Convair B - 58 Hustler The Convair B - 58 Hustler was the first operational supersonic jet bomber capable of Mach 2 flight . 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 . 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 a nuclear weapon and fuel in a large 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 received a great deal of notoriety due to its sonic boom , which was often heard by the public as it passed overhead in supersonic flight . The introduction of highly accurate Soviet surface - to - air missile s 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 led to a brief operational career between 1960 and 1970 , when the B - 58 was succeeded by the smaller , swing - wing FB - 111A . Design and development . The genesis of the B - 58 program came in February 1949 , when a Generalized Bomber Study ( GEBO II ) had been issued by the Air Research and Development Command ( ARDC ) at Wright - Patterson AFB , Ohio . A number of contractors submitted bids including Boeing , Convair , Curtiss , Douglas , Martin and North American Aviation . Building on Convair ' s experience of earlier delta - wing fighters , beginning with the XF - 92A , a series of GEBO II designs were developed , initially studying swept and semi - delta configurations , but settling on the delta wing planform . The final Convair proposal , coded FZP - 110 , was a radical two - place , delta wing bomber design powered by General Electric J53 engines . The performance estimates included a 1 , 000 mph ( 1 , 600 km / h ; 870 kt ) speed and a 3 , 000 statute mile ( 4 , 800 km ; 2 , 600 nmi ) range . The USAF chose Boeing ( MX - 1712 ) and Convair to proceed to a Phase 1 study . The Convair MX - 1626 evolved further into a more refined proposal redesignated the MX - 1964 . In December 1952 , the Air Force selected the MX - 1964 as the winner of the design competition to meet the newly proposed SAB - 51 ( Supersonic Aircraft Bomber ) and SAR - 51 ( Supersonic Aircraft Reconnaissance ) , the first General Operational Requirement ( GOR ) worldwide for supersonic bombers . In February 1953 , the Air Force issued a contract for development of Convair ' s design . The resulting B - 58 design was the first " true " USAF supersonic bomber program . The Convair design was based on a delta wing with a leading - edge sweep of 60° with four General Electric J79 - GE - 1 turbojet engines , capable of flying at twice the speed of sound . Although its large wing made for relatively low wing loading , it proved to be surprisingly well suited for low - altitude , high - speed flight . It seated three ( pilot , bombardier / navigator , and defensive systems operator ) in separated tandem cockpits . Later versions gave each crew member a novel ejection capsule that made it possible to eject at an altitude of 70 , 000 ft ( 21 , 000 m ) at speeds up to Mach 2 ( 1 , 320 mph / 2 , 450 km / h ) . Unlike standard ejection seats of the period , a protective clamshell would enclose the seat and the control stick with an attached oxygen cylinder , allowing the pilot to continue to fly even " turtled up " and ready for immediate egress . The capsule would float , and the crewmember could open the clamshell , using it as a life raft . In an unusual test program , live bears and chimpanzees were successfully used to test the ejection system . The XB - 70 would use a similar system ( though using capsules of a different design ) . Because of heat generated at Mach 2 cruise , not only the crew compartment , but the wheel wells and electronics bay were pressurized and air conditioned . The B - 58 utilized one of the first extensive applications of aluminum honeycomb panels , which bonded outer and inner aluminum skins to a honeycomb of aluminum and fiberglass . The pilot ' s cockpit was fairly conventional for a large multiengine aircraft . The electronic controls were ambitious and advanced for the day . The navigator and DSO ' s cockpits featured wrap around dashboards with warning lights and buttons , and automatic voice messages and warnings from a tape system were audible through the helmet sets . Research during the era of all - male combat aircraft assignments revealed that a woman ' s voice was more likely to gain the attention of young men in distracting situations . Nortronics Division of Northrop Corporation selected actress and singer Joan Elms to record the automated voice warnings . To the men flying the B - 58 , the voice was known as " Sexy Sally . " The Sperry AN / ASQ - 42 bombing / navigation system combined sophisticated inertial navigation with the KS - 39 astro - tracker to provide heading reference , the AN / APN - 113 Doppler radar to provide ground velocity and windspeed data , a search radar to provide range data for bomb release and trajectory , and a radio altimeter . The AN / ASQ - 42 was estimated to be 10 times more accurate than any previous bombing / navigation system . Defensive armament consisted of a single 20 mm ( 0 . 