I was in High School when we were let out of class to go outdoors and see the B-58 fly by as it circled Fort Worth. An F-102 flew on its outboard wing as chase plane. What a sight !!!

It looks like it’s Mach 1 just sitting on the ramp. Such a majestic airplane. Thanks for sharing.

@martyviehweg4001

22 күн бұрын

It was the coolest airplane ever built. As a young kid I had them practically in my back yard. The runway was close to base housing. When it took off with afterburner the houses would shake

@pixsilvb9638

22 күн бұрын

You just said it: Majestic! 🤩

I met John Denver’s father, “Dutch” Derfendorfer who held the world’s speed record from the west coast to the east coast in a B-58.

I was born at Carswell AFB in 1959. The B58 was coming of the assembly line right across the runway. The 43rd Bomb Wing my father was a crewmember of transfered to Little Rock AFB in 1964 and remainded there till 1970. I was 7 when I got to sit in the pilot seat of one of the record setting aircraft. For the trivia buffs, John Denver"s father Col Deutschendorf was a B58 pilot with the 43rd

@armcchargues8623

22 күн бұрын

My dad was B58 mechanic in Little Rock in 1967-68. He hated those things. Said they required 50 hours of maintenance for every hour in the air. He said because of the high landing speed, it would blow tires all the time.

@piay9647

21 күн бұрын

literally named the hustle err.

@christopherskipp1525

20 күн бұрын

John Denver had an aircraft problem.

@warrenjones744

20 күн бұрын

In the 80's there was a the picked over carcass of a B58 in a material storage area adjacent next to main taxiway at Little Rock. It looked fast even in it's sorry condition.

@ntal5859

16 күн бұрын

You must be so proud of your father joining a murderous group of government sanction killers. Seriously how can anyone be proud of anything to do with killing from 50 000ft.

I remember having a toy B-58 as a little kid. I had seen pictures of the B-29 and B-36 in my encyclopedias as a kid, but this was something totally different. I thought it was the coolest airplane ever until I saw an F-4 Fighter. Then I was truly hooked. I did 24 years in the Air Force on (wait for it)...C-130s. Yup, started on E model trash haulers, was on the AC-130U Gunship Test Team, worked Combat Shadows and Talon IIs, then finished on H model trash haulers. AND LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!

@garyhooper1820

22 күн бұрын

Thank you for your service .

@larrybremer4930

22 күн бұрын

Nothing wrong with the Herky Bird. I have plenty of trips on them in USMC and would love to have seen a Spectre or Spooky lighting up an area, so that must have been a cool experience for you. I can still hardly fathom firing 105mm howitzers from an aircraft as a direct fire weapon.

@vonhalberstadt3590

20 күн бұрын

One of my first models was the B-58. Beautiful aircraft. Thanks for your story and your commitment to our freedoms. God bless you.

@johnhagemeyer8578

18 күн бұрын

I worked in Air Port AD squadron. We did practice air drops at Moses Lake WA. My job was on the ground, recovering practice loads and parachutes. Our w30 crews always said, " I would rather screw my way around than suck and blow like the c141 pilots" who also did air drops at the same location.

I met and hung out with a Hustler pilot and copilot at an air show, they said it wasn’t the most reliable plane due to the many high performance new systems crammed into it. They loved it though and were really proud of their time in the plane. I didn’t get the sense they called themselves “the bravest,” they did their jobs and were glad to be assigned to the new cool plane.

@richardlongfellow2159

21 күн бұрын

❤😢😅😅

All the guys with their drafting tables, t-squares and slide rules. Really cool.

One of the best looking jets ever built.

@craigwall9536

19 күн бұрын

It's a 150% scale-up of the F-102.

@bigrich6750

19 күн бұрын

B-58 Hustler

4 J 79 jet engines, with afterburner, Jet Fighter Engines. I had the privilege of seeing this jet fly, when I was young, then later worked and flew in F 4D Phantom. 2 J 79s in that jet. Now retired and happy to see your video!😊

@jimsteinway695

11 күн бұрын

I was a wild weasel F4G guy

This was the most badass bomber in history.

@alainbellemare2168

23 күн бұрын

1950 60 engineers were badsasses

@MadMattH

23 күн бұрын

@@alainbellemare2168 Got to love the pipes.

@wawa8408

22 күн бұрын

Got better Germans.

@iffracem

22 күн бұрын

Valkerie... I am a joke to you?

