Hugh Harkins

Convair YB-60 Hugh Harkins

Convair YB-60 The Consolidated Vultee (Convair) YB-36G intercontinental bomber design emerged in 1950 as a low cost development of the Convair B-36F intercontinental bomber. The new design, which was subsequently re-designated YB-60 in 1951, featured a swept back wing and was powered by eight turbojet engines in a similar arrangement to that seen on the rival Boeing XB/YB-52 bomber. Although there was no official competition, the YB-60 would find itself in direct comparison to the smaller, more versatile Boing aircraft, the latter proving to have far better all-round performance than that of the YB-60 in most important respects, not least of which was speed. This volume describes the YB-36G/YB-60 design iterations leading to flight test of the No.1 YB-60 prototype and the program cancellation in August 1952, by which time the No.2 YB-60, under construction to the final YB-60 design iteration, was around 90% complete. The rival Boeing B-52 went into production in a number of variants, culminating in the turbofan powered B-52H that continues in service in the second decade of the 21st century, more than sixty years after the first flight of the YB-60 and YB-52 prototypes in April 1952.