saw a 58 making a simulated photo recon run at a war college air show in 67'. Announcer said it would pass at 1300mph, and to look for a speck in the distance that grew. It passed silently till reaching the end of runway, lit the afterburners one at a time, which was when the sound reached us and rumbled, and it nosed up.
The Hustler was always my favorite bomber, as it made an indelible impression on me growing up. In early June 1965, my family made their annual vacation trip by car from Indianapolis to our summer home near Syracuse, Indiana. On the way there, we passed through the completely destroyed remnants of Russiaville ( Palm Sunday Tornado ). Shaken, we later passed close by Grissom AFB, and a B58 Hustler ( with weapons pod ) took off right over our car! I can vouch for the tremendous roar...
I saw the one take off in Paris and crash when I was a kid. Sad day for me an airforce brat.
it had just set the record across the Atlantic, took off at the World famous air show and rolled twice flew awhile then went down. I have a pic of the plane.
It was such a remarkable aircraft. Such a shame it had such a short operational life. With advances in soviet surfacr to air missles and ultimately the MIG 25 plus technological problems cut its lifespan. Although I have no faith in the MIGs, their either falling out of the sky at some airshow or being shot down in record numbers over the world, the did pose a serious threat that couldn't be avoided or ignored. Fantastic bomber though.
@xTomcatsForeverVF84x The largest of the belly tanks had a nuke warhead in its nose. Therefore, it would make a Mach 2+ run inbound using its belly tank, drop it as a weapon, and then egress on internal fuel. Cool idea as long as you weren't shot down.
@xTomcatsForeverVF84x UHHH, that big honkin' thing under the belly IS the nuclear ordnance pod. We had one of two wings stationed about 25 miles from my hometown at Bunker Hill AFB, and my father would take me over to the backside of the base at night to watch them come down the taxi strip, turn around just in front of us, and light the afterburners! What a thrill for a 14 yr. old kid! I remember after one trip we could barely hear for a week. It's rumored one dropped a pod on the base.
@xTomcatsForeverVF84x That reminds me - my 10th grade English literature teacher was one Mrs. Kubesch. On Oct. 16, 1963, her hubby, Maj. Sid Kubesch, with Maj John Barrett and Capt Gerard Williamson flew a B-58, assigned to the 305th BW, on the longest supersonic flight to date. The flight was called Operation Greased Lightning. They flew 8,028 mi. Tokyo to London in eight hr., 35 minutes. Using five inflight refuelings they averaged 938 mph. They each received the DFC. She was way cool.
I am 48 and finally got to see one at the Pima Air and Space museum in Tucson 6 months ago. I thought they were a great jet as a kid and it was a thrill to see one for the first time
Although she was way before my time, I think she's one of the most beautiful acft aver designed. There used to be one parked at Chanute AFB, where I took my tech training. I remember walking around her and thinking, "now this is what a jet is supposed to look like".
60's tech ruled. Form following function and turning out beautiful. When I saw the 84 Ford Tempo, A single tear came to my eye because I new those days were gone forever.
@LinkinPark2135 Actually it was both. The plane would use fuel from the tank heading for the target, make sure the internal tanks were full and then would drop the tank (bomb) and go home supersonic. One of the best ever planes althogh the AF abandoned them far too soon.
My dad was assigned to the B-58 program from test phase to retirement. I grew up around the Hustler and the 305th BW at Bunker Hill ( Later renamed Grissom ) AFB. I wouldn't say it was a hanger queen ,but did require constant maintenance due it's ( at the time "cutting edge") technology and very critical flight envelope It was SAC's hot rod bomber and would out run pretty much anything flying today( even the Raptor) . Watching night take offs near the runway , simply awesome!
It was scrapped because we (and they), found a more efficient and effective method of delivering a nuclear weapon half a world away - can you say I.C.B.M.? After WWII we needed something faster, and farther reaching, so Convair made the Hustler. Fortunately for all, it was never needed/used. The sound was unmistakable - loud & very high pitched. It was also prone to breakdowns and required a lot of maintenance.
