Somebody mentioned the B-58 bomber a couple weeks ago and got a surprising number (to me, anyways) of comments on it so I figured I'd put up a video for Friday's military post.
As a youngster, pop drove me past Selfridge AFB a few times to watch touch 'n goes. Watching the Hustlers touch and then light the burners was always the coolest...
That was the sexiest motherfucker ever flown. I got to see one in flight twice, at AFA graduations. The Hustler, the SR-71 and the Vulcan are the coolest things I've ever see fly.
The B-58s always seemed to come in lower than the B-52s, and louder and much faster. Seeing low-level sky-busting flights didn't happen more than 10-12 times in NE Texas, but when it did, it made a teenage boy's day.
I have a black and white app. 18" x 18" photo hanging in my office taken over Eglin AFB in 1957....in the photo there is a B-58 on an apron at a time when no one was supposed to know they existed....My Dad had just completed painting the new north south runway and taxiway system, and the guy who took the photo came out in a jeep to give a copy to my Dad....probably never happen today....must've been a blast to fly....I was surprised they were retired before being used as a conventional bomber in 'Nam....I guess it was built for one purpose, to deliver a nuke....after missiles came into vogue, planes like the Hustler and the Vigilante had no more use beyond reconnaissance....I'm guessing the B-58 was expensive to fly....I think Convair used the same engines on the 880 passenger jet....
A very sexy airplane - growing up in Dallas, I was keenly interested and had a couple of models of them. They looked really fast just standing still. There are several in museums around the country, encourage y'all to go see one if you can. On the video of the first taxi tests and flights from Carswell, liked seeing the B-36's in the background. They used to fly over the house and had a very distinct droning sound. Point of interest, the last takeoff JFK ever had was from that runway at Carswell when he headed over to Dallas Love Field.
As a youngster, pop drove me past Selfridge AFB a few times to watch touch 'n goes. Watching the Hustlers touch and then light the burners was always the coolest...
ReplyDeleteThat was the sexiest motherfucker ever flown. I got to see one in flight twice, at AFA graduations. The Hustler, the SR-71 and the Vulcan are the coolest things I've ever see fly.
ReplyDeleteThe B-58s always seemed to come in lower than the B-52s, and louder and much faster. Seeing low-level sky-busting flights didn't happen more than 10-12 times in NE Texas, but when it did, it made a teenage boy's day.
ReplyDeleteI have a black and white app. 18" x 18" photo hanging in my office taken over Eglin AFB in 1957....in the photo there is a B-58 on an apron at a time when no one was supposed to know they existed....My Dad had just completed painting the new north south runway and taxiway system, and the guy who took the photo came out in a jeep to give a copy to my Dad....probably never happen today....must've been a blast to fly....I was surprised they were retired before being used as a conventional bomber in 'Nam....I guess it was built for one purpose, to deliver a nuke....after missiles came into vogue, planes like the Hustler and the Vigilante had no more use beyond reconnaissance....I'm guessing the B-58 was expensive to fly....I think Convair used the same engines on the 880 passenger jet....
ReplyDeleteMy Dad worked on B58s in Fort Worth thru 1962. Great airplane but they were having problems and its future looked iffy when he left after 25 years.
ReplyDeleteA very sexy airplane - growing up in Dallas, I was keenly interested and had a couple of models of them. They looked really fast just standing still. There are several in museums around the country, encourage y'all to go see one if you can.
ReplyDeleteOn the video of the first taxi tests and flights from Carswell, liked seeing the B-36's in the background. They used to fly over the house and had a very distinct droning sound.
Point of interest, the last takeoff JFK ever had was from that runway at Carswell when he headed over to Dallas Love Field.