In March of 1953, a giant RB36 Peacemaker crashed in the hills above Burgoynes Cove killing 23 airmen. The crash site is accessible by a 1 km trail.
How the Plane Got Here...
In the early 1950s, the USSR and the nuclear threat that it posed were top of mind in the western world. There were fears of a nuclear attack on North America in general and the United States in particular. The US countered this threat with the development and production of many elaborate weapons systems. The Convair B-36 Peacemaker was B-36 become a mainstay of the American nuclear deterrent. A technological marvel of its day, this plane could fly 16000 km - from North America to the USSR, drop its nuclear payload and return without refuelling. A Reconnaissance version of the plane the RB36 swapped cameras for bombs to conduct high altitude very long-range reconnaissance missions. The plane was huge by any standard, It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built, at 70 meters (230 ft) and it was powered by 10 engines - 6 piston radial’s driving 5.8-meter push propellors and 4 jet engines (6 turning and 4 burning)
The story of how this RB36 ended up crashing into a hillside in Burgoynes come in the early morning of March 18th, 1953 is a fascinating one. On the previous evening, Capt. Jacob Pruett Jr., Capt Orion Clark, Brigadier General Richard Ellsworth, Major Frank Wright and a crew of nineteen took off in RB-36H, 51-13721 from in the Azores. Their destination was their home base of Rapid City Air Force Base, South Dakota. (Since renamed Ellsworth AFB)
Their flight path called for them to fly for 25 hours, mostly at relatively low altitude, in radio silence to attempt to test North American air defences. The route was supposed to take them across the Atlantic Ocean and then inland over the State of Maine. That night’s bad weather left them blind to their exact location and the wind ended up taking them north over Newfoundland.
The plane impacted the east face of the ridge at 720 feet Above Sea Level resulting in a huge fireball. Noone survived.
This particular wreck site is unique because of the size of the aircraft involved and the fact that many large parts of the aircraft are still there.
My Videos
Videos By Others
Tom Drodge's - Under the Radar
CBC Land and Sea - "The Peacemaker" The RB36 Crash at Burgoyne's Cove
GOOGLE MAP to Site from Clarenville featuring ATV and DRIVING routes https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1pgzDNNKJQUsWCvHpyh4-PWwnn0o97YU&usp=sharing
FIND OUT MORE about the crash and the site at:
Hidden NL Trails - https://www.hiddennewfoundland.ca/burgoynes-cove-b36-crash
B36 Peacemaker - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-36_Peacemaker
Goleta Air & Space Museum - https://www.air-and-space.com/b-36%20wrecks.htm#51-13721
Aviation Safety Network - https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/178829
Video segment from "6 Turning and 4 Burning"
Google Maps of our trip https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1pgzDNNKJQUsWCvHpyh4-PWwnn0o97YU&usp=sharing
Check out the entire MAKING TRACKS playlist at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnBEQUes_2amAybS2vwpEo-bL-bUgzzvv
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