It has been asked several times, but not answered yet. Let me ask again. What song is the background music adapted from? It is right on the fringe of my memory, but I just cannot place it. Thanks to any who can resolve my frustration. And I LOVE the video.
My landlord in Albuquerque, Nm. was a retired air force col. He said it was fast, capable of mach 2.6 but it was flown no faster than 1.8. That's 660mph (above sea level) for mach times 1.8 is roughly less than 1200mph. He told me stories of how he had the aluminum skin peel on an alert when went to 1390mph! 3 man crew and could carry 1 60MegTon H bomb.
Actor / Air Force General Jimmy Stewart got his M2 rating in this plane. Went from brakes off to 37000 ft in 3 minutes. He was quoted as saying: "This ain't an airplane...it's a GD missile..."!
You're correct - the 1964 movie "Fail-Safe" used stock footage of B-58s, although they were called Vindicators. They also used stock footage of F9Fs, F102s and F104s. The USAF did not support the making of the film, so the producers dragged up whatever stock footage they could.
IMHO a much more gripping movie than Dr Strangelove (similar plot but with B52s).
There is a 2000 remake of Fail-Safe; in this version the Vindicators are B1s for external shots but B52s for cockpit shots.
The event at 00:58 is an ejection seat test, using a simulated B-58 forward fuselage. A section of Hustler fuselage was mounted to a high-speed test track, then accelerated to speed using JATO rocket bottles. When the fuselage section reached the appropriate speed, the ejection seat was ignited.
just bought the "Super Sonic Lawn Dart" model(1:48) from Monogram and cannot wait to have this sexy beast sitting on my workbench...damn thing is over 26inches long so it's gonna be a tight fit!
@hwoods01 USAF keeps trying to replace the B-52, but the "something else" plane usually turned out to be an upgraded version of the B-52. Lots of space inside for payloads and jammers...ammers.
There is very limited sound footage of the B-58 available, as most of this footage was created for engineering purposes. However, there is sound footage of the B-58 contained on the rocket.aero DVD that will allow you to hear the J79's in action.
@jasduffy I used to see them take-off from an AF base in Northern USA many years ago. They would take-off going away from you and ever since then I have never heard anything that sounded so radical - like a top fuel dragster. When the plane rotated like all delta's it had a very high angle of attack and as it climber out of the pile of black smoke you would almost have a top down vieww of it. Lots of smoke and thunder.
@scrfce123 I know what you mean. I once was directly under the flight path of a pair of F105 Thunderchiefs (also J-79 powered ) taking off from a base just outside Houston Texas, and can find no video with actual engine sound .
Does the DVD from Rocket.Aero have any narration or is it just video with music? I would hope that it has narration. The website does not say anything and the trailers are what's above.
I used to have an old magazine that featured the Hustler, believe it was PM but they had a cut-away diagram, one of the propossals shown was seating for 8 in the weapons pod (possibly for covert ops) but having grown up in the Ft Worth area I can tell you there's nothing covert about a B58, you could hear them for miles.....certainly one of the most beautiful planes ever built.
The fuel and the bomb were carried in one large pod. After using up the fuel flying to the target, they drop the pod and use the rest of the fuel getting back
I have been told that each plane cost more than its weight in gold to build, and maintenance costs were also high. When bombers canged from flying high and fast to flying low and under the radar, that ended the plane's service life.
anytime a wing spar had to be changed, plane had to be put in a special jig to support it which drove up maintenance costs. Although it could outfly a missle shot at it, when missles were fired in volleys it ended mission. Something like 36 of 126 made were lost in accidents due to narrow flight envelope it operated in. Another beautiful plane designed from the "can do" generation whose need was done away with due to advances in technology and changing events.
short service life due to the advent of Surface to air missles, ICBM's, Long range radar, ect.. Anti-Aircraft technology had finally come to maturity and it killed off lots of concepts.. Examples are the XB-70, & SR70 (or B-12), and put to bed most 'bomber' missions, like the B-58...
