My grandfather was one of the lead electronic engineers on both the B58 and the F111 at Convair/GD. Even he said while the B58 was a great testbed for then "advanced" technology, that it was an aircraft which was a one trick pony. Although it was probably his favorite aircraft to be a part of, he said it's time on active duty was appropriately limited due to rapid advancement in technology. I still have B58 tie tacks/cuff links, pens and even some manuals which I found after he died. Cool memorabilia!

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

B-58 cufflinks you say? :)

The B-58 was a sexy aircraft. The sleekness....delta wing....those slung engines and the unpainted hull all made for an aircraft that belonged in the Atomic Age era aesthetic.

As a young ‘teenager’ in very early 1960s I saw a Revell model construction kit of the Hustler. It was my dream to make that model fly… it looked so aerodynamic! So futuristic, particularly compared with the uk available WW2 style prop driven historical models. It looked the future in miniature.

My Basic Training Assistant Training Instructor was a Crew Chief on the B-58. We had to go to KP at Kelly Field and the TI had the bus driver go out past the flightline where the last four B-58's were being prepped to fly to the Davis-Montham AFB boneyard. He had the bus driver stop, and we sat there for about five minutes as he told us some great stories about his time on the Hustler. He said it was bitter-sweet for him, he loved the airplane, but said the particular front landing gear on his airplane was a royal pain in the ass.

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

Fab! Thanks for sharing.

@obsoleteprofessor2034

5 ай бұрын

What year was this?I was stationed at Davis Monthan in 1979 working on drone catching H-3's. I went to the Pima Air Museum when they were still just a tiny tin shack. Near the front door was an escape pod from a 58 on a pallet with a hand written cardboard sign describing the piece. Out front, down the dead end semi crumbling public roadway was an unguarded B-58 sitting on the side of the road. It didn't have the belly pod installed. The entrance gate to the business at the end of the road said it was a scrap operator. Perhaps they (eventually?) donated it to the museum. Perhaps it was there ready to be towed to the museum...it was certainly pointed in the correct direction.

Arguably the most beutifull aircraft of the cold war era. Sleek lines, looks like its going mach 2, parked, A real modern work of art. Escorted by F-104 starfighters, what a sight !

I have always considered the B-58 the finest example of ambition made real. The one in Dayton is polished to mirror finish and looks like liquid metal.

@minhthunguyendang9900

3 ай бұрын

& the sovs’ wet 💭 ersatz M-50 Bounder once&only scarecrow to the West in 1961 to enhance the roaring of the Berlin Wall.

Those who are fans of the B-58 'Hustler' as I am, should watch the movie 'Fail Safe'. 1964, starring Henry Fonda and Larry Hagman. Truly one of the favorite movies of my youth. Brilliant and well written story of the 'Cold War era'. Can't say enough good things about it! (Edit: Peace out)!

@garykreutzer1239

5 ай бұрын

I loved watching it at the drive in when I was a kid!

@1badjesus401

3 ай бұрын

what did you think of the new version with George Clooney and Harvey Keitel about 15 years ago ? I thought it was pretty good.

@Ramjetwarrior

3 ай бұрын

@1badjesus401 I'm going to have to educate myself and see that version! I did not know that a remake was released. Thank you for the update. Peace out...

@minhthunguyendang9900

3 ай бұрын

It’s in tune with its times 😅😅😅😂😂😂😂😂& George Cl00ney

@minhthunguyendang9900

3 ай бұрын

However, give me this version any day over the kubricked 0ne.

Thank you for this video with Col Holt. I was assigned to Bunker Hill AFB upon my return to the states from Turkey in April of 1962. I was assigned to the Alert Facility, where the B-58 and the KC-135 where on alert. I performed CQ (Charge of Quarters) duty there while waiting for my transfer to the flight simulator (KC-135 - analog/vacuum tube simulator) operations. Bunker Hill was the name of the small Indiana town where the SAC base was. The base housed the SAC 305 Bomb wing and the 68th Air Refueling Squadron. The base also housed a fighter wing operating F-102 and F106 fighters. I loved the B-58 and was blessed to be so close to it and watched many takeoffs and landings from the Alert Facility building as well as it's (the B-58's) flight preparations . The flight crews (B-58 and KC-135), and maintenance crews lived underground during their time on alert. I was transferred to the flight simulator operations and cross trained to the KC-135 sim. The flight simulator building housed the KC-135 sim and the B-58 sim, which had digital computers. The tanker simulator was vacuum tube computers with many computer cabinets and a separate cockpit structure. The B-58 simulator had three cockpit structures including the Pilots, the Navigator, and the DSO. The bomber sim also had a "visulator" that was comprised of a very wide and endless belt that had miniature buildings, landscaping and a runway on it. It was motorized so the belt would rotated lengthwise with a video camera focused on it to simulate take offs and landing approaches video that showed on a large video display in the cockpit . Some of the incidents that occurred with the B-58 while I was stationed there were: An off the runway crash with fire that killed the Nav and DSO; An engine explosion that killed the Nav with engine shrapnel, Tipping the airplane back on it's tail which damaged the Gatling gun. This was caused by the maintenance crew not knowing that a large weight needed to be attached under the nose when there wasn't enough fuel in the forward tanks to maintain the CG (center of gravity) in the right position. The Wing Commander was relieved of duty after the second tipping. The B-58 was very quiet during takeoff compared to the 2 types of fighters that were on the base. The F-102 and the F-106 made loud bangs when engaging the afterburners during takeoffs. The B-58 afterburners made a "woosh" sound when the engines were throttled up for takeoffs. God that is a beautiful airplane. I have been to the Pima County air museum in Tucson a couple of times and I was very disappointed to see how age has disfigured some of the surface looks of the B-58. The wings and some of the fuselage fiberglass have thinned out so much that the honeycomb structure underneath could be seen. I finished up my tour at the end of 1964 and always remembered my satisfying time at Bunker Hill AFB.

