Before the entry of the United States into World War II, military planners knew that the US would soon be drawn into the conflict and also realized that there would be no easy way to conduct strategic bombing should Great Britain fall to Germany. Development of a long-range intercontinental bomber was started that would eventually lead to the B-36, though in the early 1940s, the technology wasn't ready for such a huge set of requirements, so intermediate steps were put forth.

The company that would undertake this monumental task was Consolidated Aircraft. Consolidated was the result of a merger between Gaulladet Airraft and the famous Dayton-Wright Companies. In 1943, Consolidated merged with Vultee to become Convair.

The first prototype B-36 flew in mid-1946 and was the largest aircraft ever flown. Powered by six R4360 Wasp Major engines rated at roughly 3000 horsepower apiece. Later versions were rated at 3800 horsepower. Designed as a conventional strategic bomber, the B-36 could carry 86,000 pounds of bombs (the B-52 can carry roughly 70,000 pounds of bombs). The early prototypes struggled with the best way to move the aircraft on the ground without collapsing the existing runway/taxiway structures. The XB-36 had single-wheel main landing gears, but the tires were enormous. Experiments were undertaken with tracked landing gear to improve the ground footprint of the huge bomber, but ultimately a four-wheel main gear was adopted to provide the ideal footprint and a measure of safety should one of the tires go flat during take-off or landing.

Production B-36s entered service with the new Strategic Air Command, a branch of the new USAF charged with strategic bombing and delivery of nuclear weapons anywhere on the globe should the US be attacked. The B-36 would be the mainstay of the Strategic Aiir Command until two Boeing bombers, the B-47 and B-52 would come online and maintain the deterrence of aggression with the ability to fly non-stop anywhere in the world at higher airspeeds and with the help of air refuelling, both capabilities beyond the reach of the behemoth B-36. The B-36 was phased out of the USAF by 1959.

While the B-36 continued its service, incremental improvements were made to the aircraft with more powerful R4360 engines, plus the addition of four J47 turbojet engines outboard of the six piston engines. In addition to its bombing mission, the B-36 was also an ideal platform for long range reconnaissance missions as the RB-36. The concept of providing integral fighter escort and quick-penetration damage assessment came in the form of a special trapeze mounted into the bomb bay of an experimental GRB-36 to carry the F-84. While experiments were conducted with straight-wing Thunderjets, it was the RF-84K that was designed as the parasite-capable reconnaissance fighter that would deploy from under the B-36.

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Convair RB-36H, 28th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, Ellsworth Air Base, Weaver, South Dakota.
Convair B-36H, 7th Bomb Wing, Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, Texas.

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