I don't know if the cost was as you have heard, but it was a"pest" to maintenance workers that required a lot of people and expensive equipment to work on the plane. The front landing gear was a nightmare to maintain, and the planes total operational cost was something like three times what a B52 cost.
don't know actual range, but tank was two piece with outer section fuel tank that was jettisoned exposing weapon. Plane returned on wing and fuselage tanks. Maintenance costs, accidents, and ICBMs doomed it.
I can see how it would be useful in a tactical situation but not in a strategic one... it would not have been capable of orbiting just outside or soviet airspace for hours on end waiting for the order to go in on a strike but for battlefield use... well yes, by all means, as long as there is an airfield close by.
That's not a fuel tank it's a dummy bomb, they carried one 25 megaton weapon externally. They flew with the external fake bomb to simulate flying with the real thing.
saw a 58 making a simulated photo recon run at a war college air show in 67'. Announcer said it would pass at 1300mph, and to look for a speck in the distance that grew. It passed silently till reaching the end of runway, lit the afterburners one at a time, which was when the sound reached us and rumbled, and it nosed up.
HoundmanV 1 week ago
The Hustler was always my favorite bomber, as it made an indelible impression on me growing up. In early June 1965, my family made their annual vacation trip by car from Indianapolis to our summer home near Syracuse, Indiana. On the way there, we passed through the completely destroyed remnants of Russiaville ( Palm Sunday Tornado ). Shaken, we later passed close by Grissom AFB, and a B58 Hustler ( with weapons pod ) took off right over our car! I can vouch for the tremendous roar...
hermitcrabbot 1 week ago
if only people looked as good 50+ years on.... this is for sure the top 10 most sexiest aircraft ever built.
harryzain 2 weeks ago
I saw the one take off in Paris and crash when I was a kid. Sad day for me an airforce brat.
it had just set the record across the Atlantic, took off at the World famous air show and rolled twice flew awhile then went down. I have a pic of the plane.
scottwins2 3 weeks ago
SAW THAT B58 AT CHANUTE AFB ROAAAARRR
DAYTONACOUPE651 3 weeks ago
It was such a remarkable aircraft. Such a shame it had such a short operational life. With advances in soviet surfacr to air missles and ultimately the MIG 25 plus technological problems cut its lifespan. Although I have no faith in the MIGs, their either falling out of the sky at some airshow or being shot down in record numbers over the world, the did pose a serious threat that couldn't be avoided or ignored. Fantastic bomber though.
Dbusdriver71 3 weeks ago
they have a 58 Hustler at the Chanute AFB museum. I remember seeing it on display when i was going through tech school there
eifeldude1 4 weeks ago
So if the B-58 carried that huge fuel tank under its belly, how would the bay doors open to drop the bomb?
xTomcatsForeverVF84x 1 month ago
@xTomcatsForeverVF84x The largest of the belly tanks had a nuke warhead in its nose. Therefore, it would make a Mach 2+ run inbound using its belly tank, drop it as a weapon, and then egress on internal fuel. Cool idea as long as you weren't shot down.
userdenied58 3 weeks ago
@xTomcatsForeverVF84x You had two options, extra fuel under the belly or a weapons pod.
CHONDURAS 3 weeks ago
@xTomcatsForeverVF84x UHHH, that big honkin' thing under the belly IS the nuclear ordnance pod. We had one of two wings stationed about 25 miles from my hometown at Bunker Hill AFB, and my father would take me over to the backside of the base at night to watch them come down the taxi strip, turn around just in front of us, and light the afterburners! What a thrill for a 14 yr. old kid! I remember after one trip we could barely hear for a week. It's rumored one dropped a pod on the base.