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

Thanks so muchg for sharing your memories! From the stories I've heard, Bunker Hill AFB seems like it was a happy base.

@ricksclick

6 ай бұрын

@@damcasterspod Thanks. It was extremely pleasurable and exciting to be around the B-58 during it's operations. Also, my time with the KC-135 was very rewarding. Being able to operate and repair the tanker simulator was very fun. We had to preflight it every morning before the pilots came for their sim checks, by flying it for an hour looking for faults the needed to be corrected. Nothing could compare with how rewarding that was for me. There were not many repairs!

@henrivanbemmel

6 ай бұрын

The one at NMUSAF looks great, but that's a bit of a trip.

@henrivanbemmel

6 ай бұрын

From what I've read and now heard from this interview, I think they would have been better to maintain these two B-58 wings until cruise missles (or the FB-111) became operational. The idea of using a B-52 at low level is comical to me and to take that seriously makes one wonder at the true motivations. Funny how planes are 'great' and then 5 years later they are a maintenance nightmare etc or so the public narrative goes. I understand planes being replaced by the next Gen, but to demean a plane when the new one will also require plenty of maintenance AND have some teething problems is to me BS. One has to wonder why the military never accepted this plane. It makes me think there were other motivations. Given the reaching debates we have today, it's hard to accept that just one man could kill two squadrons just like that.

I remember as a kid, going to the open houses they had for the public at Bunker Hill AFB. My biggest thrill was sitting in the pilot's seat in the B-58 they had on display. Grew up in Kokomo just South of Bunker Hill and I remember the house ratteling every time there was a sonic boom. The B-58 was and still is my favorite aircraft of all times.

I really enjoyed this. It's great to hear about the planes but the personal stories are priceless.

Great interview. I grew up with the B58 at Carswell AFB then Little Rock AFB untill they phased it out. My father was a maintainer and also crew chief for a period before he transitioned to the B52 in the 70s. From a young kids perspective the B58 was like the Starship Enterprise, so futuristic. When it took off with full afterburner all of base housing would rattle.

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

Very cool! I wish could have seen one fly.

@michaelniemeyer6164

3 ай бұрын

My dad was there too. DSO on the 58 3rd seat.

@martyviehweg4001

3 ай бұрын

Were you stationed at Little Rock?@@michaelniemeyer6164

As a young kid of that era, that was my dream plane. Later replaced by the Black Bird. My father (a teacher) was a member of the CAP in Detroit, occasionally flying in to Wright Paterson. On one of those trips, he was given a ride in the third seat to Texas and back at supersonic speed. It was only later when i was older that this was when he bought me the model kit.

The B-58 was also a favorite with model kit manufacturers and customers. The sleek, space age look really flew kits off the shelf.

43rd BW Little Rock AFB Arkansas 1967-69

Our local museum made really interesting decision on placing B-58 right next to F-102 so you can clearly see that the wing is quite similar on these planes. Also seeing it live I actually never expected that it is quite small even compared to B-47.

@arizonahillbilly5961

Ай бұрын

@alexx86hater what local aircraft museum would that be. I'd love to look it up and get that photo down loaded or copied. I am retired Air Force and currently am in Tucson Az. The Bone Yard, Pima Air and Space Museum, Titan missle sites. I feel Air nation and as a people qe were safer and closer(more like a family always ready to win a fight and to fight for each other back in the time after WW-II leading up to Nam

@alexx86hater

Ай бұрын

@@arizonahillbilly5961 Thank you for your service. This is the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum (Ashland, NE) The collection is quite impressive on the "big bird" type of the planes: TB-29, B-36 (and XF-85 right next to it), early B-52, B-47, B-1A (4th prototype), B-58, Vulcan B.2(currently under restoration) and right where you buy tickets you are greeted by SR-71 in a flight mode under the glass dome. And many other fun things. At the museum parking they have Atlas, Thor and Snark. There is also quite a bit of space stuff. So yeah, if you ever in the area that's a great

I'd venture to say that the Soviets feared the B-58 over the B-52. The Hustler was a true " interdiction bomber " that had a much higher probability of reaching its target.

