LITTLE ROCK — The last B-58 Hustler to leave Little Rock Air Force Base is finally back home. And this wasp-waist jet has a story to tell.
Not only was this particular bomber the last to leave LRAFB, it was the first Hustler to enter into enemy air space when it flew over Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. The plane was later converted to a TB-58, which was used for pilot training.
Out of the 116 supersonic bombers made, only eight are left, and LRAFB historian Dan Phoenix said the base tried unsuccessfully for years to get one.
When Hurricane Ike hit Galveston, Texas,in 2008, Lone Star Flight Museum was heavily damaged, and so was the B-58 that was inside the museum’s hangar.
“There was 6 to 8 feet of water inside the hangar,” Phoenix said. “When the water receded, there was 4 feet of debris. The plane got floated and smashed against the wall, but it held up surprisingly well.”
One of the wings was broken during the storm, and LRAFB was willing to restore the bomber. On Feb. 8, the aircraft found its forever home in Heritage Park on the base, along with several other key aircraft in the history of LRAFB.
“The B-58 was the first supersonic bomber,” Phoenix said. “It was way ahead of its time as far as design.”
Replacing the B-47, the B-58 Hustler, built by Convair, which is now General Dynamics, flew faster than twice the speed of sound and could pinpoint its targets from as high as 60,000 feet. The first Hustler was taken to Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth in 1959.
The B-58s were moved from Carswell to Little Rock in 1965 before they were retired in January 1970, which is when the C-130s came to Little Rock.
“They were only here for five years, but they made a big impression,” Phoenix said about when the bombers were at LRAFB. “They’d make a sonic boom at high speed.”
With its four J79 turbojet engines, the Hustler was the first operational jet bomber capable of Mach 2 supersonic flight, which created sonic booms.
Although, the bomber already is in a fixed spot on base, it still needs its wings, tail and a laundry list of small things, Phoenix said, adding that the work should be completed soon.
“She’s going to be polished aluminum,” he said.
Even though polished planes require more maintenance than painted, he said it’s necessary on this particular one.
“She was immersed in seawater, and corrosion can be a problem for a very long time,” he said. “If we painted her, it would hide that.”
Phoenix said the wasp-waist fuselage is not only elegant, but it helps with the stability of the aircraft. Pointing upward to where the wing will be reattached, he said the honeycomb skin made it very strong. It made the delta-winged aircraft lighter and allowed it to withstand wind friction. The Hustler carried one nuclear weapon.
Each time the pilots went on a mission in the Hustler, they never knew the outcome.
“That was the mystique of the Cold War,” Phoenix said. “They weren’t certain if they were going to get back home.”
But this particular Hustler is back home.
Staff writer Jeanni Brosius can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or jbrosius@arkansasonline.com.
Three Rivers, Pages 119 on 04/29/2012