@thomasharper4166

22 күн бұрын

XB70!

A remarkable achievement, particularly considering it was designed in the mid 1950s. Very experienced crew, some of whom later joined the SR-71 program. Worth remembering that while building the B-58 Convair were also building the F-102/F-106, R5Y Tradewind, XFY-1 Pogo VTOL, F2Y Seadart, and the SM-65 Atlas ICBM / Space launcher. Unfortunately it achieved operational status roughly at the same time that SAM development rendered high altitude penetration less survivable. Low level performance was also impressive, but range limiting. Finishing problem was high operational costs, only two wings created, with overall costs roughly equivalent to 6 wings of B-52s. Beautiful plane though.

@mdbryan9525

23 күн бұрын

My uncle was a weapons control operator on the B-58 and went on to be a yf -12 weapons control operator shooting hypersonic missles at B-47 target drones over the Gulf of Mexico.

@dennisyoung4631

21 күн бұрын

SR-71 = “the Black Egret.”

One of my aviation mentors, Capt. Bill Hale flew the B-58 and was the highest time B-58 pilot in the USAF. In april 1962 he was taking off at Bunker Hill and got an un-commanded roll he couldn't arrest and called for an eject. One crewman was lost. When I visit the AF Museum at Wright-Pat I spend a lot of time around the B-58. Magnificent machine.

@willyTB1962

21 күн бұрын

Hey, Kevin….I flew with Bill also on the B727 for UPS. He told me the story of ejecting out at Grissom and had photos of the ejection. Great stories….great pilot! RIP…

A dear departed friend once flew the B-58. I listened to his stories for hours when he worked at our local airfield as an elderly line boy.

One of the coolest looking jets to fly!

That's one badass looking aircraft.

Convair built some badass aircraft. Speed was always something that they worked hard on. The Convair 880 and 990 were good examples.

My Dad bought me the Revell model of the B-58 in 1963 when we lived on Holloman AFB NM. This was around the same time he took me out on the flight line to see a brand new F4 Phantom.

@user-vs4hg4og5p

22 күн бұрын

Yes Holloman, Alamogordo, I was also stationed there, working on F 4Ds, and T 38B Aggressors. 😊

@user-vs4hg4og5p

22 күн бұрын

Yes I was also stationed there, working on F 4Ds and T 38B Aggressors. Good day to you. 😊

@stevecausey545

22 күн бұрын

Atlantis models has just re released the first Revell B58..

@jimsteinway695

11 күн бұрын

@@user-vs4hg4og5pI’ve been to Holloman but was at George AFB working on F4Gs

My step father was a USAF test pilot on the Hustler. He said he loss one of his friends in Utah after the aircraft loss control at high altitude. He told me it was a unforgiving airplane and he was glad his number of takeoffs equaled the number landings in B-58. The ejection capsule was an automatic coffin.

@SkepticalSteve01

22 күн бұрын

So how many times were the ejection capsules actually used? And what was the survival rate? Did they work at all?

@dukeford8893

20 күн бұрын

@@SkepticalSteve01 Yes, they worked, about as well as any other contemporary system. It wasn't "an automatic coffin". The ejection parameters were pretty narrow, though. If you ejected and died, you were probably out of the envelope.

@SkepticalSteve01

19 күн бұрын

So… best used when in straight & level flight? When you might prefer to stay in the plane? And you don’t know if you’re “out of the envelope” until you’re dead? Sounds very reassuring.

@dukeford8893

17 күн бұрын

That's some convoluted reasoning right there, Steve. You don't have a clue, do you?

@SkepticalSteve01

17 күн бұрын

@@dukeford8893 You must have a really unusual definition of “convoluted”, chum.

I remember the Hustler featuring in the classic cold war political thriller "Failsafe".

@MalachiWhite-tw7hl

20 күн бұрын

I believe it was stock footage; the Air Force declined to provide aircraft for filming due to the politically-sensitive plot of the movie.

@gusm2752

14 күн бұрын

Great movie but the aircraft cockpit was misrepresented. They show pilot and copilot sitting side by side and a third crew member right behind. Not how the B-58 was configured.

Interesting that the same outfit that produced the B-36 then produced the B-58 from the same production line in Fort Worth. Quite a developmental step forward wouldn't you say?

One of all time greatest aircraft of all time ! You can see some of B1 bomber design features in it !

