Among the most controversial aircraft in the annals of aviation history was the B-58 Hustler, which became the first supersonic bomber developed for operational service with the U.S. Air Force. First flown on November 11, 1956, the B-58 represented a marvel of technology with its huge delta wing shape, its sophisticated inertial guidance navigation and bombing system, and its slender “wasp-waist” fuselage. Its design also included a heat-resistant honeycomb sandwich skin paneling in its wings and fuselage. The B-58 could not carry bombs because of the thin fuselage; instead, it used a droppable two-component pod underneath the fuselage that contained a nuclear weapon along with additional fuel, reconnaissance equipment, or other special equipment. The crew consisted of a pilot, a navigator/bombardier, and a defense system operator.
Convair built a total of 116 B-58s, and these included the test and pre-production aircraft of 30 and the operational ones of 86. The Hustlers flew with the Strategic Air Command from 1960 through 1970, flying 19 world speed and altitude records and winning five different aviation trophies. Even as the B-58 was mired by a lot of problems, hence controversial, the achievements it made were impressive. One navy A-7 pilot remarked on Quora that the B-58 had an “appalling accident rate” and was a “maintenance nightmare” with “terrible flight characteristics.” He said the aircraft’s basic mission was obsolete before it was even fielded, and about one-quarter of the B-58s were lost in accidents. Tussey termed the “bomb pod” a “horror show” and identified one critical failure in fuel transfer which could occur at supersonic speeds that might render the aircraft uncontrollable if throttled back to subsonic. This presented two ghastly alternatives to the pilot: to eject at supersonic speeds, which was almost certainly fatal, or to slow down and risk loss of control, which was equally dangerous.
For all these difficulties, pilots and crews admired the B-58. Flying the Hustler was considered to be the highest career step that a bomber pilot could attain. Lt. Col. Strank, a former B-58 pilot, summed the experience up on the B-58 Hustler website: “The delta wing made the aircraft handle differently than straight-wing aircraft, but it was firm, responsive, and a joy to fly.” He noted that pilots couldn’t relax from the minute they boarded to the moment they cut the engines, for the aircraft was very demanding of attention to detail at all times.
The B-58 Hustler would be a standing reminder that the development of a supersonic bomber was an awesome task and represented both the highest peaks of technological success as well as the deepest pits of overzealous engineering.