The B-58’s eccentric landing and take-off characteristics made it difficult for pilots to master.

When it comes to aviation-related feats, the United States has always been on top. From introducing the world’s first stealth fighter to developing the fastest aircraft to ever fly the skies, American aerial innovation has always set the standard. Unsurprisingly, the United States was the first nation to field a supersonic jet bomber. The Convair B-58 “Hustler” first took to the skies in the mid-1950s and would serve the Air Force through the next decade. Despite the Hustler’s cutting-edge capabilities, advanced engines, and relatively lightweight airframe, the notorious jet still came with a host of flaws. The platform’s high costs coupled with some serious design shortcomings ultimately led to its untimely retirement.

An Overview of the B-58 Platform

Following World War II, the Generalized Bomber Study was initiated by the Air Research and Development Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for the design and production of a new supersonic bomber aircraft. All the big-name manufacturers of the time submitted proposals to create such a platform, including Boeing, Curtiss, Convair, and North American Aviation. Convair’s FZP-110 proposal was eventually selected for further review, alongside Boeing’s MX-1712 design. The delta-wing bomber put forth by Convair was powered by three General Electric turbojet engines. However, the manufacturer would later alter this design plan and incorporate four smaller J79 engines instead of the J53 engines which were considered less optimized for supersonic flight. This engine switch perhaps contributed to Convair ultimately being selected as the platform’s manufacturer.

In addition to the engines included on the B-58, Convair’s design also featured other record-breaking elements. The aircraft’s aluminum skin was bonded to honeycomb structural elements made of aluminum or fiberglass. This innovation reduced the weight of the bomber, enabling it to fly at faster speeds. Not only did the Hustler break the sound barrier while in flight, but it would also become the first-ever operational Mach-2.0 (times the speed of sound) bomber. The platform could fly at speeds in excess of 1,300 mph. Additionally, the B-58 was the first fielded aircraft that was designed with stainless steel material.

Some of the Hustler’s Shortfalls

Although the B-58’s cutting-edge attributes made it quite popular among industry experts and aviation buffs at the time, the bomber was not perfect. Out of the 116 B-58s that made it through the production line, 26 were lost. This tragic data point could in part be attributed to the platform’s instability and susceptibility to entering a spin. The plane’s eccentric landing and take-off characteristics made it difficult for pilots to master. Due to this serious design flaw, then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara opted to send the entire Hustler fleet to the boneyard in the mid-1960s. By the end of the decade, every last B-58 was formerly retired. The short-lived service life of the Hustler made it so that the platform never saw combat in its decade or so in the fleet. The few remaining B-58s today can be publicly viewed in the collection of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

About the Author: Maya Carlin

Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

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