I loved hearing this interview. I was also stationed at BHAFB 1963-64 (weapons loading crew). Those were the "vacuum tube days" with their reliability problems. I didn't know the bomb/nav was upgraded to solid state electronics in the later years. It was a very potent weapon system with its high-yield armament. I expect the Russians lost lots of sleep figuring out how to combat it. I thought its early retirement was a big mistake. I went on to fly corporate aircraft (25 years in jets) after the service. I can appreciate the exceptional skill, training and planning to fly such a high-performance aircraft. The same goes for all the B-58 crew members, the BEST of the best. I'll get a copy of Col. Holt's book for my aviation library.

@damcasterspod

Ай бұрын

Thanks for listening and for your comment. I hope you enjoy Sonny's book, it certainly was an eye opener for me.

I never got to see one fly, but i can imagine the howl of those 4 J-79s!

@pburgvenom

3 күн бұрын

yeeessss!

Col Holt , thank you for your service Sir.

@jbwillson

16 күн бұрын

YOUR.

This was a fabulous aircraft,when l graduated from tech school in the USAF we took our class photo next to a B58

I was fortunate enough to have maintained both the B-52(D) 1966/1967 Glasgow AFB Montana and the B-58 1968/1969 Little Rock AFB. Both were unique. The B-52 was a truck while the B-58 was a sports car. The B-58, because of its potential speed had to deal with excessive heat especially at the leading edge of the wings, where the designers had installed hydraulic lines. This required both expansion fittings in the hydraulic lines but a specific high temp hydraulic fluid.

@damcasterspod

Ай бұрын

Fascinating, thanks for sharing.

I can't thank you enough for making this interview happen. There is comparatively little to read about this aircraft. Infuriatingly, so much of the stuff you can read up on concerning the Hustler is the same content, recycled and rehashed, so that it becomes increasingly hard to find new information. What we need is testimony from those that flew her and operated her; I grant you that many of the aircrew are no longer with us now, so it becomes ever more important to ensure stuff like this is put on record. Thank you again.

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

You're very welcome. More B-59 content planned for the new year.

Served at K.I. Sawyer AFB in the mid 60s. Had a number of B58s land for maintenance. They had a C123 fly parts and maintainers up to fix them. I was a blast to hear them take off. ( I also almost nocked Gen. Ryan on his but going down a hallway when he was visiting) (3 finger Jack)

Excellent video, thank you and Col Holt for getting the story out about my favorite airplane. Sad to think that politician and media dishonesty to achieve a result has not changed from then. Great to hear and look forward to the next chapter. Cheers mate.

@damcasterspod

Күн бұрын

My pleasure!

I live 10 mi from bunker hill now known as grissom, when the B58s would take off from runway 23 my town was strait off the end they would use our town to make the turn back for touch and go's it was a beautiful aircraft in the air but regardless what he said about it being a quiet aircraft it was very loud on the ground in fact you could hear it very well when it took off from inside the house from 10mi away we knew it was coming and would run outside and wait on it awesome aircraft.

@patrickunderwood5662

6 ай бұрын

I was maybe 10 years old when I saw the Thunderbirds perform at Dyess AFB flying the F-4E, using the same J-79s. They were icepicks in the ears-the most excruciating sound I have ever heard!

@allensanders5535

6 ай бұрын

ya the F4 is an other good looking plane the mag (marine air group) flew them at marine air station Kaneohe HI. where i was stationed for 3 yrs.@@patrickunderwood5662

@guaporeturns9472

6 ай бұрын

@@patrickunderwood5662music to my ears

@mikedee8876

6 ай бұрын

I drove wrecker at BHAFB, and would watch B 58s stage for takeoff whenever the opportunity arose ( maybe twice a month) the full afterburner blast shook the 2 1/2 ton wrecker and with the windows closed, was intolerable to my young ears.....it doesnt surprise me at all that it was heard from Bunker Hill...

The planes that have long service lives typically have the most utility. …DC3, C-130, and B52. The B58 was a really great plane, but not suitable as a dumb iron bomb truck.

Assigned to Little Rock AFB with wing of B 58 in 65 and 66, very exciting time as a young airman, Exciting aircraft, wing commander was Col. Fry and Brig. Gen. Bywater 825 th Aerospace Squadron.

The B-58 was assigned to only 2 airbases, one was Bunker Hill Indiana (now Grissom ARB) which is close to me. They had a "Broken Arrow" incident with the B-58 and lost 2 Nukes when the aircraft burned up in a fire.

