Any reason they made the B-36 a pusher
The propulsion system alone made the B-36 a very unusual aircraft. All B-36s featured six 28-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-4360 'Wasp Major' radial engines. Even though the prototype R-4360s delivered a total of 18,000 hp (13 MW), early B-36s were slow and required long takeoff runs. The situation improved with later versions delivering 3,800 hp (2.8 MW) apiece. Each engine drove an immense three-bladed propeller, 19 ft (5.8 m) in diameter, mounted in the pusher configuration. This unusual configuration prevented propeller turbulence from interfering with airflow over the wing, but also led to chronic engine-overheating due to insufficient airflow around the engines, resulting in numerous in-flight engine fires.
Another consideration which I was told back in the 50's were the unusal long, (2), two bomb bays, which could carry a 76,000 bomb payload. Because of weight and balance consideration, it had a much longer center of gravity moment arm with the engines in the rear, as opposed to engines mounted on the front of the wing. The last B-36 built was the "J" model, of which only 33 were built before the B-36 production line was closed. The wing, at the fuseledge was 7.5 feet thick and crew members could, if neccessary, actually do some light repairs while in flight, although, I was told, this was never a common practice. This was one of the GREAT bombers produced by the U.S. during the 40' and 50's.
For more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-36#Design
