Panthers and Peacemakers

I’m no movie critic but I recently watched two 1950s vintage motion pictures and I was prompted to write.

The first film was The Bridges at Toko-Ri, a fictional Korean War story based on the novel by James Michener. The film starred William Holden and Grace Kelly, two Hollywood heavyweights.

I found the film fascinating for its depiction of U.S. Navy aircraft carrier operations during the early 1950s. The Grumman F9F Panther was the most prominently featured airplane, although another excellent airplane, the F8F Bearcat, also made some appearances. Finally, the film featured an early Sikorsky helicopter, piloted by Mickey Rooney, in a rescue role.

A couple of points got me to thinking: The Navy and Grumman had a long and productive relationship with their big-cat line of carrier-based planes, and the Panther is an obscure missing link in the development of jet-powered carrier operations. The Panther was the first jet to operate off a carrier and the Bearcat was the last line of Grumman’s piston-powered fighters. The Bearcat was an outstanding piece of work but it was caught in the transformational era of aviation history from piston power to turbine power, and the powerful cat never had a chance to display its capabilities in a combat role.

The film features awesome scenes of the Panther in combat and in on-deck carrier takeoffs and landings. The color video was exceptional and I was struck by the thought that this may be the most realistic and rare video of the Panther in action. I have read Michener’s book and if you haven’t scene the film, I urge you to watch it.

The other part of my title refers to the film Strategic Air Command, starring James Stewart and June Allyson. The film is a propaganda piece for General Curtis Lemay’s SAC, but it’s an entertaining timepiece from the 1950s Cold War era. It’s most notable for its brilliant scenes featuring the mighty Consolidated B36 Peacemaker.

The B36 surely is one of the most awe-inspiring creations in aviation history and the screenplay featuring the mighty bomber is fabulous. If you find the B36 as fascinating as I do you should watch the film and ignore the propaganda, although it is does shed light at this late date on Cold War fear and hysteria of the period.

The development of the B36 had its roots in the World War II idea of developing a long-range bomber capable of hammering Nazi Germany from North America. At the time there was a real fear that England would either be occupied by hostile German forces or that it would reach a peace with Adolf Hitler. Either scenario would take away the British Isles as a base to attack the Hitler Reich from the air should hostilities between the United States and Germany develop.

So Consolidated began development of the aircraft that became the B36. Although the need to bomb Nazi Germany from North America evaporated, the capabilities built into the B36 perfectly suited the needs of the emerging Cold War and the U.S. Air Force adapted the big bomber to carry the new generation of atomic and nuclear weapons.

The Peacemaker could reach the Soviet Union from bases in Greenland and Alaska and SAC’s role in MAD, or mutually assured destruction, became a key pillar of U.S. Cold War policy. It’s massive payload surely gave the Joseph Stalin-led Soviet Union pause if it ever thought of carrying out a first strike on the U.S. The B36 featured six massive piston-powered engines and four jet turbine engines. on it’s gigantic wings. The combination gave the bomber tremendous range and an unforgettable sound signature, which you can hear prominently in the film.

However, the B36 did not have refueling technology and the Air Force quickly sought a replacement. A main aspect of the film’s plot deals with the introduction of the B47 Stratojet, which convinces Stewart to remain in the Air Force to pilot the new jet bomber.

The B47 and B52 Stratofortress quickly relegated the Peacemaker to aviation history, but the massive bomber played a vital role in keeping the peace during the early atomic era, or so it was thought at the time.