Great interview

I remember the bomb runs into Chicago from Bunker Hill AFB (now Grissom AFB) back in '64. I was in social studies class, and we would clearly hear the double crack of the sonic boom when they went by. The Sound of Freedom! Grissom AFB is still open (a refueling wing operates out of there these days) and they have an excellent museum there. Well worth the trip! I have read Col. Holt's book. A great read!

A couple of details that would add to this story: The Hustler, like all delta wing fast jets, had a very high stall speed and thus a very high landing speed leaving very little room for error. I would like to hear how much fuel a J79 burns at low altitude. The range at low altitude must have been on the low side.

This airplane was made famous (to me) in the 60's thriller "Fail safe" with Henry Fonda. With the big improvements to SAM's during production, it became vulnerable. I saw one displayed in the Galveston air museum 15 years ago.

@damcasterspod

3 күн бұрын

Great film which suffered for coming out around the same time as Dr Strangelove if memory serves.

@davidsike734

3 күн бұрын

@@damcasterspod They actually showed it to us in (elememtary) school when we used to have shelter in place drills.

I had a big, beautiful framed print of the B-58 flying though the clouds that had to have been hanging in some USAF office many decades ago. I picked it up at a flea market for a few bucks. Sadly it was lost during my last move

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

That is a terrible sorry! Hate it when things get lost/gamaged in a move. It is an experience we suffered through this summer.

I know it's off-topic. But it's a very important point. All branches of the military have all but stopped promoting enlisted to the officers Corp. We are missing out on some very talented people because we have stopped doing this. Yes, it's still possible, and it happens from time to time. It wouldn't matter that much if we didn't have these odd requirements that some jobs must only be held by a commissioned officer. My grandfather went to Germany in a P51 Mustang as an airman. He shot down 17 Bombers and 57 fighters. Then he went to the Pacific, where he said he dropped enough steel on ships to rebuild Detroit. When he got back home, he was a Sr airman. Today, the requirements to fly are insane. And you can't say it's because of technology. Most get a degree in political science and have never seen a real cockpit until the graduate OCS. Also, it was much harder to fly a plain in the 40s than it is today. The computers do 90% of the work.

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

Talent should be spotted, nurtured and, where appropriate, promoted.

@dukeford8893

2 ай бұрын

I don't know about the other services, but in the USAF commissioning enlisted personnel was never easy or particularly commonplace. It is probably easier for a person to get commissioned right out of college.

I served at Grissom AFB, IN. Sadly it was after the B-58 was long gone. I was there 1977-1980 and was part of the 1915th Comm Sqdn. I would have loved to have seen the B-58 kept there through the 1970s as originally forecast.

@klsc8510

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for the Heart. A B-58 story for you. Brigadier General James Stewart (Yes, the actor), was to be given a B-58 ride to qualify for his Mach 2 patch. His first reaction on take off was, "My Gawd, this thing is a rocket!" Once at altitude where they had clearance for supersonic flight, one of the afterburners wouldn't light. The pilot asked BG Stewart, how bad do you want this? BG Stewart told him to find a way. So the Hustler pilot pointed the nose to the ground and they broke Mach 2 going close to straight down! I thought you would enjoy this.

Thanks, great to see some recognition. I was at Bunker Hill 305th BW Mar 67-Feb 68.

Our government... What a disappointment!!! Enjoyed your interview, thank you 🙂

@damcasterspod

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for listening!

It was the coolest looking airplane in the fleet whatever else you want to say. I loved it. Things changed quickly in that era.

Great interview, nice to know some trusty opinions about why and how it was cancelled. Weird that pentagon does dive politics. I almost assume some one was payed to lobby for that b52. Twice I walked under the b58 one was perked at David Wayne hooks airport and at Pima. I felt very humbled looking at that majestic plane.

Super interview, excellent work, best guest….

Well done! I look forward to the next session and interview.

@damcasterspod

2 ай бұрын

Thank you! A-20 Havok pilot who flew in the Pacific in WW2 coming soon.

In Fail Safe I think I remember that the cockpit had multiple pilots in a single chamber. I would like to find time to see the movie again.

@smark1180

9 күн бұрын

In _Fail Safe_ the airplane was a Vindicator, not a Hustler.

I can't thank you enough for making this interview with Col Holt. I never bought the 'hype' about it being dangerous and expensive to fly. Because our generals had to play politics, they stopped the best weapon the US ever had! It proves that the upper-level air force leadership is one-sided and are narrow-minded politicians in uniform. I was stationed at little Rock AFB where we had B-47's & KC-135's - boring stuff. Then one day she - the B 58 Hustler - showed up and there was never a boring day or night. Fell in love with her on first sight. And after seeing her perform, I was totally hooked. She was all I could think of! Upon hearing that she was being removed from service, I couldn't believe it. Who in their mind would make such a blunder??

@damcasterspod

5 ай бұрын

Thanks so much for listening. I know Sonny is appreciating everyone who is getting involved and talking about the Hustler.

@devaughnjohnson8119

5 ай бұрын

@@damcasterspod And again, thank you.

