Beginning with the B-36D, Convair added a pair of General Electric J47-19 jet engines suspended near the end of each wing; these were also retrofitted to all extant B-36Bs. Consequently, the B-36 was configured to have 10 engines ("six turnin' and four burnin' ", as characterized by Airmen Magazine), more than any other mass-produced aircraft.
The jet pods greatly improved takeoff performance and dash speed over the target. In normal cruising flight, the jet engines were shut down to conserve fuel. When the jet engines were shut down, louvers closed off the front of the pods to reduce drag and to prevent ingestion of sand and dirt. The jet-engine louvers were opened and closed by the flight crew in the cockpit, whether the B-36 was on the ground or in the air.
The two pods with four turbojets and the six piston engines combined gave the B-36 a total of 40,000 hp (30,000 kW) for short periods of time.
Other than training missions it was never used in combat.