Nov 092008
Ah, the early 1960’s. When the future looked bright, the atom was our friend, when planes were only getting faster, and when Marxist gun-grabbers were opposed, not elected President. In that climate, Convair studied several derivatives of their B-58 “Hustler” bomber to serve as supersonic transports, both for military and civilian roles. I’m currently working on an article for the next issue of APR dealing with these concepts. Also hoping to have some all-new color artwork prepared for this article.
5 Responses to “B-58 derived SSTs”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
That top image looks like the “Flying White House” version… a plan to let JFK and his staff get anywhere pronto that Convair proposed.
Other versions of that had the president riding inside of a manned belly pod.
Scott,
I like the original passenger transport that Convair proposed for the Hustler – the one which reconfigured the fuel tank pod for seating! Gotta love that!
Mach two slung _underneath_ the bomber. Heaven help you if the bird’s landing gear failed!
Madoc
Actually, being able to descend under a parachute after the belly pod detached may have been safer than trying to land in it.
The aircraft had a terrible safety record – so that surviving B-58 pilots were described as the best and bravest pilots of them all.
Bill Lear (of the Lear Jet) had a former B-58 pilot as his personal pilot, and his written descriptions of that guy were one of the most amusing aspects of aviation writing during the 1970’s.
One of my co-workers out at Jamestown, North Dakota, airport knew that one of the Lear Jet pilots operatinmg out of there was a former Navy fighter pilot, and told me to watch his landing technique as he brought the Lear Jet in.
He went into something like a 45 degree angle descent as he got near the end of the runway, then started stalling it onto the end of the runway from around 25′ in the air, before hitting full brakes and thrust reversers at the moment the main gear hit the ground, stopping it in around 1,000′.
Marxist gun-grabbers? Pathetic — anyone with modicum of awareness knows it’s the Rothchilds and their bankster co-horts who’ve always run things. Stick with aerospace since int’l banking (where real power resides) is not within your intellectual reach.
> anyone with modicum of awareness knows it’s the Rothchilds and their bankster co-horts who’ve always run things
Bah! You’re just a running dog stooge for the Illuminati and the Reptillians!!!