Convair B-58A “Cowtown Hustler”

Description

This B-58A of the 305th Bomb Wing based at Bunker Hill Air Force Base, now Grissom Air Force Base, flew from Los Angeles to New York and back to LA, setting seven speed records during the flight on 5 March 1962. The crew won the Bendix and McKay trophies for the extraordinary flight that year. Another B-58 set a speed record by flying over the North Pole from Tokyo to London, a distance of 8028 miles, in 8 hours 35 minutes, a record which still stands today. The B-58 nicknamed Greased Lightning required five air refuelings and averaged 938 miles or 1015 kilometers an hour. The B-58 won the Bleriot, Thompson, Bendix, McKay, and Harmon trophies for speed records. Cowtown Hustler currently resides at the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton Ohio.