WrathofWotan 1 week ago
@xTomcatsForeverVF84x That reminds me - my 10th grade English literature teacher was one Mrs. Kubesch. On Oct. 16, 1963, her hubby, Maj. Sid Kubesch, with Maj John Barrett and Capt Gerard Williamson flew a B-58, assigned to the 305th BW, on the longest supersonic flight to date. The flight was called Operation Greased Lightning. They flew 8,028 mi. Tokyo to London in eight hr., 35 minutes. Using five inflight refuelings they averaged 938 mph. They each received the DFC. She was way cool.
WrathofWotan 1 week ago
Where do you go the the bathroom? At least in Russian Bear bomber one could take a shit.
snakesinmypants 1 month ago
I am 48 and finally got to see one at the Pima Air and Space museum in Tucson 6 months ago. I thought they were a great jet as a kid and it was a thrill to see one for the first time
signature1990 1 month ago
I never though how wonderfull can be the B-58 HUSTLER, THE BEST ON AMERICAN DESIGN.
Skybolter 1 month ago in playlist Lan Chile B
It was compact and big at the same time. What a modern design!
Flyermac 2 months ago
so badass and so classic, i love it
Sybok51288 2 months ago
Although she was way before my time, I think she's one of the most beautiful acft aver designed. There used to be one parked at Chanute AFB, where I took my tech training. I remember walking around her and thinking, "now this is what a jet is supposed to look like".
Sktrtrsh 2 months ago
60's tech ruled. Form following function and turning out beautiful. When I saw the 84 Ford Tempo, A single tear came to my eye because I new those days were gone forever.
cybermarsactual 2 months ago 2
@cybermarsactual brilliant comment
TheWheels777 2 months ago
Could you please post how one goes about obtaining the soundtrack you used provided by Mister Neill Hitchcock? Wonderful score. Thanks.
FylthyBeest 3 months ago
At 0:42 I said " Damn that's a big ass fuel tank! Oh wait thats a bomb..."
LinkinPark2135 4 months ago
@LinkinPark2135 Actually it was both. The plane would use fuel from the tank heading for the target, make sure the internal tanks were full and then would drop the tank (bomb) and go home supersonic. One of the best ever planes althogh the AF abandoned them far too soon.
yamahabradley 2 months ago
Yes, amazing looking plane ...... fantastic ...... well done. America .
kgs42 4 months ago
This is one of those planes that was so far ahead of it's time that it's maddening.
crispycritterz 4 months ago
the xb is still awesomer
TheMsdos25 4 months ago
the B58 is a tiny fly next to the xb70. sadly the only 2 were ever built.
TheMsdos25 4 months ago
That must have been one LOUD plane! A big bomber built like a fighter, with huge, straight-pipe engines that are noisy by nature.
Starfish99100 5 months ago
Sexiest jet ever flown. Damn, I wish I was old enough to remember seeing one fly.
jonesy97 5 months ago
What's the music in this clip called? It's great. And yes, the Hustler is one of the most beautiful aircraft ever to fly.
Quagmire1975 5 months ago
that was awesome! I love watching the B-58 fly, what a bird!
dagda825 6 months ago
I've been told that the B-58 had maneuverability more like a fighter than a bomber. What kind of g-load was it designed for?
KJLesnick 6 months ago
My dad was assigned to the B-58 program from test phase to retirement. I grew up around the Hustler and the 305th BW at Bunker Hill ( Later renamed Grissom ) AFB. I wouldn't say it was a hanger queen ,but did require constant maintenance due it's ( at the time "cutting edge") technology and very critical flight envelope It was SAC's hot rod bomber and would out run pretty much anything flying today( even the Raptor) . Watching night take offs near the runway , simply awesome!
daddy1racing 6 months ago
It was scrapped because we (and they), found a more efficient and effective method of delivering a nuclear weapon half a world away - can you say I.C.B.M.? After WWII we needed something faster, and farther reaching, so Convair made the Hustler. Fortunately for all, it was never needed/used. The sound was unmistakable - loud & very high pitched. It was also prone to breakdowns and required a lot of maintenance.