The British worked out that speed wasn't everything and switched to high altitude to low level. Their own delta wing, the Vulcan, successfully nuked the US twice in exercises even when the US knew they were coming.

@MalachiWhite-tw7hl

20 күн бұрын

We in the US should be thankful for the British nuclear deterrent--it kept the Soviets uncertain as to who would react, and how.

@jimsteinway695

11 күн бұрын

I don’t know why all the British designs were just not attractive compared to American designs. I sat in a Vulcan. Looked like a 1936 design

"Communication was done by passing hand written notes back and forth". I spit up my coffee when he said that. Besides skill and experience as a pilot, you needed good hand writing to qualify to fly this plane. 😂😂😂😂😂

Not many bombers have magazines named after them

@douglascooper1987

7 күн бұрын

😁🤣

The whole thing is an engineering marvel

@franksizzllemann5628

22 күн бұрын

Watching the pod drop 0:24 - don't see that very often - After seeing some of the engineering films for ordinance releases gone wrong, where ordinance obtained lift for instance, "phew."

@s.porter8646

20 күн бұрын

@@franksizzllemann5628 yea...dropping at(X) speed times time+elevation to target = MERICA

@franksizzllemann5628

20 күн бұрын

@@s.porter8646 Forget the pod, reinforce the cockpit and strap a booster to it. How about a D-21, or would Kelly Johnson object? Faster than a B-52, safer than between the rudders of a Blackbird.

It’s truly amazing how much we’ve advanced since then. The humble F-16 has almost doubled the thrust in afterburner from it’s single engine than the B-58 has in two combined.

Crazy me. To run a project to build an updated -58 with today’s tech, materials, engines, electronics, manufacturing and super computers. With the goal of staying as close as possible to the original form and configuration. I have no doubt all issue would be solved and the result would be spectacular.

I saw a B-58 take off from Kadena Air Force Base on Okinawa in 1968. What an awesome sight!

I went into the USAF Jan of 1964, after tech school ( mechanic ) was stationed at Edwards AFB and was assigned to the ground crew of the TB-58 Hustler. The title should read only the best of the best pilots and ground crew where chosen to fly and work on the B-58. A complicated aircraft to work on, but not so much that a good mechanic could learn and do the inspections and upgrades to the plane. This bomber was a great airplane to be around and keep flying. A beautiful machine with great power. My time spent with the B-58 was the best years of my career. Went on to be a master aircraft mechanic 43171E on C-141A's and C-130E's they where good airplanes but pale comparison to the B-58.

@jimsteinway695

11 күн бұрын

I was enlisted Air Force and the Air Force didn’t care who went to work on what aircraft as long as you passed your tech school. Believe me I saw guys who were so so mechanical and techs on very good aircraft. From F4s to F15s and F16s. I knew I didn’t want to waste my time being a tech so I got out used the GI bill got my engineering degree and went to China Lake and worked as a scientist for the Navy in weapons development.

Incredibly beautiful airplane! I remember building a plastic model kit of the B-58 Hustler back in the Fifties. I also remember Jimmy Stewart praising its attributes and it winning the Harmon speed trophy... that was after watching his movie "Strategic Air Command" with those awesome but ponderous B-36s. Unforgettable is a great scene of a B-36 Peacemaker flying through a series of billowing clouds! JJS

It was a '1 trick pony' but it looked intimidating. I guess the Bone is the closest thing we have nowdays. I wished they could of saved a few for airshows, it would of been a helluva draw.

One of these beasts flew over us when my dad worked at GE Evendale. We got the sonic BOOM

The B58 and the XB70 my two favorite planes.SuperCool👍👍

Bunker Hill AFB was later named (Gus) Grissom AFB in Indiana, north of Indianapolis on US 31.

The plane was just too advanced for its time. Using the experience from Convair, General dynamics, after a few false starts, got it right with the F-111, which could carry much more versatile bomb load and could safely fly at low altitude, thanks to its terrain following radar.

In the mid 60s I saw these take off at Grissom AFB, loved it.

As a very young boy living in Tacoma WA I saw several flights of B58s flying in and out of McChord AF base in 1964; first military planes I ever saw. Of course I thought they were the coolest thing ever.

