet (by the public). It has quietly achieved great things whilst the attention has been elsewhere such as on the 787 and then 350.
Though I’m looking forward to the 350 some time this year, I’m really pleased that my aviation journey included this great machine.
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When it first arrived in QF service I was skeptical. I was still a 767 F/O at the time and had no desire to fly the thing. Besides, my future with the Queen (744) was imminent. (It turned out it was to be another two years but that’s aviation… and SARS).
After my stint on……
Air Safety #OTD by Francisco Cunha@OnDisasters
The Airbus A330 ranks among the most profitable airliners ever built. With a 13,450 km range, seating for 250–300 passengers, and exceptionally low operating costs—true of its original CEO model in its era and even more so with today’s NEO version—it keeps selling strongly decades after launch. It may not have generated the same excitement as the A340 or 747 in their prime, but it quietly delivers serious money. A lot of it. Video - Discover Airlines A330 Takeoff from Stewart International (NY) in October 2025 (not the usual place to find one of these too) 📹 UNITED38Heavy
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This is how the male No Kings Day Protesters warmed up for today's festivities.
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Formerly Aloft retweeted
BREAKING: In NYC at the “No Kings” rally, demonstrators waved Communist flags.
No kings, but yes Communist dictators.
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