The jets were mainly for take-off and actual penetration bombing runs.

They were usually shut down during cruise flight.

Simply put, no need to go fast when you’re doing air-to-air photography.

I wonder what the camera plane was? Mantz usually used his modified B-25 but could it go that high (or where these shots taken at a lower than usual cruise altitude for B-36s?)

And remember, this was long before the days of private jets, or even turboprops.