I don't know much about the B58 but, IMHO, it's FUGLY.
Edited: After watching the video about the B58, it couldn't do squat compared to the B52 except fly faster. Limited payload, terrible low speed performance, short range and a 20% crash rate...... Yeah, I most surely would take a B52 over the B58.
Rams
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 11-12-2018).]
The B58 was designed as a high speed/high altitude nuclear bomber. When you change the intended use to a low level bomber one should not be surprised about issues related to the new tasking developing. It is similar (but reversed) to asking an A10 Warthog to be a bomber. It was not designed for this mission and would be at best marginal in performance. The Hustler is a beautiful airplane and I would have liked the chance to fly one myself.
The B58 was designed as a high speed/high altitude nuclear bomber. Nelson
Agreed. But the fact that it was slower than air to air and SAMs, in addition to not being able to deliver multi-purpose payloads (besides nucs), makes it less of a weapon/delivery system.
I'm sure it was a blast to fly but, it's mission wasn't really to be a fun joy ride.
Rams
[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 11-15-2018).]
I read a newspaper piece that said one of our B-58s flew low level from Germany to Stalingrad or another large Soviet city and it was only detected by a Soviet pilot doing touch and go. I like the Hustler but it was a gas hog. I found the story about the B=58 making the turn around flight hard to believe mostly because of high fuel consumption rate.
I have read that back then, the Russians did not consider appearance when designing warplanes. The Americans understood the psychological effect of a menacing facade.
[This message has been edited by williegoat (edited 11-19-2018).]
The B-58 was one of my favorites when I was a kid. In the 60's, aircraft didn't get a lot more exotic than that.
When I was a kid in the 60s my dad took me up to Bunker Hill AFB, Indiana, (later renamed Grissom AFB) where the 305th Bomb Wing was based with their B-58s
That day was indelibly imprinted in my memory as my dad and I watched B-58s take off and land most of the day.
Many years later, (and more years ago now than I care to count), I was at Wright Patterson AFB in Ohio and my buddy and I wandered into one of the Air Force Museum restoration hangers. There sat the Trans-Continental speed record, (Bendix Trophy), winner, B-58 "Greased Lightning". The aircraft was in poor condition but was still a wonder to behold.
A much younger me with the B-58 "Greased Lightning":
The only other photo I have from that day that seems to have survived:
[This message has been edited by randye (edited 11-19-2018).]
Wife and I just visited the AF Museum in Dayton last week....awesome doesn't even begin to describe it...
From the "Aircraft Catalog" I brought home:
"The delta-wing "Hustler" was the first USAF supersonic operational bomber. The B-58 made its initial flight on November 11, 1956, and flew supersonically on December 30, 1956. Distinctive B-58 features included its sophisticated inertial guidance navigation and bombing system, slender "wasp-waist" fuselage, and extensive use of heat-resistant honeycomb sandwich skin panels in the wings and fuselage. The thin fuselage prevented internal carriage of bombs so an external droppable two-component pod beneath the fuselage contained extra fuel and a nuclear weapon, reconnaissance equipment or other specialized gear.
The USAF ordered 136 Hustlers which were operational with the Strategic Air Command between 1960 and 1970. B-58s set 19 world speed and altitude records and won five different aviation trophies.
The B-58A on display flew from Los Angeles to New York and return on March 5, 1962, setting three separate speed records and earning the crew the Bendix and Mackay Trophies for 1962. It was flown to the Museum in December 1969.
SPECIFICATIONS Span: 56 ft. 10 in. Length: 96 Ft. 10 in. Height: 31 Ft. 5 in. Armament: One 20mm cannon in tail; nuclear weapons in pod or on pylons Engines: Four General Electric J79s of 15,500 lbs thrust each with afterburner
PERFORMANCE Maximum speed 1,325 mph. Cruising speed: 610 mph. Range: 4,400 miles Service ceiling: 64,800 ft.
randye: I would guess the one we saw there is the same one you posed with during it's restoration process, but no way to know that for sure. Every plane, chopper, rocket, engine, capsule, etc.,etc.,etc., left me in awe. To have it all assembled there under roof....a great place to visit for every American...and those who hope to be.
Needless to say, seeing it up close and personal is an entirely different experience than looking at pictures of it...just like every other display housed at the Museum....it would take at least a month camping there to even come close to seeing it all as I'd like, and probably a lifetime would not let you absorb all that is there. Just a phenomenal place to visit.
Now it is a party!
