As far as old planes are concerned,I always liked the B-58 Hustler.
I may have corresponded with you here on that beautiful, stylish plane. Had a scale model when I was a kid and some books with info and pictures.
The needs and strategies keep changing. Supposedly missiles from subs, silos and mobile launchers on land made a pilot staying in the air for hours to go to the enemy and drop bombs obsolete. Until Mutual Assured Destruction meant use of any nuke missile would destroy civilization. So B-52s are amazingly still in flight. And others that come and go according to changing situations like the F-35.
As far as old planes are concerned,I always liked the B-58 Hustler.
Yup. B-58 was a victim of Pentagon budget wars. It had capabilities that have never been duplicated, especially it’s ability to penetrate enemy airspace at 100 ft. AGL. They tried to make B-52s do that, but the stress of low level turbulence caused them to break up. I’ve read that even the B-1 can’t do what the B-58 could do at ultra-low altitudes.
Nice design, but with the turbojets of its day it was a gas hog.
CC