This was a cool instructional film. My Dad worked on flight instrumentation for the B-58.

It's always good to see a job well done, especially when it results in saving the lives of the crew and the aircraft as well. Very impressive.

I grew up in Fort Worth, and my father and step-father both worked at the General Dynamics plant. I used to go see the static display of the B-58 near the plant entrance. What a great looking plane.

"Incompatence" is not a word. The fact that they could get it that much fuel to that plane points towards a great deal of competence. That they took that long was most reasonably due to them caring about saving their equipment and pilots.

I was a ground crew member on the TB-58 that flew chase for the X B-70 in 1965 with the 6515 OMS at Edwards AFB. The tires were filled with nitrogen and were only good for about 7 landings, I know, my very first job was changing wheels and servicing tires.That was a great time to be in the U.S.A.F

Great video and great info from @driver658658 Those crew were awesome! Landing seemed impossible to me with such gear damage and refuelling all night with LG extended? I hope they at least got a medal for that feat!

good emergency plan,executed with patience ....well done!

Solo: Was a KC-135 (SAC) nav, long after the Hustler. Then in AFSC on C-135's. Was very familiar with Edwards AFB and it's many very long dry lake bed runways. (The Shuttle knew it!) That was probably the best decision for the -58, and thumbs up for both the bomber crew and the tanker crews. Thanks for responding!

Edwards has all the room in the world, and has a bombing range where they were able to drop their fuel tank. If the bad gear caused them to swerve off the runway, there are miles of empty dry lakebed to coast to a stop, rather than slamming into a building, parked planes, etc.

What a team effort. great job. And great video

great video. thanks for posting it!

Amazing airman-ship! I hope he got a distinguished flying cross out that bit of work!!

@johnballentine8915

2 жыл бұрын

The pilot was my grandfather. He had a bronze star. I never asked where he got it from, but I'm guessing this might be it.

That plane is so amazing and great I'm so glad that they have grounded it well!

Gorgeous aircraft!!!!

Great skills! 👍✈️

Thabks for this video, very cool!

dude the b58 is such a dope plane. I personally feel like its one of those extremely unique aircraft built in response to the cold war. An example of another plane which struck me as out of the ordinary is the SR71, my other favourite cold war era aircraft.

7:32 "The Air Force has a vast communications network..." When I was in the AF, it was only half vast. lulz

I worked at EDWARDS AFB. 1970’s - 2015.

no it was above the US it had no nuclear weapons on it it was a training mission, dropping the pod helps, reduce drag, and weight, as well as makes it easier to land especially when they run the risk of it getting crushed by the lack of suspension and the fuel blowing up

really nice work!

Incredible airmanship, safely landing a supersonic delta-wing heavy with damaged landing gear has to be one of the most difficult landings possible!

Skill and training. Outstanding airmanship. As to the question below about the helmets...B-58s were equipped with the Stanley escape capsule which closed like a clamshell around the crew members in case of emergency egress (also closed in case of depressurization, pilots capsule containing the control stick and a window to see the instruments).

I'm a retired US Navy Captain whose career spanned a threshold of sorts that's unwittingly pointed out in this video. One can always tell the relative era when a film is being shot if by nothing else than a preponderance of two things; coffee & cigarettes. The cigarettes are pretty much gone & the our caffeine will be next. Not saying it's good or bad, one way or the other, but at some point, you have to let the children grow up & be adults. BTW, greased that landing real nice.

That is awsome...yes in the mid 60's the USA was advancing in aircraf knjowhowt by leaps and bounds.Started my USAF life on F-4's but respect the B-58 so much.Wish I could have been a crew chief on one of those ever since I saw one in the desert of Arizona.

Outstanding vid. I love the Tupperware crash helmets, too.

The pilot is my grandfather! Does anyone know where this footage came from? I would like to see if they have more of him!

@madtrucker0983

2 жыл бұрын

He's my uncle and my father's brother. Also my mom's brother in law and my grandmother's kid. He married my aunt and was my friends former roommate.

Grew up NE of Carswell and we used to see these and the B-36 almost on a daily basis.

THAT IS ONE BIG HELLUVA SCARY LANDING. NICE JOB 10 OF 10

Impressive! ❤🇺🇸

"Noticed an orange glow behind the aircraft, but thought nothing of it..." ????????

@focusedmessagemarketing958

5 жыл бұрын

killmerhonda Just a UFO.

@oahuhawaii2141

Жыл бұрын

Afterburners. In fact, the chase plane saw the leaking fuel being burned by the afterburners.

@MaxwellCorrie

Жыл бұрын

Lol

flying at its best

I HAVE BEEN FLYING FOR 35 YEARS,GOOD JOB GUY'S A little late,but good job just the same.

To any B-58 pilots out there, did they in fact have Nitrogen in the tires? Also what was the landing speed of the B-58 with a full load? Normal go-around procedures and did it have in later marks the ability for in flight refueling?

Nice landing.

THAT IS ON BIG HELLUVA SCARY LANDING. NICE JOB 10 OF 10

Outstanding. 14 hours flight! 8 refuel with plane with no know damage? Man, take a.looknon this crew. They're heroes! In today A.F. probably they'll just command you to eject

You witnessed the demise of aircraft 58-1017 at Carsell AFB. Tire failure during takeoff roll followed by unsuccessful rejected takeoff. Pilot survived. Navigator & DSO didn't. In the video 'Covair B-58 low level bombing', you can briefly see what appears to be the aircraft's scorched track off the end of the runway, just as the nose gear retracts on the camera ship.

landing BAH! EJECTING?! BAHAHAHAHA! no way stay in the air for another 14 hours and then come back in the morning hahaha.

