B-58 Hustler.... (1 Viewer)

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

Lucky13

Forum Mascot
47,860
24,335
Aug 21, 2006
In my castle....
Could it have been done better, was it money well spent, was she good?

IMG_20231215_154635.jpg


IMG_20231215_154843.jpg


B-58_(modified).jpg


IMG_20231215_154340.jpg


IMG_20231215_155133.jpg


IMG_20231215_154520.jpg
 
I watched its first takeoff in 1956, if memory serves. I was stationed at Carswell AFB and was in the picnic area on base near Lake Worth. I remember when it landed, wondering at the long, spindly-looking landing gear. It was a month or so later before I saw the plane rolled.out with a pod under the fuselage. Then it made sense. Definitely a beautiful aircraft, almost as good-looking as the XB-70.
 
re "was it money well spent"

I think yes. The knowledge gained was very useful in the following decades. Plus, it kind of had to be tried at some point, and the 1950s and 1960s was a time of extreme development rates in aerospace technologies.
 
I remember them flying over my house in western Nevada in the mid-1960s.

They weren't low enough to make out any details (in fact, they usually were leaving contrails), but there weren't many alternatives for a multi-engine aircraft that made a sonic boom.

My first aircraft model (sort of, the plastic was flexible and was from a one-piece mold) was a red B-58 - about 1:144 scale (8" long).
 
They were Beautiful A/C & Technological wonders of the time, but they were very expensive to operate, had a high accident rate, and the most damming thing I ever heard about them was by a SAC Officer that said something like "The B-58 is the perfect A/C if we ever go to war with Canada again" I wish I could remember what officer said it.

Still a Beauty to behold.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back