@ Tucson, AZ
March 2018
From my first visit to the fabled Pima Air & Space Museum. Among their extensive collection is this B-58 Hustler, a super sleek Cold War design and only one of eight surviving examples. The first operational jet bomber capable of Mach 2 flight, the B-58 first flew in 1956 and served with the Strategic Air Command (1960-1970). During its career the B-58 set 19 different speed, altitude, and payload world records, some of which still stand. The Hustler was the first aircraft to be built with a stellar inertial navigation system, the first to use stainless steel honeycomb construction, and the first to have encapsulated ejection seats. This bomber had no bomb bay; it carried a single nuclear weapon, plus fuel, in a combination bomb/fuel pod underneath the fuselage. Of the 116 built, 86 were this B-58A variant.