Having seen one of these in person multiple times I can say that this video does the beauty of this plane zero justice

My dad was a HH-43 rescue pilot. We moved to Bunker Hill AFB in fall of 1966 after he completed a remote tour at Korat in Thailand. I was 11 and we lived on base, which was a fantastic experience. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and listening to more than a dozen B-58s taking off with full afterburners. Lots of my friends' dads were NCOs, pilots, navigators, and DSOs. Unfortunately, there were crashes (3 while I was there if I remember correctly), one of my neighbors on the block included. I remember one while we were going walking home from school for lunch and there was a big cloud of black smoke towards the flight line. I was there when Bunker Hill became Grissom AFB - there was huge airshow and my boy scout troop (369) served a lot of refreshments.

My favorite plane of all time.

This aircraft looks cool standing still as it does when it's flying.

An absolute beauty

I worked in the tower at Little Rock AFB 1969. They were something. When they reported 15 miles on final you didn't have another a/c in front of them. The speed on final was very high. They retired them and took them away moving the C-130's from Sewart AFB in Smyrna to Little Rock.

Growing up for awhile at Webb AFB early 60's I used to see a few from time to time on the flight line. My dad was crash/rescue and stationed at the flight line fire station so would visit him there. I thought they were giant Delta Darts...

The official AF history gives a typical B-58 mission as “take off and buddy-cruising subsonic with a KC-135 with final refueling near enemy territory”. The B-58 evolved incredibly from early 1950’s concepts that began with a mini-plane carried by a B-36, to a split-body where the lower half including radar and nose gear would be disposable. I knew original test pilot Beryl Erickson and took him on a museum tour where they had one of the escape pods - said the B-58 was his favorite plane to fly.

Lived near a base that flew these,many sonic booms on those days.

I saw one of those take off once. Damn was it LOUD.

One of my favorite jets was the B58. also the F104 star fighter.

Silly title but good documentary- at the time Convair build the fastest bomber, fighter and airliner…amazing (B-58, F-106, CV990)

You left out 'Project Greased Lightning' - the B-58 sitting on display in the SAC & USAF Museum way out in Nebraska. That specially prepared plane flew from Tokyo to Anchorage and on over the North Pole to London, just over 8000 miles in 8 hours. She inspired a whole lot of Hotrodders, as you may have heard.

Strategically, the B-58 caused the USSR to spend a fortune on air defense. So, the two wings actually penciled out. It's not mentioned, but the USAF had many WWIII scenarios where the planes were to be sent on one-way missions. The pilots were expected to E&E their way home. (!!!) This is not as crazy as it seems -- as the enemy would have 'issues' to deal with. Their cities would be gone, their everything would be gone. The assumption was that the USA would also be gone, too.

At the time Russia has NOTHING like this. Not even close. Most of their bombers in the 50’s and 60’s still had propellers.

A restored B-58 Hustler is on display at Little Rock AFB heritage park.

A 9 megaton warhead... same as the Titan II. Enormous firepower.

1969 Little Rock AFB spent many hours in the Cole, heat, rain guarding these monsters. Finally retrained for an inside job, thank the Lord.

Love this plane !! Ihad /built a model of it ! It was also used in a Hollywood movie !!!!!!!!

Even today, it's a better looking airplane than anything the Soviets have ever built.

My very favorite plane of all time!!

A co-worker who had worked on them in the Air Force said they were a maintenance nightmare. None of the access panels we see in contemporary aircraft.

Growing up in North Little Rock, Arkansas, I used to see the Hustlers flying overhead.

The F106 Delta Dart was another delta wing design with internal Bombay designed by Convair.

Demanding to fly and a maintenance hog, but hands down one of the most beautiful jets to ever fly.

These old planes just looked BADASS, what incredible designs - and all without the sophisticated computers we have today. Also - nothing can top flying a warplane called a HUSTLER.

I think flying any aircraft "wrong" will lead to problems.

The ejection system is really something.

A Mach 2 delta wing bomber is going to be trickier to take off and land than a B-52. Maybe the average pilot just couldn’t cut the mustard, hence the high accident rate. Its reputation is undeserved, as was the F-104s.

Horsefeathers. Hundreds of pilots flew the B-58.

Like an oversized MiG-21, Convair's award-winning 'hot rod' B-58 Hustler was THE bad-ass bomber beauty of its time. I know because my uncle, a B-58 DSO (LtCol retired), told me so.

@smark1180

16 күн бұрын

False. The Mig-21 was not a tail-less delta wing aircraft.

Worked with an instrument tech (or whatever was the speciality) who performed maintenance on B-58s, and he said you could dial in the automatic navigation systems and come back after a restroom break to have to start all over again because of system instability. They didn't quite understand the idea of Uncertainty Budgets in those days. Ground Breaking? Isn't that a little MORBID?!

