"The B-58 Hustler: America's Cold War Nuclear Bomber Blunder" Topic

"In an era of fantastic aircraft, the B-58 Hustler was one of the most visually striking warplanes ever to fly. Its delta wing, giant engines, and remarkable performance gave rise to the myth that pilots could literally tear the wings off the bomber if they flew it too fast.

That wasn't true, but the B-58 was nevertheless a difficult plane to fly. Although an engineering marvel, the Hustler suffered from appalling accident rate, high maintenance costs, and an obsolete mission profile. It would remain in service for only a decade, a dead-end in strategic bomber development

The Hustler was a direct successor to the B-47 Stratojet in the medium bomber role. Medium bombers were expected to attack the Soviet Union from overseas bases. By the time the Hustler entered service, however, the distinction between the medium and the heavy bomber had narrowed, however. The advent of aerial refueling, combined with Air Force concerns about the security of forward airbases and the concerns of U.S. allies over the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons on their territory, meant that the B-58 would operate strictly from U.S. bases…"
From here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Nice Article

John T

I knew someone who flew them. Said the only real problem was that it really required 4 people to fire the nucs and the b-58 was a 3 man aircraft. He figured about a 50% firing rate.

Grisson AFB North of Indianapolis was (IIRC) one of only two AFB's armed with B-58's.
"On 8 December 1964, a B-58 carrying a nuclear weapon caught fire while taxiing. The nuclear weapon burned, causing contamination of the crash area." – Source: Wiki…

As a kid living just north of Cincinnati I can remember that in the summer time (no A/C just open windows) the Hustlers out of Indiana would fly over or around our house at night. The resultant boom would always make my dad jump out of his chair and curse. They may or may not have bothered the Soviets but they got my Dad every single time. H

So the name "Hustler" is apropos?

Glad you like it John!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

The author missed the point of the Hustler completely.

What was the point of the Hustler, then?

It provided another threat to the Soviets thus forcing them to devote resources and their own technological development to meet it, it advanced aerospace technology and electronics, it gave the force a diversified asset to accomplish the nuclear (not Vietnam conventional) mission, and it deterred the Soviets from committing to active war. It has to be remembered that the Triad was only just coming into being – ICBMs and SLBMs were only just coming into service, and the reliance on manned bombers was still very common practice across the world. We can't apply modern eyes to yesterday's circumstances.

One point is the difficulty in predicting the future – in this case, the Hustler had a predicted function that turned out to be wrong. Had that function remained and the Hustler wasn't available you would have had problems.

The Hustler was a great little jet for its time.

Need one in 1/600th scale.

I think they used Hustler stock footage in some scenes for "Fail-Safe".

Good article Tango

Glad you enjoyed it my friend!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Agree that the Hustler was taken out of service prematurely. Looking forward to reading the book by Colonel Holt.

Not aware of a 1/600th model, but a nice 1/300th model is available at luftwaffe1946.com.

I believe Hallmark has B58 in 1/1200
and how to use it in a Miniatures game??
Unless you alll think that something like Axis and Allies is a miniatures game because it uses miniatures, well, I dont know of any modern game rules that would have strategic aurcraft, except as "markers", not unlike the way I have seen nodern warships used as markers in Harpoon

Hmmm, need a couple in 1/300th, so will have to pick those up.

Might be able to use them in 1/1200t too.

Really, really, really want some metal ones in 1/600t scale.