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Historical Footage: The Bendix Trophy Winning Flight Of The Supersonic B-58 Hustler In 1962


Historical Footage: The Bendix Trophy Winning Flight Of The Supersonic B-58 Hustler In 1962

It could run at Mach 2 as long as there was fuel, it made noises that would alert the deaf, and it just might have had the shortest career of any United States Air Force bomber ever, at an even ten years between 1960 and 1970. But make no mistake, the Convair B-58 “Hustler” was one hell of an aircraft, even it it was an absolute bitch to fly and kept the crew of three busy at all times. The holder of nineteen world records, including a Tokyo-to-London shot via Alaska record that still stands (08:35:20.4), one of the B-58’s biggest achievements was winning the Bendix Trophy in 1962 for a Los Angeles-New York-Los Angeles speed run. With Capt. Robert Sowers piloting, Capt. Robert MacDonald co-piloting, and Capt. John Walton working systems, the Hustler managed to average 1,214.17 miles per hour on the trip and nailed the Los Angeles-New York leg with a time of 02:00:56.8. A breath past two hours from New York to Los Angeles over fifty years ago…and today it still takes me half a day and two planes to go from the midwest to Las Vegas.


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One thought on “Historical Footage: The Bendix Trophy Winning Flight Of The Supersonic B-58 Hustler In 1962

  1. Gary

    One of my favorite bombers, next to the B-1B, which I helped build for some years, and the experimental XB-70. The Hustler is badass!

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