BorntorunaJD 6 months ago
What a beautiful airplane! I could never understand why this advanced bomber was scrapped. It was so far ahead of its time.
The same can be said for the Martin Sea Master, the last flying boat bomber. It too was ahead of its time. I suspect that it was politics.
abukamoon 6 months ago
I got to see four of the B-58's fly over my house when I was younger. The were on their way to McCord AFB
rosiesummerplace 6 months ago
@rosiesummerplace Lucky YOU!
myvwsRrusty 6 months ago
Fail safe,Cold war,old dog.
jay55also 7 months ago
It's still an amazing looking aircraft for being over 50 years old.
145Slap789 7 months ago
It has been asked several times, but not answered yet. Let me ask again. What song is the background music adapted from? It is right on the fringe of my memory, but I just cannot place it. Thanks to any who can resolve my frustration. And I LOVE the video.
deplane6 8 months ago
What's truly amazing is how the thing could carry enough fuel to fly for more than just a few minutes or is that large orange pod a drop tank ?
losteroni 8 months ago
My landlord in Albuquerque, Nm. was a retired air force col. He said it was fast, capable of mach 2.6 but it was flown no faster than 1.8. That's 660mph (above sea level) for mach times 1.8 is roughly less than 1200mph. He told me stories of how he had the aluminum skin peel on an alert when went to 1390mph! 3 man crew and could carry 1 60MegTon H bomb.
RobSar63 9 months ago
Actor / Air Force General Jimmy Stewart got his M2 rating in this plane. Went from brakes off to 37000 ft in 3 minutes. He was quoted as saying: "This ain't an airplane...it's a GD missile..."!
356butch 9 months ago
The Best looking plane in history..... PERIOD !!
redbaroniii 10 months ago
What's the song, it's so chill
yomammaspoodle 10 months ago
@yomammaspoodle it's "chill"? *facepalm*. I bet you wear wifebeaters and your hat on backward, too.
infosecmgr1 9 months ago
@infosecmgr1 I bet you're a judgmental moron with preconceived notions on what people should say and do. Take that dick out of your ass.
BTW. Great looking plane.
yomammaspoodle 9 months ago
Really cool Plane, the B-58
Geoffr524 10 months ago
A beautiful plane.
Capt777harris 10 months ago
That jet isn't sexy, it's pornographic!
63gstone 11 months ago 5
Anyone know who does the sound clip for this vid?
harhd1 1 year ago
Comment removed
harhd1 1 year ago
great aircraft even if it was a hangar queen!!!
Wingedzephir 1 year ago
I believe this plane was used in the film "Fail Safe."
azzir325 1 year ago
@azzir325 That was a B-52 in that movie.
harhd1 1 year ago
@harhd1
Yeah, you may be right, but there was a movie of that genre, I believe, which had Hustlers in it.
azzir325 1 year ago
@azzir325
You're correct - the 1964 movie "Fail-Safe" used stock footage of B-58s, although they were called Vindicators. They also used stock footage of F9Fs, F102s and F104s. The USAF did not support the making of the film, so the producers dragged up whatever stock footage they could.
IMHO a much more gripping movie than Dr Strangelove (similar plot but with B52s).
There is a 2000 remake of Fail-Safe; in this version the Vindicators are B1s for external shots but B52s for cockpit shots.
thargjunior 1 year ago
'
is this plane still alive service now
bestamerica 1 year ago
The event at 00:58 is an ejection seat test, using a simulated B-58 forward fuselage. A section of Hustler fuselage was mounted to a high-speed test track, then accelerated to speed using JATO rocket bottles. When the fuselage section reached the appropriate speed, the ejection seat was ignited.
jasduffy 1 year ago 3
@jasduffy the plane didnt have an ejection seat it had a pod that shut like a clam shell around the pilot for bailout at mach 3
spacepatrolman 1 year ago
@jasduffy
stupid music again, why?
