Feathering the propeller while flying the B-36 Peacemaker refers to rotating the blades to reduce their drag so the fat side of the blades isn’t against the wind stream
Lt. Col. Frank F. Kleinwechter, captured in the photo of this article, which appeared on the Fans of the B-36 Facebook Group, a Convair B-36 Peacemaker strategic bomber flying with the number 3 propeller feathered.
The photo also shows five other B-36s in the background—six Peacemakers would sound incredible flying over you!
Several members of the group who flew and worked on the mighty B-36 explained that feathering the propeller refers to rotating the blades to reduce their drag so the fat side of the blades isn’t against the wind stream.
Think of a windmill—the blades flat to the wind to “bite” into it to create thrust. If the prop is not being powered, those flat faces make a lot of drag. So you turn the blades “sideways” so that they present less of a “face” to the airstream.
When a B-36 engine was shut down due to mechanical problems, the angle of the prop on that engine was adjusted to reduce drag in the windstream. Feathering also prevents damage to the engine.
Although the B-36 was composed of a familiar cigar-shaped fuselage, its six 28-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-4360 ‘Wasp Major’ radial engines were positioned in an unorthodox rearward-facing pusher configuration, which succeeded in smoothing the airflow over its massive wings.
What’s noteworthy is that the aircraft in this photo looks pre-jet pods too: beginning with the B-36D, Convair added a pair of General Electric J47-19 jet engines suspended near the end of each wing; these were also retrofitted to all extant B-36Bs. This meant that the B-36 was configured to have 10 engines, six radial propeller engines, and four jet engines, leading to the B-36 slogan of “six turnin’ and four burnin’.” The B-36 had more engines than any other mass-produced aircraft. The jet pods greatly improved takeoff performance and dash speed over the target. In normal cruising flights, the jet engines were shut down to conserve fuel. When the jet engines were shut down, louvers closed off the front of the pods to reduce drag and prevent ingestion of sand and dirt. The jet engine louvers were opened and closed by the flight crew in the cockpit, whether the B-36 was on the ground or in the air.
Due to the B-36, the United States possessed a formidable deterrent against Soviet threats during the Cold War. Although the B-36 never engaged in actual combat or dropped bombs on enemy targets, it gained some notoriety when Jimmy Stewart—a real-life brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve—flew it in the film “Strategic Air Command.” More significantly, this colossal aircraft served as an effective deterrent throughout its operational period and truly embodied its nickname, “Peacemaker.”
Photo by Lt. Col. Frank F. Kleinwechter / U.S. Air Force
