thats right, the pilots were side by side. I recall the fighters that
were scrambled in an attempt to shoot them down were Voodoos. I
remember them spiraling out of the sky after running out of fuel in the
film (carrying thier hapless pilots with them).................Doc
Ken S. Tucker wrote:
wrote:
Not that its all that germane to topic but the image of B 58's on a
one-way to Moscow in Fail Safe (negative reverse images as I recall)
comes to mind. Guess it was known to more than just the
crews.....................Doc

I can add that the seating configuration in
the Fail-Safe Movies Vindicator bomber
isn't a B58, but the shots of the B58 take-
off with afterburner are awesome, and a
wee bit of the formation flying is super!
Ken

m wrote:
Hi Darrel

Darrell S wrote:
If you want to see and read more about the Hustler, click on
the link to my B-58 web site, below.
Don't forget to sign the guest book. The More B-58 Pictures Annex link
takes you to 3 more pages of pictures and text.
Darrell R. Schmidt
B-58 Hustler History: (see below)
http://members.cox.net/dschmidt1/

Here's another interesting link,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-58_Hustler

As I understand it, the B58 was a high
speed - high altitude bomber that entered
service about Mar/15/1960, with nil stealth
capability. Gary Power's U2 was shot down
May/1/1960, and had some stealth paint,
that the Ruskies managed to circumvent.
So 2 months after entering service, the
B58 became a *low altitude penetration*
bomber, with enough range for a one
way trip into the USSR, effectively
rendering it a kamikaze bomber.
I think the crews knew that and it's their
courage that helped keep us safe during
the transition to ICBM's.

IMO it was as sexy as anything that flew
but it was not a good warplane because
it was difficult to adapt, while the B52
could carry stand-off weapons and make
it home, though in hindsight, it filled a
vital deterrence gap in the early 1960's,
that was equivalent to the B52 swarm,
depending on gravity bombs.
Regards
Ken