1likestuff 1 month ago
just bought the "Super Sonic Lawn Dart" model(1:48) from Monogram and cannot wait to have this sexy beast sitting on my workbench...damn thing is over 26inches long so it's gonna be a tight fit!
urbanmountainbiker 1 year ago
@urbanmountainbiker ..thats 1-48 scale not minutes youtube!
urbanmountainbiker 1 year ago
@hwoods01 USAF keeps trying to replace the B-52, but the "something else" plane usually turned out to be an upgraded version of the B-52. Lots of space inside for payloads and jammers...ammers.
sneakers55 1 year ago
I heard they never got it up to full speed because the pilots were afraid it would break apart.
crazywarriorman 1 year ago
She is pure Sex !
YouknowmeOUdo 1 year ago
Why isn't there a single video of this amazing machine without music? I want to hear the J79's at takeoff power.
scrfce123 1 year ago 9
There is very limited sound footage of the B-58 available, as most of this footage was created for engineering purposes. However, there is sound footage of the B-58 contained on the rocket.aero DVD that will allow you to hear the J79's in action.
jasduffy 1 year ago 2
@jasduffy Either way, I really appreciate the upload.
scrfce123 1 year ago
@jasduffy There is a training film movie length staring Jimmy Stewart. He actually flew the jet.
figment102 7 months ago
@jasduffy I used to see them take-off from an AF base in Northern USA many years ago. They would take-off going away from you and ever since then I have never heard anything that sounded so radical - like a top fuel dragster. When the plane rotated like all delta's it had a very high angle of attack and as it climber out of the pile of black smoke you would almost have a top down vieww of it. Lots of smoke and thunder.
yamahabradley 2 months ago
@jasduffy HEY DUDE, WHAT MUSIC IS THAT ONE OF THE VIDEO ?
Skybolter 2 months ago
@scrfce123
and even worse the music is gay.
CSXRockford 1 year ago
@scrfce123 I know what you mean. I once was directly under the flight path of a pair of F105 Thunderchiefs (also J-79 powered ) taking off from a base just outside Houston Texas, and can find no video with actual engine sound .
losteroni 8 months ago
Looks better without the weapons pod under the fuselage, I have to say. Can't believe this beautiful plane was only in service for ten years.
ProjectFlashlight612 1 year ago
Does the DVD from Rocket.Aero have any narration or is it just video with music? I would hope that it has narration. The website does not say anything and the trailers are what's above.
danf321 1 year ago
The rocket.aero B-58 DVD contains both silent and sound film elements, with introductory narration on most of the silent film elements.
jasduffy 1 year ago
Great airplane, great video with the sound muted.
TheJascal 1 year ago
It's beautiful - everything was genius - even the gear!
XERyder 1 year ago
@XERyder My uncle worked on designing the gear! He was on it for years in the Ft Worth area.
chh5555 1 year ago
it may have been a hanger queen, but in the air it was pure sex. The original muscle car of the skies :)
Treebyter 1 year ago 15
@Treebyter
My Uncle, Lt. Colonel Jim Colford, was an aviator on this incredible machine back in the late 1950's and 1960's!
kirbycol4 1 year ago
@Treebyter
The original muscle car was the P51 mustang no doubt about it.
HDaviator 8 months ago
@Treebyter My thoughts exactly!!
myvwsRrusty 6 months ago
I used to have an old magazine that featured the Hustler, believe it was PM but they had a cut-away diagram, one of the propossals shown was seating for 8 in the weapons pod (possibly for covert ops) but having grown up in the Ft Worth area I can tell you there's nothing covert about a B58, you could hear them for miles.....certainly one of the most beautiful planes ever built.
cornskid 1 year ago
Comment removed
ColHoodB58son 1 year ago
Hulster, the first super sonic strategic bomber of USAF.
kuluku 1 year ago
Is that an accident with ejection seat jettissoned at 00:58 seconds???