Pucker factor of 9.

I extricated this: 'It carried a nuclear weapon and fuel in a large pod under the fuselage rather than in an internal bomb bay.' from here: en wikipedia org wiki B-58_Hustler Since this is clearly an instructional/informational video on managing flight emergencies, an early form of Crew Resource Management, it might never need to mention it was carrying an actual device, most likely with the 'safety' on.

14 hours on the air ? WOW =O

Wonderful airmanship. Just wondering if the crew had recourse to their "go pills" over such a long night. Do you happen to know?

@driver658658 HOW THE USAF HANDLE THIS NIGHTNARE ?

Smoke 'em if ya got 'em, boys.

No statement about Nukes but SAC had the credentials for being ready-willing-and able to make some crispy critters if the word was GO.

true true.

What is the proof that no device was in the pod? It may have been better to drop it than risk damaging a radiactive release while crash landing

Tired, hungry pilot earns a good breakfast.

@Skybolter

8 жыл бұрын

+avro549B you said it.

Sort of off topic but since its shown in this film, did B-58 crews ever really wear those HGU-7 "baseball" helmets?

How on earth do u sustain that amount of damage from taking off ??

@warphammer

3 ай бұрын

Tire failure. High pressure tires make for a lot of energy. Happened a lot more back then than now.

what a lot of posters fail to understand is that it's USAF policy to always ask permission to do ANYTHING. that way, if you die, they can't blame you for the crash

Interesting - date I saw one of these burn on the runway 9/16/1959

No sir, there are no "facilities" on board a B-58. The crew of three sat in their own capsule in case of ejection (other than the trainer craft which stuck with standard ejection seats). The only "facility" was a one quart relief tube for urinating in.

@dickweedjohnson6447

5 жыл бұрын

1 quart for 3 dudes for 12 hour+ flights yikes

If this is actual footage of the crude during that flight they look so tired. Give me the Air Force had issued them speed which I doubt if they did on this type of flight, you may be awake but your brain and reflexes are still tired.

14 hour hop......you talk about butt fatigue! B-58's were cool looking but were only a mid-range bomber. My hometown had 52's.....Walker AFB.

Strange that the narrator refers several times to the crew as "student", as if their inexperience was the possible cause of the incident... nevermind that the B-58 (cool as it looked) was a failure-prone aircraft. The crew was experienced enough, however, to refuel multiple times, at night, to stay in the air until daylight, then land their stricken craft at Edwards, without injury or fatality. What the Air Force refused to acknowledge, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara finally made official with the phase-out of the B-58, after building only 116 of that type. I suppose if the landing had gone badly, the Air Force wouldn't have made this "inspiring" documentary.

That was EXACTLY 74% of American's sentiment in 1940. Most of us learned Dec 7 that next year though that attitude actually makes it worse in the long run. The good news is we have a volunteer military so people who just can't learn from history can safely keep their head in the sand in Peoria! (although I agree that due to Johnson's horrible mismanagement of the war Vietnam was indeed a waste)

@driver658658 HOW THE USAF HANDLE THIS NIGHTMARE ?

The pilot confirmed FIRE and the then waited for instruction from the control tower AND then waited for them to dispatch a chase plane?

viva usaf!

Typical day of flight training for Chuck Norris?

Apparently you didn't read the comment I was responding to - I was referring to the accident crosstimbers2 witnessed on September 16, 1959.

14 hours in the air? I bet those guys thought they were sitting on a cement brick.

Their eyes say otherwise, as does the (lt colonel was it?) wiping off sweat from the brow.

Did they really wear jockey helmets in the B-58!

Training training training.

4 ?? The one belly pod was set up for one mission specific weapon. B-52 was capable of carrying 4 nukes.

its a fuel tank

A B48 circled back and forth between the US and Spain for two days because of weather conditions making landing difficult. The could take off and land tankers but not the B48.

what ever you say "SKY" King

They produced a special version of this plane, it's called the Larry Fiynt B-58 Hustler, the sleaziest bomber in the sky...

Hats off to the Pilot though, apparently they were a bastard to land at the best of times, let alone after 14 hours and 8 night time refuels with properly fucked port main gear.

ok

0:49 "During the takeoff, I noticed a bright orange glow. We were clearly on fire. This seemed normal."

The crews didnt require the use of standard helmets which offer protection during escape with normal ejection seats. As can be seen in the video, all they really do is hold the headphones and oxygen mask, and offer nominal impact protection to the head in case of impact with surrounding structure. More info here: ejection site dot com slash eb58caps dot h t m

why risk having a tired crew do an emergency landing after .. how many refuelings? and a full night of flying ?this video does not tell the true story...

It would have been easier to eject...The idea of flying around all night and refueling constantly seems odd.

the pod must've had a core in it, why drop it otherwise.

A atomic student crew, wtf is wrong here ?

Confused. This aircraft bypassed many military airfields that could have handled its 'problem', but flew all night, using a BUNCH of fuel, to get back to Edwards? Bet the pilot was a USAF TPS grad, and/or the aircraft was carrying something...

You mean it is a bad idea to fly a damaged nuclear bomber over a large city?I would never have thought of that.

Directing a damaged jet bomber over a residential area - that's mitlitary-grade stupidity. Plus, the condescending 50ies narrator gives me the creeps!

it took 14 hours to land a damaged plane? talk about usaf incompatence

@jonathanoconnor9546

Жыл бұрын

If you knew how to spell you wouldn't show your massive incompEtence !

6:43 Why not show touchdown rather than worthless film? Stupid to fly a damaged aircraft over populated areas. Could not use the landing lights of the chase aircraft?