Awesome, 3 Guys strapped into a Missile.

We used to watch them coming into Grissom Air Base in the late fifties.

@smark1180

16 күн бұрын

No, you didn't. B-58s were not stationed there until 1961. "The second wing to receive the B-58 was the 305th BW at Bunker Hill AFB. Equipping of the wing began in December of 1960. Following official instigation of the reorganization of the unit on January 9, 1961 and its attainment of wing status on February 1, the first aircraft was flown to Bunker Hill on May 11."

Epic aircraft

While stationed at Travis watch one take off it clear the runway pulled straight up and it was gone. i was stationed at Luke never saw an F 104 do that.

There is another video on KZread on a "Bunker 24" in Moscow, which teached from a subway stop. It says that the B-58s based in Western Europe made this bunker necessary.

5:13 When a bomb LOOKED like a bomb!!!!

I was hoping to see a comment by a member of the air crew or ground crew. I guess not. I worked on them at Grissom (formerly Bunker Hill) from '67 until the aircraft was mothballed in 1970 when most of us in the automatic flight controls group (avionics) were transferred to Castle AFB in CA.

@dwightsmith4641

18 күн бұрын

Unfortunately, many would be rather long in the tooth by now. My father was a test engineer on it and did the speed tests in the 50’s. We went to Erickson’s funeral in 2006. My father made it to 2019.

@ron.v

18 күн бұрын

@@dwightsmith4641 I watched a test pilot at Grissom AFB stand one on it's tail upon takeoff as he kicked in all 4 afterburners and took off like a rocket! Those of us watching just stood there with our mouths open. Obviously none of the AF pilots had done (nor could they do) anything like that. Congrats to your dad for being one of the great ones.

What a beautiful plane. Guess I’d be one of the brave ones, as I would have given anything to fly that beast. As a retired corporate pilot with 20k hrs in my book, I would have loved to at least get a back seat ride in it. Now that’s a real airplane. Loud, smokey and fast !!!!

If there are any still flyable today (and I doubt that there are) I wonder how they would perform with Fly-by-Wire technology….

I read before where they said pilots were scared of the plane and with such a high accident rate that would be understandable. It would have taken only the best of the best to fly the plane . Landings were at 200 kts and with a high angle of attack pilots had to look out the side windows and know the landmarks of the runway in order to safely land . For a pilot though there would have been no greater experience then this jet I can only imagine what a ride it must of been . For the pilots that died in the gorgeous Hustler without a doubt they died doing what they loved doing .

They used footage of the b58 in the original movie Fail Safe, and I think the b 46 also...

What a beautiful monster 🇺🇲

Did those ejection seats work??

The pilot and rear seaters in the Hustler often had two or three aeronautical ratings.

Wow!

Pretty sure the actor Jimmy Stewart spent some time in this bird.

@dukeford8893

20 күн бұрын

One (1) orientation ride in a TB-58 (the trainer version).

@smark1180

16 күн бұрын

@@dukeford8893 What is your source for that? The (staged) movie of Stewart shows him with a B-58, not a TB-58.

Don't know why the B-58 was hazardous to fly, the delta wing was a good design, Sweden had several delta wing planes.

"Hussler"? Should have been called "Hotrod"!

Even today the bloody thing looks advanced! 😧

Can’t believe the back seaters had no windows. That suuuucckkks!!,

@joshuajuarez3471

22 күн бұрын

I mean the sr 71 had windows

@djjmann

21 күн бұрын

But they had a pull string and hand signals!? LMAO

Great Channel! Fantastic content. Wonderful aircraft. Keep up the amazing work! 👌

This feels far more negative against this jet than necessary

I believe John Denver’s father ‘ Dutch’ Deutschendorf was a decorated B 58 pilot ...

The F-102 had problems with top speed. The F-106 used the "Area Rule" & was MUCH faster. B-58 was very cool.

u gotta watch Tall Man 55. epic.

Why are the two inner engines lower?

Definitely the best looking bomber ever. Sexy Sally just icing on a very good cake!

Outboard engine failure at supersonic speeds would result in the loss of the vertical stabilizer.

Amazing such an advanced jet was designed with pencil, paper, and a slide rule.

Wings aren't thick enough. 😊

It would have been cool to 4 of those bad boys to do some precision aerobatics