Italeri B-58A

[noxioux]

Poor old Snoopy is rotting in a field somewhere.  I saw a site not too long ago that was spreading a (bad?) rumor about a possible restoration.  I'll try to find it again and post a link.

Any B-58 is cool as hell in my book.  One idea I had was for a spaceplane B-58, with heat-shielding and a scramjet faired into the rear fuselage (because you'd need the extra fuel on the centerline).

[Hatchet]

B-58C Hustler, 13th TBS(AW), 8 TFW 'Wolf Pack', USAF, Korat RTAFB, Thailand, 1970s. (AW Strike with LGBs) (Whiffed reactivated TBS for All Weather Attack)

Hmmm, 3 GBU-11s and a Pave Knife

[GTX]

Here is a picture of Snoopy in her heyday (note AIM-47 extended from pod):



and how she is now:





Regards,

Greg

[Matt Wiser]

That'll take a lot of work to restore to static display condition. Before the Hwy. 58 Bypass was finished, one went thru Mojave, and near the airport (where a lot of airliners are stored a la AMARC) is a junkyard-which had the fuselage of an F-111 with NASA on the tail. Haven't been back thru Mojave since the 58 bypass was finished, so I can't tell if the F-111 is still there. Is Snoopy in the dump at Edwards, or on a range, just out of curiousity? Didn't NASA have a couple of F-111Bs after that program was canned by the Navy?  

[Sentinel Chicken]

I'll have to double check this when I get home tonight, but I believe only 1 F-111B entered NASA's charge and wasn't flown but used as a full-scale wind tunnel testbed at NASA Ames.  

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Current B-58 thoughts:

F-112B Hustler, 1st HFIS 'Patriots', USAF, Keflavik AB, Iceland, 1970s.  (Whiffed Heavy Fighter Interceptor Sqn)

B-58C Hustler, 13th TBS(AW), 8 TFW 'Wolf Pack', USAF, Korat RTAFB, Thailand, 1970s. (AW Strike with LGBs) (Whiffed reactivated TBS for All Weather Attack)

B-58C Hustler, 13th TBS(AW), 8 TFW 'Wolf Pack', USAF, Korat RTAFB, Thailand, 1970s. (Weasel with AGM-78 & AGM-45)

B-58K Hustler, No 1 Sqn, RAAF, Korat RTAFB, Thailand, 1970s.

B-58K Hustler, No 1 Sqn, RAAF, RAAF Butterworth, Malaysia, Konfrontasi 2, 1970s


This last one has a new war between Australia and Indonesia primarily thru the East Timor deal in 1975

The intercept mission for a BF/FB-58 armed with AIM-47 Falcon or AIM-54 Pheonix AAM sounds like a potential good conversion with minimal modifications to the aircraft.  Since the Italeri kit comes with four weapons pylons that are the right size to accomodate an AIM-54/AIM-47 size missile shape it would be just a matter of incorporating the IR sensors on the forward fuselage of the aircraft.  Using one large sensor under the fuselage like that used on the F-14/F-4 or going with the pair that were mounted on the side of the fuselage like the F-12A.  I doubt it would be practical to consider the carriage of an AIM-9 type weapon but what about several AIM-7 Sparrow missiles mounted on wing pylons for medium range engagements to augment the long range Falcon/Phoenix weapons?  Four Sparrow and four Phoenix/Falcon missiles would be a practical number of weapons for the engagement of several targets at long range with follow up engagements at medium range and still allow for the very large centerline fuel tank to be carried.  

On another note, there was an anti-satellite program conducted with the B-58 using a missile that was about half the size of the Minuteman missile which it resembled in size/shape.  It was carried on the centerline and launched at high altitude with a camera paylod that was to "intercept" the orbiting satellite and photograph it.  If the program had continued it would have incorporated a high explosive or nuclear warhead for actual engagement and destruction of the orbiting target.  

For the Wild Weasel mission, I would not recommend AGM-45 Shrike ARM for carriage as it has a very limited range and small warhead.  The use of the AGM-78 STARM or the AGM-69 as a strategic alternative would be better suited to the B-58 performing the SEAD mission.  Low altitude manuevering was reason for the hasty retirment of the B-58 since it was not designed to fly low and fast.  

Conventional bombing with the B-58 leaves you with few options for ordnance.  The four hardpoints on the rear of the aircraft would allow you to carry 12 X 500 or 750 pound weapons on multiple ejector racks but the space is limited.  What if you were to create a bomb pod/fuel pod combination that would have the ability to carry a large number of bombs or one really large bomb (Grand Slam?) on the centerline with some additional pylons on the wings for carriage of chaff and electronic countermeasures pods.  I would hazard to guess that the B-58 with a Grand Slam strapped to the centerline would look very intimidating and formidable with something like that for a bomb load.    

[Maverick]

Thanks for your thoughts Jerry...

I'm seriously gonna have to consider multiple B-58s cause most of the options I have come up with deserve to be modelled.

I love your 'grand slam' idea... would look stupendous..

[GTX]

While you on the topic of Whiffing a B-58, you could also consider fitting a MOAB:

MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast)

Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB, and unofficially dubbed the Mother of All Bombs, is guided to its target by satellite signals. It is dropped out the rear of a modified C-130 transport plane. Unlike the BLU-82 the MOAB doesn't deploy its parachute until well clear of the launching aircraft allowing high speed weapon release. The GPS-assisted guidance further protects the launching aircraft by expanding the acceptable delivery envelope. Still, the MOAB could only be used when air superiority was attained.

Weight 21,000 pounds (9,525 kg)
Length: 30 feet (9.14 m)
Diameter: 40.5 inches (1.03 m)
Explosive: 18,000 pounds of Tritonal (80% TNT and 20% aluminum powder)
Burst height: 6 feet (1.8 meters) above the ground.




Regards,

Greg

[Jeffry Fontaine]

While you on the topic of Whiffing a B-58, you could also consider fitting a MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast)

At least the Grand Slam looks like a proper aerial bomb while the MOAB looks more like a shiny over-sized yard dart.