BOMBER SUPPLEMENT // CONVAIR B-58 HUSTLER
Surely one of the most impressive aircraft ever designed and built, the Convair B-58 Hustler broke new ground when it came to performance, but it failed to live up to expectations with a short service career.
The B-58 Hustler was the first supersonic bomber put into production and the first bomber capable of reaching Mach 2. This Hustler, serial 59-2456, is carrying the BLU-2/B two-component pod (fuel in the bottom, nuclear weapon on the top) on the aircraft centerline, plus four B43 freefall nuclear weapons under the wings.
Convair
SPEED IS LIFE — so the saying goes in military aviation parlance, although it is mostly an attribute of fighter aircraft.
