The Convair B-58 Hustler, the first supersonic bomber, seen up close and inside

On November 11, 1956, aviation took a giant leap forward with the first flight of a revolutionary aircraft: the Convair B-58 Hustler.

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The United States Air Force (USAF) plans to equip itself with a supersonic bomber began in March 1949. In August 1952, the Convair project was chosen, a company that emerged in 1943 from the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. The project was designated B-58 by the USAF. The new aircraft would be powered by four powerful General Electric J79 turbojets, the same type of engine that equipped famous American supersonic fighters, such as the single-engine F-104 Starfighter and the twin-engine F-4 Phantom II.

The initial phase of the B-58's development was based on two prototypes, the XB-58s, and 28 pre-production units, designated YB-58s. This aircraft would soon begin to surpass historical milestones. On December 30, 1956, the Hustler became the first bomber to break the sound barrier, reaching a speed of Mach 1 (1,234 km/h), a mark achieved with the first prototype, the XB-58A-CF 55-660 "Old Grandpappy", which later also managed to reach Mach 2 (2,469 km/h), being the first bomber to reach that speed.

Convair manufactured 86 production B-58s for the USAF, which were used as nuclear bombers. The Hustler could carry up to 8,820 kg (19,000 lb) of bombs, carrying a large nuclear bomb (specifically the 40-kiloton Mark 39 Mod 1 or the 9-megaton B53) in its ventral area, or four 340-kiloton B61 bombs. Its defensive armament was limited to a 20 mm T171 rotary cannon (the designation for the M61 Vulcan at the time) located in the tail. Its crew consisted of three people, who sat in ejection pods instead of the usual ejection seats, so that they could be ejected from the aircraft at Mach 2 and at an altitude of up to 21,000 meters (70,000 feet).

The B-58 set 19 speed records, including the longest supersonic flight in history, a record still held by that model and previously broken by B-58A 61-2059 "Greased Lightning", covering a distance of 12,920 km between Tokyo and London in 8 hours and 35 minutes. Although the B-58 entered service on March 15, 1960, with the USAF, it had a short life, due to its problems in flying at low altitudes and the appearance of intercontinental ballistic missiles. On January 31, 1970, the B-58As were retired from service, being replaced by FB-111A bombers with variable-geometry wings and capable of flying better at low altitudes.

Of the 116 B-58s built today, only 8 remain, 2 TB-58As and 8 B-58As. None of them are airworthy and almost all are on display in museums or air bases, with the only exception being B-58A 55-0665 "Snoopy", which is abandoned in the middle of the desert in California, near Edwards Air Force Base. The B-58A "Greased Lightning" (above), which still holds the record for longest supersonic flight, is in Ashland, Nebraska at the Strategic Air Command Museum. A few days ago, Paul Stewart posted a video showing the inside of this plane:

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Photos: U.S. Air Force / National Museum of the United States Air Force / Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum.