"Favorite Jet Bomber of the 1950s" Topic

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I'll ante up the B58 Hustler.

Vulcan, just have to be the Vulcan!

B-58 Hustler!

Hmmm a toss up between the Vulcan and the B52

The Vulcan regularly beat the B52 in the joint exercises in the day.

Technically, the B-36 with its four jet engines ought to qualify. But for beauty, the Vulca. The 50s B-52s didn't look mean enough for me, so I'd go with the B-47, the bomber that thought it was a fighter.

gotta be that good old BUFF. actually would qualify as favorite of all time.

B52 all the way.

Buccaneers by a long way, sleek and evil looking

Myasishchev M-4 Bison followed by the Tu-95 Bear. Sleek and deadly looking.

The B-58 Hustler. Not a great plane but a great looking one.

B-58 for me as well.

Always liked the look of the English Electric Canberra. To me its always been a very industrial looking bomber. You know what it was built to do but wound up performing in so many roles.

Buccaneer – carved out of the firmament

Tu-144

Canberra/Martin B57. Best in it's day and still around.

It's got to be the Vulcan for me, in fact the V bombers in general are my favourites. They look futuristic for their time, elegant, fearsome (especially the Victor) and flew beautifully. 1946-1960 was an era when British jets just looked amazing.

If I'm "Going toe to toe with the Ruskies" I want a B52. For "Rule of Cool" the Hustler

Vulcan, by all means

B45.

Buccaneer.

Murrican? B58.

B47

I'm with you Winston … love the B-47.

Victor for me. Looks so menacing especially viewed head on

Has to be the Vulcan!

I'm going with an odd one- the Tu-16 Badger.

Hard one to pick, I'm tossing up between the Canberra, Vulcan, Buccaneer, B47 and the Tu 160.. On the whole I think the Tu 160 is the prettiest, and the Buccaneer the meanest..

Definitely the Vulcan. Technically, it didn't beat the B-52 – what it beat was US interceptors. :)

B-52, still flying and capable of fighting.

Vulcan, B-47 and Badger.

Vulcan, and the Canberra/ B57

Vickers Valiant.

Is it just me or has anyone ele ever noticed that 90% of the pictures of the Valiant are of it taking off, and 90% of the pictures of the Victor are of it diving or landing??? Something buried in psychology there that needs be looked into.

I remember seeing a documentary about the bomb strike by Vulcans against the Falklands in '82. The crews talked about having wartime bomber crew tour their Vulcan. Thirty five years later, most could not only identify but usually operate the nav and bomb aiming equipment proficiently enough to qualify as air crew!

I don't know if that says something more about the quality of training or the lack of post war development?

Hustler!
Wait, this ain't about magazines…?

Oh, still Hustler it is.

Troopwo,

That's just anecdotal and referring to manual ballistic bombsights and secondary navigation aids, which hadn't really changed (they didn't need to – the kit developed during WW2 was outstanding). However, the WW2 crew wouldn't have had a Scooby-Doo about how to operate the Vulcan's navigation radar.

Some cine film I once saw of a Valiant's wing skin peeling off, followed by the entire wing detaching and the aircraft stoofing in at high speed, during a fast pass over RAF Syerston, put me off the Valiant… :(

B-58 is my favorite.

B-47

Was a Air Force brat on Whiteman AFB Missouri in the 1950's and love to watch the B-47's take off and land.

Victor for me too! – though the B-52 is iconic!

Hmmm, another difficult choice, since many of the above are quite good.

B-58 if I can only have one. Again, need this in 1/600th scale, in metal (wish I'd bought some of the resin ones, a while back).

B-52, B-47, and Vulcan all receive honorable mention.