[chaosagent]

Jaw-dropping — until I saw a RB-57F takeoff...

---

Strange fact. The B-57, or at least everyone I worked on, EB’s and RB’s, had J-65 BUICK jet engines.

[TXnMA]

The RB-57F was a "whole 'nuther animal". The B-57 Canberra's wings were cut off at the nacelles, TF-33 turbofans were installed, and then "U2-like" extended wings were added outboard of the nacelles to increase the wingspan to 122 feet -- nearly 2X the length of the fuselage.

AFAIK, the true, classified "operational altitude" of the RB-57F (with the supplemental Pratt & Whitney J60-P-9 turbojets mounted) has never been declassified and published...