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Description
| Manufacturer: | Convair | |
| Base model: | B-58 | |
| Designation: | B-58 | |
| Version: | A | |
| Nickname: | Hustler | |
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | |
| Designation Period: | 1924-Present | |
| Basic role: | Bomber | |
| First Flew: | 1956/11/11 | |
Specifications
| Length: | 96' 9" | 29.4 m | |
| Height: | 51' 5" | 15.6 m | |
| Wingspan: | 56' 10" | 17.3 m | |
| Wingarea: | 7,542.0 sq ft | 700.6 sq m | |
| Empty Weight: | 55,560 lb | 25,197 kg | |
| Gross Weight: | 163,000 lb | 73,922 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 4 | ||
| Powerplant: | General Electric J79-GE-5B | ||
| Thrust (each): | 15,600 lb | 7,074 kg | |
Performance
| Range: | 5,028 miles | 8,096 km | |
| Cruise Speed: | 700 mph | 1,127 km/h | 609 kt |
| Max Speed: | 1,385 mph | 2,230 km/h | 1,205 kt |
| Climb: | 17,830 ft/min | 5,434 m/min | |
| Ceiling: | 63,400 ft | 19,323 m | |
History
| Date | Subject | Event |
| 1960/08/01 | The Convair B-58A Huster, the USAF's first supersonic bomber, entered service with the 43rd Bomb Wing at Carxwell AFB, TX. | |
| 1961/05/10 | A USAF Convair B-58A Hustler set a new speed record of 1,302 mph, and was awarded the Bleriot Trophy.
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| 1962/03/05 | The USAF set a new world speed record over a recognized course (Unlimited) for a flight from Los angeles to New York in a Convair B-58A (Sn 59-2458), averaging 1,214.65 mph. This flight earned the USAF the Bendix troph
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Known serial numbers
Examples of this type may be found at
| Museum | City | State |
| Air Force Flight Test Center Museum | Edwards AFB | California |
| Kelly Field Heritage Museum | Kelly AFB | Texas |
| Pima Air & Space Museum | Tucson | Arizona |
| Strategic Air Command Museum | Ashland | Nebraska |
| United States Air Force Museum | Wright-Patterson | Ohio |
B-58A on display
Air Force Flight Test Center Museum | Kelly Field Heritage Museum | Pima Air & Space Museum | Strategic Air Command Museum | |
United States Air Force Museum |
Recent comments by our visitors
| Bill Heisler , SC | Served in 43rd OMS as Acft. Maint. Officer from 1964-1969. B-58 was nightmare to maintain but beautiful to watch during T/O, especially at night. Had great NCOs and maintenance crews that made my job easy. 01/04/2013 @ 15:02 [ref: 67476] |
| Dickie Bishop , AR | I was stationed at LRAFB from Jan '67 till Jan '70. Worked on 436 and 021 for Henry Stephens. I was Crew Chief on 458 and sent it to the Museum. 03/08/2011 @ 14:15 [ref: 36559] |
| B2Boy , MO | This is for jack Gilbert; there is a B58 at Wright-Patterson Air Museum. I believe it won the Collier Trophy. 03/26/2010 @ 08:53 [ref: 25926] |
| Tom Smith Rancho Palos Verdes, CA | I worked at Edwards AFB from 1959 through 1963 as a mathematician. My first job was to do the computer programming for the B58 escape capsule testing. In 1961 (I think) I did the data processing for the B58 Bleriot Trophy speed record - I was told it was pulling about 8 Gs in a 90 degree bank all the way around the course which exceeded the aircraft approved design limits. I have a Zippo lighter commemorating the flight. I heard that about two weeks later the crew was killed rolling another B58 at the Paris air show. I also watched Major (at the time) Fitzhugh Fulton make an emergency landing after blowing 7 tires on his B58. He had to fly around to burn off fuel and drop the weapons pod. We climbed on top of a building near the flight line to watch. There were lots of sparks as pieces of the right landing gear wheels disintegrated and went through the wing. A few weeks later some of us went to the M&M (maintenance & modification) hangar to look at it. We there told that they had milled the wing down while on the plane, filled it with epoxy, then milled it flush - they said it was better than new. 08/08/2009 @ 12:23 [ref: 24333] |
| Jack Gilbert rRio Rancho, NM | I believe there is a B-58 on display at Little Rock AFB, AR. 02/26/2009 @ 06:52 [ref: 23811] |
| Patrick J. Conklin USN/SS Ret. Kingsland, GA | Have loved this plane since I was a kid. Had the Revell model and was more caught up with the plane then the storyline from the movie "FAILSAFE" the first couple of times I watched it. Ended up doing a career serving on submarines with no regrets. My wife this christmas got me a beautiful desktop display of a B-58 from scalecraft.com named "THE PULASKI HUSTLER" (The Pulaski SSBN-633(G) was my first boat.) I would very much like to contact any of the surving crew to see if they would like to sign the display stand. Can anyone help?
THANKS and have a GREAT New Year! 01/06/2009 @ 20:45 [ref: 23429] |
| r cooper , OK | Was stationed at LRAFB 43rd fms as a jet engine mech J-57, J-79. 64-67. The B58 was(is) the greatest. 11/14/2008 @ 14:23 [ref: 23068] |
| Bob Gay , TN | I was stationed at LRAFB from Sept. 1966 thru Sept. 1967.
I was a ground crew member (Launch and Recovery). I worked on Team 2. Team 2's Team Chief was MSGT. Harrision, the Crew Chief I worked for was TSGT.Calldwell. I rember some names that were on Team 2. SSGT Todd, AFC. Hibbits. I worked on AC 57-0021. I would like to know if anyone remerbers these people and If anyone remembers Cripple 4. Bob Gay keyhole2@comcast.net 09/04/2008 @ 09:44 [ref: 22611] |
| Topgun10 tyler, TX | if anybody has any helpful pics of a B-58 paint scheme please email it to lennkv@sbcglobal.net,thank you very much. 01/29/2008 @ 17:36 [ref: 19468] |
| Howard Keck, TSgt, USAF, (RET) St. Augustine, FL | I was stationed at Carswell AFB, Tex. from '59 to '64. Was acft. mech. on B-58's, 43rd OMS. Org. moved to Little Rock AFB, Ark. in '64, Assigned as Crew Chief on B-58 Ser. No. 59-2445 for about 3 yrs. Also worked in Job Cont. and Maint. Debriefing. Stayed with the 43rd BW till de-activation of the B-58. Like to hear from guys who worked on this fantastic, ahead of it's time, aircraft. Later was assigned to 319th BW, Grand Forks ND, 6 mo. TDY to Guam, worked Job Cont. (B-52G's) Later spent a tour at Kadena AB, Okinawa in Job Cont. on KC-135's. Retired in Aug. '76 12/22/2007 @ 15:21 [ref: 19014] |
Recent photos uploaded by our visitors
