WHAT THE B-36 HAS
MEANT TO FORT WORTH

Speech by Amon G. Carter, Jr., on
30 May 1958, when the last B-36 bomber
flew away from Carswell Air Force Base.

Submitted by Frank F. Kleinwechter.

I've been asked to say a few words this morning on the topic of "What the B-36 Has Meant to Fort Worth."

I'm not sure where I should start with this subject. The B-36 is responsible for many advancements in our city - - advancements in population, industrial growth, and certainly publicity.

Starting with the latter, let me put on my hat first as a newspaper publisher and recall to mind a few of the many events in the history of the B-36 - - events that put Fort Worth datelines on the front page of newspapers throughout the nation and the world.

First, of course, was the announcement that the giant globe-spanning bomber was to be built in Fort Worth.

Then in the fall of 1945 Convair rolled the experimental XB-36 out of its hidden place in the hangar and started taxi tests. That was when the whole world was startled by the first photograph of the long-range bomber. The XB-36 was shown parked on the runway with a B-29 alongside. Up to that time most people thought that the B-29 was the biggest airplane that could be built. So when this photo was released for publication - - a photo that showed the XB-36 practically dwarfing the B-29 - - it was reproduced in more newspapers than any other aviation picture of the era.

Attention was then focused on Fort Worth on August 8, 1946, when the experimental model of the B-36 made its first flight. News photos and stories told of the thousands that lined the fence around the plant to watch the huge airplane roll down the runway for its first takeoff.

A few months and a few test flights later, the news was flashed to the world that the XB-36 was in trouble in the air over Fort Worth. A landing gear strut fitting had failed and the world's largest bomber was in danger of being lost to a crash landing. As radios continued to relate to the world the story of impending danger, the XB-36 circled over the western edge of Fort Worth. After ordering the crew to bail out, B.A. Erickson and Gus Green brought the airplane down for a precarious but safe landing with no further damage.

The B-36 attracted national attention again the following year, when a B-36 press demonstration was held at Convair.

Headlines were again captured in 1948 when Convair delivered the first B-36 bomber to Strategic Air Command. It was delivered to Carswell's Seventh Bomb Wing. And by the end of that year the nation's first B-36 bomber was in operation here.

Front page stories related the many feats of the huge bomber as it demonstrated its capabilities.

In 1949 it carried an 84,000-pound load of bombs to "target" and dropped them from high altitude. This bomb load represented a weight greater than some of our World War II bombers - - airplane, bomb load, and all.

In mid-1949 a Convair crew flew the B-36 more than 10,000 miles non-stop, making a 10,000-pound bomb drop at the halfway point.

It was additional good news in Fort Worth in 1949 when the Air Force announced that it had contracted with Convair to convert a number of B-36s to RB-36 reconnaissance airplanes.

More headlines came as Carswell crews flew B-36s to various parts of the world - - Alaska, Puerto Rico, England, North Africa, Hawaii, and elsewhere.

And still more headlines with the announcement that some B-36s were to be modified to carry "parasite" fighters. And more headlines than ever when the B-36 got caught in the Air Force and Navy controversy over strategic bombing.

Certainly there were many more occasions when the B-36 was the glowing subject for newspaper writers and radio and television news commentators. My time today permits me to only hit the high spots.

Convair delivered the last production-model B-36 to the Air Force in 1954. But certainly long before that day of August 14, 1954, both the B-36 and Fort Worth -- the "Home of the B-36" - - were "on the map".

Now, I'll put on my chamber of commerce hat . . . . and tell you a few additional things that the B-36 did for Fort Worth.

First, population. As you know, Convair employs many thousands of people itself. Carswell has several thousand military personnel and civilian employees. There are enough people at Convair and Carswell - - particularly if you include their families - - to make a sizeable city of their own.

Twice during the history of the B-36 in Fort Worth, Convair's employment passed the 30,000 figure.

In 1940, before the Convair plant existed and before the B-36 existed, Fort Worth was a city of 177,622 people whose banks reported clearings of $355,864,409. The next census - - 1950 - - right in the middle of the B-36 program - - shows an increase of more than 100,000 people, to 278,778. And bank clearings had risen to $1,451,447,698.

The B-36 was not solely responsible for this tremendous growth, of course, but it was perhaps a bigger figure than all the other factors put together.

Let's take a quick look at the economic picture. Carswell's payroll and other expenditures approximate 39 million dollars each year. Convair's Fort Worth payroll during the B-36 program averaged nearly $60 million annually, and at the peak in 1951 it was $11 million for the year.

And we must take into consideration the other millions spent locally by both Convair and Carswell for materials, operating supplies, and parts connected with the B-36 program.

As the official publication of the West Texas Chamber of Commerce phrased it a few years ago, Convair and Carswell and the B-36 put gold-plated hinges on the "Gateway to the West."

Yes, the B-36 program has been many things to Fort Worth, and we'll miss its familiar sight and low-throated rumble in the skies over Fort Worth.

Before concluding I would like to add just one more thing about the importance of the airplane, not only to us in Fort Worth, but to this nation and to the free world.

America's B-36 airmada is credited equally with our atomic stockpile as the principle deterrent to global aggression since World War II. Friend and foe alike respect it as the "big stick" of this nation's intercontinental striking power during the past decade.

[ WEBMASTER'S NOTE: The economic impact of the B-36 program as described by Mr. Carter was measured in 1950's dollars. For comparison with today's dollar value, a short article in the 19 July 1946 Star-Telegram announced the Electrical Workers Union Local 116 (AFL), North Texas Chapter of the National Electric Contractors Association was awarded a generous pay increase of 12.5 cents per hour, up from $1.75 per hour to $1.875 per hour, or approximately $1.00 per day. ]