As the B-36 was built and flight tested in Fort Worth at Convair’s mile-long plant at Carswell AFB, across the runway from the base, any technical problems could be readily addressed.
As a result, the majority of the United States’ long range striking power was concentrated in Fort Worth.
The anemometer on the Carswell control tower registered sustained winds over 90mph before being torn away by the storm.
In less than a month, the 7th Bomb Wing was back at full operational strength. Only one B-36 had to be written off out of the 83 damaged. By the end of the month, the round-the-clock effort had the 11th Bomb Wing operational and by the first week of October, 51 more aircraft were returned to service.
The B-36's control surfaces alone had more square footage then entire wing area of the B-24, the wingspan was 230 ft.
https://theaviationgeekclub.com/remembering-the-1952-carswell-afb-tornado-that-damaged-two-thirds-of-sacs-b-36-force/
https://forums.g503.com/viewtopic.php?t=175581
http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Magazine%20Documents/2016/October%202016/1016b36.pdf
http://marty.rob.com/pix/oops/B36
http://horseformer.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-convair-b-36-peacemaker.html
Fascinating story ...
ReplyDeletethanks! I get lucky sometimes!
Delete