@dukeford

3 ай бұрын

There's no getting around the fact that maintenance costs per hour were 50% greater than the B-52 and the accident and attrition rates were equivalent to a Century Series fighter.

@devaughnjohnson8119

3 ай бұрын

@@dukeford I totally disagree. Even the Col spoke about that very same thing - how inaccurate was their evaluation. All of the pros greatly out weighted the cons. The B-58 is the best bomber/ fighter the US ever had. And quite frankly, the B-58 would still hold its' own today up against all of the so call tech planes & weapons. Letting her go was the biggest mistake the US military made!

@damcasterspod

3 ай бұрын

@@dukeford@dukeford What was your take on Sonny's explanation of the maintenance and loss calculations used by the Buff Mafia in the Pentagon?

Great video! I lived a couple of miles from Carswell during the 60's. It was a wonderful place to be. Between the BUFFs, the Hustlers, the Aardvarks, etc. , there was always something to see and/or hear. Thanks for the wonderful stories.

@damcasterspod

5 ай бұрын

Very cool!

Great interview, one of my favourite aircraft. Thanks for the video!

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

A very interesting and engaging interview and interviewee, thank you. 👍😊

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

The B-58 was the Vindicator bombers in the movie "Fail Safe".

@RSF-DiscoveryTime

6 ай бұрын

They inverted the image so it looked like a film negative. That made it look real creepy in that movie. zoppy.blogspot.com/2019/09/failsafe-1964.html

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

The cockpit shots had side by side crew too. One to set an avgeek's eye twiching!

@smark1180

6 ай бұрын

@@damcasterspodIt was a cilivian airliner simulator.

@rael5469

6 ай бұрын

@@damcasterspod True.....but it worked for the script writers. ;) I can tell you that the scenes depicted are VERY true to life. I got to go on incentive rides in my B-52 and during war time the crews would be JUST as ate-up as depicted in the movie. MORE SO.

Colonel, I just bought your book for my Kindle. For years, I've never understood why the Hustler was taken offline. I'm going to go ahead and post my thoughts and I hope I don't make myself look like a nut. Keep in mind that I was in the Military also and had been exposed to a lot more than any civilian. Here goes: I have researched all the way back to Woodrow Wilson. Wilson and Roosevelt were self-described Progressives. Hard Left Progressives were exposed to Marx, Hegel and Alinsky, just to name a few. I can, with the aid of documents and books place Lenin and Trotsky in NYC and London just before the Revolution. Here is where I'm going; based on the many books and documents that I have read and studied for many years now, I have come to a conclusion: There is no doubt about the following of the Hegelian Dialect (problem, crises, reaction, solution), Communist Manifesto, Cloward and Piven Strategy and Rules for Radicals by the Leftist, Progressives in control of our government. Stay with me....Lenin, Trotsky, Osama Bin Laden; these are Boogeymen. The Progressives have the Solution; all powerful, cradle to grave big government so they need only to create the Problems. Hegel. The B-58, XB-70 and the SR-71 were too much for the Soviets. Think about it. If you can create and support a Cold War foe, think of all of the billions, trillions of dollars pumped in to the Military Industrial Complex that Eisenhower warned us about and that JFK spoke of. Let me use a current issue; Whistleblowers came forth from Boeing. They revealed why Boeing is having so many problems with Quality. Within the past couple of months, two of those Whistleblowers are dead. Jack Kennedy wanted to shut down Vietnam. Dead. Gen. George S. Patton was lobbying to take out the Reds. Dead. In closing, I believe the Hustler was WAY ahead of it's time. It was the most lethal bomber we ever produced. Could the Hustler and the other weapons have been deactivated because they were too deadly to the Soviet Union? Do some research on Bob McNamara and Lyndon Johnson.

Wow,..awesome interview! Thanks

Great interview. One question I wish that was asked was about a conventional role. Were there any contingency plans to give the B-58 a conventional capability?

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

Given the SAC deployment with the other heavies being used in SE Asia, it what held in the nuclear response role, which didn't allow for much transitioning. It would have needed a fair about of work due to th enature of the weapons pod.

Great podcast presentation.

Great interview! One of my favorite aircraft.

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

i would have been totally against retiring the B-58 based on nothing more than its looks. :)

Andrew Boehly, Head of Collections, Pima Air Museum, said the Sikorsky Dragonfly has a “Pratt & Whitney R-98” (20:37). He shoulda said “R-985”, the Wasp Junior. This engine, along with a constant-speed propeller, became a popular choice for repowering Stearman biplanes.

Jimmy Stuart, described his flight with the Convair B-58

@smark1180

9 күн бұрын

"Jimmy Stuart, described his flight with the Convair B-58" No, he did not.

@Arturo4586

9 күн бұрын

@@smark1180 homo sapiens ignoramus

I imagine that a B-58 might have adapted well to front canarf winglets similar to the Chinese J-20 and had improved handling

Found one of these in a Cornflakes packet in 1961.

