Convair B-58 Hustler: The World's First Supersonic Bomber

Rating:
Summary: Everything you always wanted to know about the B-58.
Review: Highly recommended if you're into jets. In the fifties, before the days of stealth and low-level penetration, speed was of the essence for designers of military aircraft. To my eye, this was when the most esthetic of planes were conceived: the Century Series fighters, the XB-70, the SR-71, and the B-58. Few books exist on this aircraft, and Jay Miller covers the whole story- German aerodynamic studies, development of the B-58, operational history, and offshoots that never went anywhere, including a supersonic commercial passenger version! Many, many pictures make this an excellent modeler's reference. An appendix includes photos and histories of most of the 116 B-58s that were produced. One of the most fascinating sections covers the camouflage-painted B-58 and how Robert McNamara kept it from being used in Vietnam. I give this book one of my highest compliments: whenever I am hungry to read something and I don't have any unread stuff handy, this is one of the books that I can pick up and find something that I missed previously.

Rating:
Summary: Definitive
Review: This book, even in the first edition, tells you just about everything you would ever want to know about one of the most amazing aircraft made. It is stunning that this machine was sustaining 3 men at Mach 2 for half an hour about a decade after it had required an air-launched rocket to get beyond Mach 1 for a minute or two. Not only that but on the same timescale Convair were building a successful airliner, a vertical takeoff turboprop, two very complex interceptors, a hydroski naval fighter, and the missile that eventually became the SM-65 Atlas, America's first ballistic missile, and manned space booster. What an amazing time the 50's must have been. Not a lot of PC's true, but also a lot fewer accountants / economists as well.
The text is clear, well written giving an excellent context for the whole history of the program, and a sense of what was accomplished. The bulk of the photos are black and white, very useful for modellers. Limited colour, about 10 pages, but the B-58 marking were pretty minimal.
There is some interesting information on the proposed recon system Super Hustler (Project Fish/Kingfish), surely one of the few planes that the could make the A-12/SR-71 series be called the more conventional option.
If you're interested in the B-58, buy this book