If so...shit..lucky the angle was such that the seat jetted UPWARD not into the ground...before shoots were deployed.
or am I wrong and it's not an ejection occuring there?..Anyone?
Muzicification 2 years ago
Beauty and a beast
squadman33 2 years ago
Yeah tough to service, but absolutely bad ass.
rlgdestroyu 2 years ago
a difficult to service aircraft makes it a dog. nothing bad ass about a dog.
rcaddict72 2 years ago
World speed records and the fact that its a "bad ass" looking aircraft make it.....bad ass.
rlgdestroyu 2 years ago
Didn't John Glenn set a transcontinental speed record in this aircraft?
timeanagain 2 years ago
I think that was an F-101
CVKent317 2 years ago
Glenn's record flight was done in a F8U Crusader.
choprjock 2 years ago 2
The fuel and the bomb were carried in one large pod. After using up the fuel flying to the target, they drop the pod and use the rest of the fuel getting back
MurphyMonster 2 years ago
what is the song?
J0Boa 2 years ago
That huge delta is one sexy aircraft!
pmlchevy 2 years ago
One of the sexiest planes ever built!
Four J-79 jet engines and capable of Mach 2.
Convair built planes for real men.
121022 2 years ago 2
My favorite cold war bomber!
othur 2 years ago
that is not a external tank that was a bomb rack it had no bomb bay
jtogto05 2 years ago
It was a Fuel tank that in the nose held the bomb and was dropped over the target.
Forrestman69 2 years ago
I have been told that each plane cost more than its weight in gold to build, and maintenance costs were also high. When bombers canged from flying high and fast to flying low and under the radar, that ended the plane's service life.
NickB1967 2 years ago
anytime a wing spar had to be changed, plane had to be put in a special jig to support it which drove up maintenance costs. Although it could outfly a missle shot at it, when missles were fired in volleys it ended mission. Something like 36 of 126 made were lost in accidents due to narrow flight envelope it operated in. Another beautiful plane designed from the "can do" generation whose need was done away with due to advances in technology and changing events.
speedskiff2 2 years ago
@speedskiff2: Don't get me wrong, I think it was an awesome plane; but the relatively short service life sadly makes sense.
NickB1967 2 years ago
short service life due to the advent of Surface to air missles, ICBM's, Long range radar, ect.. Anti-Aircraft technology had finally come to maturity and it killed off lots of concepts.. Examples are the XB-70, & SR70 (or B-12), and put to bed most 'bomber' missions, like the B-58...
hwoods01 2 years ago
I don't know if the cost was as you have heard, but it was a"pest" to maintenance workers that required a lot of people and expensive equipment to work on the plane. The front landing gear was a nightmare to maintain, and the planes total operational cost was something like three times what a B52 cost.
IC2720 2 years ago 4
It was a hanger Queen.
holajim 2 years ago
Just by looking at the size of that external tank, it could not have had a really great range.
plugs313 2 years ago
don't know actual range, but tank was two piece with outer section fuel tank that was jettisoned exposing weapon. Plane returned on wing and fuselage tanks. Maintenance costs, accidents, and ICBMs doomed it.
speedskiff2 2 years ago
I can see how it would be useful in a tactical situation but not in a strategic one... it would not have been capable of orbiting just outside or soviet airspace for hours on end waiting for the order to go in on a strike but for battlefield use... well yes, by all means, as long as there is an airfield close by.
plugs313 2 years ago
TRY THIS.. NKAWTG...NOBODY!!
indyboom 2 years ago
That's not a fuel tank it's a dummy bomb, they carried one 25 megaton weapon externally. They flew with the external fake bomb to simulate flying with the real thing.
TheJomogogo 2 years ago
amazing aircraft
phonix032 2 years ago