When it comes to the art of war, military minds love to conjure up massive weapons of destruction. From early projectile-hurling trebuchets to the Nazi's Schwerer Gustav (the largest-caliber rifled weapon ever used in combat), Panzer VIII Maus (the largest tank ever built), and the Imperial Japanese Navy's Yamato class battleship (the largest ever built), bigger was always better. The same is true for winged wonders that took to the sky and, on occasion, seemed to blot out the sun. Between 1947 and 1954, Consolidated Vultee (later Convair) built around 380 of its B-36J Peacemaker long-range bomber. It was designed...