The Our Town - Clarenville Blog by Paul Tilley

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