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The Convair B-58 Hustler was the first operational jet bomber capable of Mach 2 flight.[2] The aircraft was designed by Convair engineer Robert H. Widmer and developed for the United States Air Force for service in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) during the 1960s.[3] It used a delta wing , which was also employed by Convair fighters such as the F-102 , with four General Electric J79 engines in pods under the wing. It carried five nuclear weapons; four on pylons under the wings, and one nuclear weapon and fuel in a combination bomb/fuel pod under the fuselage, rather than in an internal bomb bay.
Replacing the Boeing B-47 Stratojet medium bomber, it was originally intended to fly at high altitudes and supersonic speeds to avoid Soviet fighters. The B-58 was notorious for its sonic boom , which was often heard by the public as it passed overhead in supersonic flight.[4]
The introduction of highly-accurate Soviet surface-to-air missiles forced the B-58 into a low-level-penetration role that severely limited its range and strategic value, and it was never employed to deliver conventional bombs. This resulted in only a brief operational career between 1960 and 1970 when the B-58 was succeeded by the smaller, swing-wing FB-111A

The B-58 seemed fantastically advanced for its day. The delta-winged, Mach 2.0 bomber was futuristic-looking, and as fast in speed and time-to-climb as the F-4 Phantom II, which it raced at least once.
Project Town Hall was a brief proposal, and study, examining the B-58 Hustler as the launch platform to use a minimum-modified Minuteman ICBM (then starting production) as a small satellite launcher. Air launch would add the benefits of freedom from launch ranges, choice of inclination and longitude of ascending node, and consequent quick-reaction space launch.
Model:
www.orbithangar.com/searchid.p…

Description

The Convair B-58 Hustler was the first operational jet bomber capable of Mach 2 flight.[2] The aircraft was designed by Convair engineer Robert H. Widmer and developed for the United States Air Force for service in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) during the 1960s.[3] It used a delta wing , which was also employed by Convair fighters such as the F-102 , with four General Electric J79 engines in pods under the wing. It carried five nuclear weapons; four on pylons under the wings, and one nuclear weapon and fuel in a combination bomb/fuel pod under the fuselage, rather than in an internal bomb bay.
Replacing the Boeing B-47 Stratojet medium bomber, it was originally intended to fly at high altitudes and supersonic speeds to avoid Soviet fighters. The B-58 was notorious for its sonic boom , which was often heard by the public as it passed overhead in supersonic flight.[4]
The introduction of highly-accurate Soviet surface-to-air missiles forced the B-58 into a low-level-penetration role that severely limited its range and strategic value, and it was never employed to deliver conventional bombs. This resulted in only a brief operational career between 1960 and 1970 when the B-58 was succeeded by the smaller, swing-wing FB-111A

The B-58 seemed fantastically advanced for its day. The delta-winged, Mach 2.0 bomber was futuristic-looking, and as fast in speed and time-to-climb as the F-4 Phantom II, which it raced at least once.
Project Town Hall was a brief proposal, and study, examining the B-58 Hustler as the launch platform to use a minimum-modified Minuteman ICBM (then starting production) as a small satellite launcher. Air launch would add the benefits of freedom from launch ranges, choice of inclination and longitude of ascending node, and consequent quick-reaction space launch.
Model:
www.orbithangar.com/searchid.p…