On alert B-58 Hustlers
These photos are from the 43rd, taken by Paul Wulf in the 1960’s. These photos are copyrighted and cannot be used without the expressed written consent of the owner of them.
Here are more photos from Paul Wulf: (the page will be slow loading but worth the wait).
Most of these pictures are WITHOUT a pod on them, read below for more info on why that is.
Notes on these pictures:
Paul Wulf was a crew chief of 1015, and while 58 flight crews would fly any plane (although I am sure they had their favorites), a crew chief many times was responsible for a particular plane(s). As part of the global defense, sometimes planes on alert would be flown to another air base so that that instead of having just planes at the two bases that had B-58’s, they were spread in theory around the country, so the soviet missiles pointing at the U.S. maybe wouldn’t take them all out…
These photo’s were taken at an air base where an alert was being pulled in 1969. The planes were flown in without the TCP and then a weapons pod would be flown in by another cargo plane and then attached to the B-58. Most of the maintenance in the photos are the nuclear weapons upload.
This was an alert facility at an base during the B-58 era.
This is a B-58 being tended to on the runway.
Here is 1015 sitting at Edwards, the one Paul was crew chief on in the late 1960’s. (notice no pod is on this plane)
A couple of shots of 1015.
The nose section of the 1015.
One mean looking bird.
Another shot of 1015 with its hatches open and Paul standing next to “his” bird.
Here are two members (Paul and one of his maintenance personnel) of the dedicated crew that kept the 58’s in the sky and our country safe during the Cold War.
Here is a picture of a 58 getting some maintenance. Note the J79 engines.
Note the “dismount ladder” that was used by the crew of 3 to exit from the plane once the hatches were open. The crew consisted of ac (aircraft commander (pilot)), bomb/nav and dso. And the pod has returned.
What a site of 3 B-58’s on alert, protecting our country.
Note the 20mm cannon on 2461.
From another angle.
Pictures are copyrighted by their owner.