Very interesting & yes when I Googled the B 58 it was indicated as being phased out due to being more expensive to operate than the other platforms. By the way, excellent video or pod cast, I had to subscribe....

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

Thanks so much! Much more to come and where possible, my guests will appear for the video too.

@debbest8546

6 ай бұрын

Correct. It cost too much, sadly.

Good job both of you are awesome cool plane keep up the good work

Fave jet after the B1B...both after The Mosquito of course..

@damcasterspod

5 ай бұрын

Can't gop wrong with a Mossie. Have you seen our video with Rowland White about his new book on Operation Carthage? kzread.info/dash/bejne/qJxqpdigiZDXqbg.html

@butchclay8126

4 ай бұрын

I'm with you on the Mossie. Most beautiful of them all.

I had a co-worker who had been a B-47 pilot who transitioned to B-58. He liked the B-47 better because he said you could fly it like a fighter, fling it around. He also said the B-47 was a sweet flyer like all Boeings before the 737MAX. You had to fly the B-58 onto the runway, the B-47 did flare and stall as most planes do. Apparently a result of the delta wing.

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

A delta takes a different style to fly and, like all things, practice and the right aptituide. I do like the B-47 though. One of the reasons I return to films like Strategic Air Command more often than my wife would like.

@debbest8546

6 ай бұрын

@@damcasterspod Jimmy Stewart! Great B-36 footage!

I suspect that just like the UK V Bomber force triumvirate, when forced into low level for the same reason, then like the Vulcan, it was possessed of a much stronger wing and proved more at home in the new habitat. The Vulcan always did very well in the joint bombing exercises and I suspect that the B58 would have given them a run for its money. I wonder if it was dropped to make way for the case for the F1-11?

Thanks for the video!

@damcasterspod

21 күн бұрын

You're welcome!

I first heard of the ejection pod when I saw a similar system described on the B-70. One of the pictures showed an ejected crewman in his pod on the water... paddling away. Was a paddle for each pod standard equipment on the B-58? 😆

Capt. John Lappo flew his RB-47 under the Mackinac bridge. Pretty cool.

@dukeford8893

4 ай бұрын

And was then permanently grounded. Maybe he thought it was worth it.

I have and read his book. Highly recommended!

@joeatwood1346

12 күн бұрын

Concur.

I've seen the Hustler at the Strategic Air and Space museum near Omaha. I was immediately struck by how small of a plane it is. From photos with the tall landing gear you'd think it was bigger than it is but when you see it parked next to a Phantom and Aaardvarf, it is really just a slightly biggee three-seat Phantom. I've never seen pictures of a Hustler next to a Thud but I'd imagine they would have a similar size difference as between a Silverado and Colorado pickup.

I enjoyed your interview with Col. Holt. The B-58 was an amazing aircraft, especially for the time it was created. I don't have Col. Holt's book but he did not mention in the interview some key differences between the B-58 & B-52. The B-58 was a nuclear strike weapon with almost no use as a conventional bomber, were the B-52 coluld deliver up to 70,000 lbs of conventional weapons and the 1st generation crusie missles. In the late 60s budgets were tighening and an aircraft with a single purpose was less desirable than one with multiple roles. Also, the F-111 was becoming operational in the late 60s and it could do the low level high speed strike mission with both conventional and nuclear weapons.

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

Hi Scott, thanks for watching! The point George is making is effort and appropriation, I think. Which, to a large degree he does have one. There is a case for the B-58 to have been made multirole capable, given the nature of the weapons pod and the increasingly smaller avionics. The F-111 took a long while to come good on most of its promises too.

@smark1180

6 ай бұрын

The FB-111 could not support the SIOP war plan, of which the B-58 was a part, until 71-72.

@scottgrimwood8868

6 ай бұрын

I understand your point of view. I am not sure the cost of converting the B-58 to convention strike operations would have justified it's limited conventional weapons load because of its design. The B-58 was a great plane that served its purpose, though, for fewer years than some people would have liked.

@smark1180

6 ай бұрын

@@scottgrimwood8868 What I wrote isn't a "point of view." When the B-58 was retired, there weren't enough bombers for the SIOP war plan because the FB-111 wasn't able to replace them until later. I have no idea how your comment about conventional strike operations is relevant to that.

@scottgrimwood8868

6 ай бұрын

@smark1180 I apologize for misinterpreting your reply. It is obvious that you have greater knowledge than me on the subject. I appreciate you correcting the faulty portion of my statement. Have a good day.

Pressure Instruments reacting as shockwaves move across the pitot tues.

Just imagine a plane of such size capable of Mach2, & still more fantastic the B-70 flying at Mach3 The Bounder bombasted as M2 able just did subsonic, exit bounder

When did the B-58 arrive at Pima A M? I was there 10 years ago and don't remember seeing it and don't have a picture of it either.

