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To: C19fan
The Hustler was a direct successor to the B-47 Stratojet in the medium bomber role. Medium bombers were expected to attack the Soviet Union from overseas bases.

In the 1955 movie Strategic Air Command, the climactic flight is supposed to be of a B-47 flown non-stop from MacDill to Yokota but diverted to Kadena, meaning it is essentially flown halfway around the world. I'm guessing that this is Hollywood exaggeration, considering that for all practical purposes the autopilot on the B-47 was useless, and the pilot/copilot had to constantly watch altitude and speed to ensure the plane didn't stall.

7 posted on 07/29/2016 6:43:47 AM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: chajin

No.

B-47 (like the B-58) was a medium range bomber. Cross-country range (with a useful weapons load) required air-air refueling. (Heck, takeoff almosr required air-air refueling.)

There are good arguments that the B-58 was NOT a failure, but was cut at McNamara’s insistence to pay for his Vietnam war using “very biased” cost-benefit rules to shut it down. Instead, he wanted his FB-111 to do everything. The B-58 could have worked well in the short ranges in Vietnam with conventional weapons against the SAM’s as a Wild Weasel bomber-ECM machine, for example.

Much easier and faster than retro-fitting the EW gear into a heavy fighter F-105. And adding an extra seat to the F-105. B-58 already had three seats, already had a radar and power and an EWO seat. Could carry more load faster too.


42 posted on 07/29/2016 8:24:11 AM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but socialists' ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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