Foo Photo - Cold War Cowboy

Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force

Military photo archives are a pure treasure, and they are some of my favorite places on the Internet. I'm generally a visual guy anyway, so historic photos usually trigger an idea, a thought, or even a simple smile.

The above photo (click it for a super big version) depicts a new hero of the West - probably named "Johnny" or "Jimmy" - with the Convair YB-60, an experimental bomber that competed with the B-52 for an Air Force contract. It was essentially a B-36 "Peacemaker" propeller-driven bomber converted to jet propulsion. It lost the contract but wins the war on dramatic 1940s good looks. To me this is a classic Cold War image.

The cowboy helps too!