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B-58 HUSTLER
With its introduction in 1960 the B-58 Hustler was the world's first supersonic bomber and had a very controversial life right from the designing stage to operational service. The Strategic Air Command had never really wanted the Hustler, because of its range which was regarded as too short and the high costs of production and maintaining the B-58 Hustler. It was designed to fly at the speed of mach 2 and therefore could not compete with the fuel consumption of the bigger and slower B-52. For example, the B-58 had to refuel once to get the range the B-52D had without refueling (7,400 miles). However, the real reason for its short life turned out to be the cost aspect. The cost of maintaining and operating two B-58 wings equaled that of six wings of B-52's. Therefore the B-58 Hustler was already taken out of service in 1970 but nevertheless had left an impressive series of records and achievements behind.
The design of the B-58 was ahead of its time and because of its extreme capacities a select group of pilots, radar navigators and defensive systems operators of the Strategic Air Command were able to fly this bomber. It still looks as futuristic as it did back in the fifties when it was designed and aesthetically few planes have ever come close.
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