@get2dachoppa249

6 ай бұрын

It was there when visited the museum in 1999.

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

61-2080 has been there since the late 70s but was referbished a while ago. She may have been in the restortaion area when you visited.

Fantastic aircraft, she still looks futuristic!

I assume that the nose landing gear retracted rearwards into its bay to avoid the under slung fuel/ weapons pod?

@damcasterspod

2 ай бұрын

The nose gear does a double hinge and goes forward and up.

Interesting stuff.

Going faster than sound, you were outrunning the thunderclap I bet.

How did the escape capsules really perform ?

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

Reasonably well. When I get back to Pima I'm going to do a further video with the capsule they have in their restoration shed. But, given the complexities of it, a good old fashioned 'bang-seat' has been the norm since.

I have that great book!

I wonder if the onset of the Hounddog missile and the introduction of the cruise missile requirig a solid launch platform, would have possibly played a role in the termination of the B-58 program.

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

It is likely. The modification to the centreline weapons stations on the B-58 would have been tricky, plus the added issues around the potential speed etc

@gort8203

6 ай бұрын

A B-58 was more "solid" than a B-52, so I don't see what you mean by "a solid launch platform." The B-58 was a spectacular airplane, designed for a mission profile that became untenable due to SAMs. But to fully understand why it was considered no longer cost-effective we would also have to look at the targets it was intended for. We can speculate that it was meant to get in ahead of B-52s and take out time-critical counterforce targets, and perhaps air defense targets in order to open up the path for the B-52s. As the Air Force stood more and more ICBMs up on alert, they probably took over many counterforce targets that had been assigned to the B-58, and perhaps air defense assets as well. Nothing could get to them faster than an ICBM. A B-58 could bomb more accurately than an ICBM, which would still make it valuable for hardened targets that the CEP of an ICBM made it less likely to destroy. But if a silo is empty when the B-58 gets there its bomb has a Pk of zero. Once the B-58 had to penetrate on the deck due to SAMs its range suffered, and it probably couldn't reach many targets that an ICBM could. Another fact often overlooked is that the B-58 could not reliably penetrate on the deck at night or in bad weather. The airplane that replaced it, the FB-111, was designed to do that very thing. The FB-111 could also carry multiple SRAMs, the replacement for the Hound Dog. I'm sure the B-58 could have carried SRAMs on its wing root pylons, but again, it was not an all-weather low-level penetrator.

and yes i was 8 yrs old when the B58 caught fire on the runway with 5 nukes on board we could see the smoke.

To be honest , strategic nuclear bombers like the B-58 was like a manned ballistic missile, if it ever delivered the weapons they may not have a base to return to...the point was for a one time penetration run at high speed. It served as a 'deterrent'.

@debbest8546

6 ай бұрын

There were plans to get them back. They could forward deploy and land in North Africa or Turkey after dropping the big one on Moscow. Great interview.

@billrbca

6 ай бұрын

@@debbest8546 grim business to plan for that scenario

how can i get u in touch with col george holt jr?

Pima has a b58 and allows you to bring your dog. Coolest museum in America

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

Very proud to be sponsored by Pima. Will be heading back in the new year and with do sometihng with the B-58 there.

@bfc3057

6 ай бұрын

I was lucky to visit in 2018 from UK - amazing museum. Thrilled to see a B-58

@308VFS

5 ай бұрын

@@damcasterspod If you can "layover" in Dayton Ohio it will be worth the extra stop and time. The USAF Museum is superb as are all the Wright Brother's exhibits through out the city. And I mean it when I say it takes nothing away from the Pima Museum. Both are world class museums.

This is my favorite period in military aviation history from around the mid '50s to the early '60s. At least in the US there were SO many interesting and exciting aircraft, most of which either didn't last long or just weren't used all that much. For every F 105 Thud there was maybe another 10 or so B 58 Hustlers. I don't mean individual aircraft. I mean different, lesser known, models. To my taste they were also just cooler and somehow sexier beasts back then. Whereas todays planes may be smarter or higher tech that was the age of brute muscle and style.

The J79's in my F4E Phantom developed approx. 18,000 lbs Thrust each on full burner. You said 15,000 on the B-58's J79's. Why the lower thrust? Didn't the Hustler get upgrades?

@smark1180

17 күн бұрын

B-58 had -5A or -5B. F4E had the -17.

Thank you

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

You're welcome!

That must have been amazing that such a fast aircraft could appear to stand stationary in the air like a helicopter!

Besides the beautiful B-58, I find Convair to be an interesting company, with spectacular successes and failures. One thing that is surprising is how could they design such a beautiful futuristic B-58, yet design such poor performers as the B-36 (which benefited from NO warfare use) and especially the awful XB-60 which was such a poor design it had NO chance against the far superior competitor it eventually lost to, namely the venerable B-52. Of course there’s the very interesting Kingfisher which ended up losing to Lockheed’s spectacular A-12. I always wondered if the Kingfisher had been selected, how would it have faired and would it have been a success?

