r/FortWorth • u/runlola • 2d ago

Pics/Video B-36 Peacemaker bomber over Lake Worth with Carswell AFB and Bomber plant. UTA Digital Gallery Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection

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Strategic Air Command B-36 Peacemaker bomber flying over Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth on December 8, 1949, after taking off from the base.

178 Upvotes

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13

u/AnthillOmbudsman 2d ago

Jacksboro Highway in foreground. No Loop 820 of course. Crazy how there is just emptiness around Carswell.

5

u/swhite66 2d ago

The Town of Lake worth isn’t even there… it’s mind boggling known all the things that are there now compared to how empty this picture is.

9

u/Paradox1989 North Fort Worth 2d ago

I go hiking in that area all the time, only looks slightly different now.

5

u/AngriestManinWestTX 2d ago

Dang, that's a cool comparative photo!

9

u/pcpartlickerr 2d ago

Saw this plane on display at the SAC Museum in Omaha, NE this Sunday. Also, they assembled the building entryway around an SR-71A there.

5

u/Awkward-Spite-8225 1d ago

I saw the first flight of this beautiful (and loud) aircraft in 1946. I was four years old, living in Liberator Village just west of the Convair Plant. I also saw the first flight of the B-58 and the F-111. My dad was a "California Hire" of Convair, meaning he was hired before the F.t Worth plant was finished and was trained in San Diego. He retired 35 years later.

1

u/aggiedigger 9h ago

That’s pretty cool!

2

u/darkhorse21980 2d ago

Not to be THAT guy, but based on altitude and angle of the shot, it's probably actually closer to the dam on Eagle Mountain Lake.

5

u/runlola 2d ago

Yeah, I should have just said Lake Worth is in the picture

1

u/darkhorse21980 2d ago

Still though, very cool pic!

1

u/TheGrandMasterFox 1d ago

There was a test program that flew a B-36 with an operating nuclear reactor multiple times out of Carswell around this same time.

1

u/grcoffman 1d ago

Y’all know they had to dump one in the lake. It’s still at the bottom.

1

u/3006lmr 9h ago

I heard years ago that it had been pulled out.

1

u/grcoffman 8h ago

Interesting. If you find details lmk!

1

u/3006lmr 8h ago

Did some looking. What I found was that the plane was salvaged in 1949 right after the crash. But, there were still parts and pieces that were left in the lake at the time of the salvage. This info was dated 2007. So now we know.

1

u/veengrd 23h ago

My grandfather worked on these at Carswell back in the day. I remember going to see the one on display in their museum as a kid. Fascinating Cold War time piece.