The Wasp Major engine was developed during World War II though it only saw service late in the war on some B-29 and B-50 aircraft. The R-4360 is a 28-cylinder air-cooled radial engine which produces a maximum of 3,500 hp. and weighs about 3,500 pounds (1,575 kg.). R-4360s have been used to power various post-WWII USAF bombers, cargo/transports, and aerial tankers, including B-36 bomber, the B-35 Flying Wing, the C-74 Globemaster, the C-97 Stratofreighter, the C-119 Flying Boxcar, and the C-124 Globemaster II aircraft. It represents the most technically advanced and complex reciprocating aircraft engine produced in large numbers in the United States. The passing of the KC-97 and C-97 series aircraft from Air Force inventory in the late 1970s marked the closing of the era of both the large piston engine and the turbo-supercharger within the USAF.