@minhthunguyendang9900

3 ай бұрын

I think that Convair failures are due 1$t & la$t to incompetence in mercantile bizne$$ practices. Like North American Aviation.

4 J-79 Engines wow make a lot of Howling.

The T-38 and modern fighters do not burble when they go supersonic.

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

It was something of a standard at the time, one that has better understood in the decades since. The Concorde story I mention is one where a lot of the work was figured out as the aircraft was already expensive to fly and the spilled champaigne costs would not have helped things.

Damn, with this info, the USAF should write a regret letter concerning the deactivation of the B-58. I hope just 1 can be restored to operational. I would donate to that cause.

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

it would certainly be something to see one fly again, but I feel that ship has long sailed.

@turkey0165

6 ай бұрын

​@damcasterspod If there's one thing I have learned in life, nothing is impossible!

@user-pp1ni2jy3f

6 ай бұрын

Union Pacific steam locomotive #4014 was restored to operation a few years ago. NO ONE thought it possible for over 50 years. All it takes is dedication and money.

the B-58 succeeded in it's mission by forcing the Soviets to spend resources building fighter to shoot it down.

@smark1180

4 ай бұрын

Deterrent.

@minhthunguyendang9900

3 ай бұрын

& building M50 « Bounder » to gallivant just once as flying girdle to the Wall 😂😂😂

Was the FB-111 an effective replacement.

@damcasterspod

Ай бұрын

Given the politics around the FB-111, I'm biased against it.

Thanks was the coolest aircraft ever.

Great

I have your book and I was wondering why you never mentioned that the B58s were eventually made a drone. I was stationed at Davis Monthan AFB from 1970-1973 and I had an extra duty of working with personnel at the aircraft storage area. While I was there they taxied a B58 from the storage prep area to the runway and had it to go to the runway and did a high speed run down the runway and as it lifted the nose gear it popped it drag shots and taxied back into the prep area and it did all of this with no one on board the aircraft. We we told that they wanted to fly it to Wright Paterson Air Force museum and had No flight manuals any more or qualified pilots to fly it. We were told the FFA wouldn’t allow it because the computer that flew it was preset before takeoff and couldn’t be changed in flight. Late we were told disassembled it and trucked it to WPAFB. While I was still there before being stationed in England I accompanied some technicians out to the aircraft’s and I was told they took the computer that controlled it out before they were going to be scrapped and no body could go into the storage area without an escort. I just wonder how come you never mentioned this in you book or was you not aware of this.

@smark1180

26 күн бұрын

Provide evidence that any B-58s were converted to drones.

Terrific interview. The B-1 seems to taken a lot from this plane. It could be coincidence, but I see the similarities.

@smark1180

5 ай бұрын

Specify.

@dukeford8893

4 ай бұрын

The two have practically nothing in common, other than four engines and a tail.

@smark1180

4 ай бұрын

@@dukeford8893 Only part of a tail.

Convair made some amazing planes ...

No warbird we have looked sexier than this thing. I wonder if the families of the crewmen of the 30+ B-52s lost in in Vietnam ever read Mr. Holt's book. There's a video on KZread of this thing conducting low-level (as in 500ft) penetration training across the U.S. West when Sputnik was still up in orbit! That's 10 years before Mr. Holt even got his ride aboard one, so its effectiveness as a low-level penetrator a decade before SAMs were shooting down US warbirds over Vietnam. Apparently, it was Annie Oakley in its bombing runs, as in super-accurate and stealthy before stealth was stealth.

So obsolete they made it twice. When I look at the B1, all I see is a scaled up B58 with the engines moved inboard (well, inboard-ish by comparison), and variable geometry wings. Yes, its a gross oversimplification, but that's what my designer's eye sees, and I can't unsee it.

@damcasterspod

5 ай бұрын

How is the B-1 obsolete? The aircraft has been vital in every conflict and role the USAF has asked of it for the last two and a half decades. We did a double episode on the B-1A and B-1B back at the begining of the podcast.

@smark1180

5 ай бұрын

"Yes, its a gross oversimplification." To say the least.

A fabulous interview. Congratulations Col. Holt. The Canadian Air Force had the Avro Arrow. The U.S. Air Force had the Convair B-58 Hustler. Which by the way bears a striking resemblance to the Arrow. In my opinion, the two best fighters ever made, yes, even to this day. Both abandoned. Why? Politics.

@guaporeturns9472

6 ай бұрын

Fighters?

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

The British had the TS-2, which was scrapped for the F-111 that was never bought.

@damcasterspod

6 ай бұрын

High speed aircraft I belive the poster means.

@Kasartsart0

6 ай бұрын

Fighters.... fighter jets sir.

@dukeford8893

4 ай бұрын

@@Kasartsart0 The Hustler was a strategic bomber. The Arrow was an interceptor. The two designs had very little in common.