79 in ) T - 171E - 3 rotary cannon with 1 , 200 rounds of ammunition . It was remotely controlled by the DSO through the Emerson MD - 7 fire control radar system . Offensive armament typically consisted of a single nuclear weapon , along with fuel tanks , in a streamlined MB - 1C pod under the fuselage . Incurable difficulties with fuel leakage resulted in the replacement of the MB - 1C with the TCP ( Two Component Pod ) , which placed the nuclear weapon in an upper section while the lower fuel component could be independently jettisoned . This had the added benefit of allowing the pilot to " clean up " the aircraft for fuel efficiency or in case of emergency , while still retaining the ( somewhat ) more slim weapon . The first prototype , serial number 55 - 660 , was completed in late August 1956 . The first flight took place in November 1956 . A difficult and protracted flight test program involving 30 aircraft continued until April 1959 . The final B - 58 was delivered in October 1962 . From 1961 to 1963 , the B - 58 was retrofitted with two tandem stub pylons under each wing root , adjacent to the centreline pod , for B43 or B61 nuclear weapons for a total of five nuclear weapons per aircraft . Although the USAF explored the possibility of using the B - 58 for the conventional strike role , it was never equipped for carrying or dropping conventional bombs in service . A photo reconnaissance pod , the LA - 331 , was also fielded . Several other specialized pods for ECM or an early cruise missile were considered , but not adopted . The late 1950s WS - 199C High Virgo air - launched ballistic missile was designed to be launched from the B - 58 with four test launches of the High Virgo carried out by a B - 58 to determine ballistic missile and anti - satellite system capability . Operational history . The B - 58 crews were elite , hand - picked from other strategic bomber squadrons . Due to some characteristics of delta - winged aircraft , new pilots used the Convair F - 102 Delta Dagger as a conversion trainer , before moving to the TB - 58A trainer . The B - 58 was difficult to fly and its three - man crews were constantly busy , but its performance was exceptional . A lightly loaded Hustler would climb at nearly 46 , 000 ft / min ( 235 m / s ) . It had a much smaller weapons load and more limited range than the Boeing B - 52 Stratofortress . The B - 58 had been extremely expensive to acquire . Through FY 1961 , the total cost of the B - 58 program was $ 3 billion . It was a complex aircraft that required considerable maintenance , much of which required specialized equipment and ground personnel . The B - 58 cost three times as much to operate as the B - 52 . This included special maintenance issues with the nose landing gear that retracted in a complicated fashion to avoid the center payload . It had an unfavorably high accident rate : 26 B - 58 aircraft were lost in accidents , 22 . 4 % of total production . It was very difficult to safely recover from the loss of an engine at supersonic cruise due to differential thrust . SAC had been dubious about the type from the beginning , although its crews eventually became enthusiastic about the aircraft ; its performance and design were appreciated , although it was never easy to fly . Two SAC bomb wings operated the B - 58 during its operational service : the 43d Bombardment Wing , based at Carswell AFB , Texas from 1960 to 1964 , and Little Rock AFB , Arkansas from 1964 to 1970 ; and the 305th Bombardment Wing , based at Bunker Hill AFB ( later Grissom AFB ) , Indiana from 1961 to 1970 . The 305th also operated the B - 58 combat crew training school ( CCTS ) , the predecessor of USAF ' s current formal training units ( FTUs ) . By the time the early problems had largely been resolved and SAC interest in the bomber had solidified , Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara decided that the B - 58 was not going to be a viable weapon system . It was during the B - 58 ' s introduction that the surface - to - air missile ( SAM ) became a viable threat , especially the SA - 2 Guideline , a SAM system the Soviet Union extensively deployed . The " solution " to this problem was to fly at low altitudes , minimizing the radar line - of - sight and minimizing exposure time . Because of the denser air at low altitudes , the B - 58 could not fly at supersonic speeds and its moderate range was reduced further , thereby negating the high performance the design paid so dearly for . In late 1965 , Secretary McNamara ordered the B - 58 ' s retirement by 1970 . Despite efforts of the Air Force to earn a reprieve , the phaseout proceeded on schedule . The last B - 58s were retired in January 1970 and placed in storage in AMARC at Davis - Monthan Air Force Base . The fleet survived until 1977 , when nearly all remaining aircraft were sold to Southwestern Alloys for disposal . The B - 58 as a weapons system was replaced by the FB - 111A , designed for low - altitude attack , more flexible with the carriage of conventional weapons , and less expensive to produce and maintain . A total of 116 B - 58s were produced : 30 trial aircraft and 86 production B - 58A models . Most of the trial aircraft were later upgraded to operational standard . Eight were equipped as TB - 58A training aircraft . A number of B - 58s were used for special trials , including testing the radar system intended for the Lockheed YF - 12 interceptor . Several improved ( and usually enlarged ) variants , dubbed B - 58B and B - 58C by the manufacturer , were proposed but never built . Singer John Denver ' s father , Colonel Henry J . Deutschendorf , Sr . , USAF , held several speed records as a B - 58 pilot . Aircraft on display . Today there are eight B - 58 survivors : Notable appearances in media . Jimmy Stewart , a bomber pilot during World War II and the early cold war period , made a film for the Air Force , flying in the back seat of the B - 58 on a typical low - altitude attack in the film " B - 58 Champion of Champions " . The B - 58 has also appeared in the 1964 film " Fail - Safe " , where stock footage of B - 58s was used to represent the fictional " Vindicator " bombers which attacked Moscow . Interestingly , the art used in the original magazine publication of the novel had depicted the " Vindicator " bombers - itself the recycling of the name of a World War II American dive bomber - as almost identical to B - 58s but equipped with canards . In " Fail Safe " , a 2000 made - for - TV remake starring George Clooney , the fictional Vindicator bomber was again represented by the B - 58 Hustler .