Border crossing

[My imp]

It's ALL politically motivated. That's what killed the B-58, SR-71, XB-70, B-1A, etc.. They always come back to manned bombers. Even the satellite network, no matter how good the resolution gets, is still many miles out of the atmosphere. The SR-71 could fly anywhere snapping roll after roll of film that's only 80,000 ft away vs. 25 mi. away. Penny wise, pound foolish! The electronics & alloys weren't up to the designs expected to carry them. A food processor has more computer power than the B-58's computer. If you're into this plane, Monogram makes a 1/48 scale B-58 Hustler that's friggin awesome! For all the detail it has, there aren't even cockpits for the rear two crew members. But Lone Star makes a retrofit kit that adds not only working hatches, but very detailed cockpits. The ejection capsule that the show credited to the XB-70, was what the 58 used. It was designed for the B-58. Wanna see some cool footage, the sled they used to test the capsules (with sedated bears) at full speed on a track that was rocket powered was outstanding! PETA hadn't gotten started yet! No one would volunteer to test the ejection capsule! Traveling at 2 Mach, then launched into the air by a rocket powered egg!

 

[NoCar340]

A friend of mine was stationed at an SR-71 base when they were still active. Among other interesting trivia about the plane, he told me about how poorly it seemed to be constructed while sitting on the runway... big gaps in the panels and "The damned things leaked like sieves!" Of course, the heat generated by the friction of the ultra-thin air while traveling at ultrasonic speeds expanded everything, and they sealed up like a clam. They had to be built "sloppy" to work correctly for their application.

 

[slant6billy]

My upload did not work. here are some more shots

 

[72Dodge]

I've always thought Rampages were mildly cool, but never thought too much of them otherwise. But THAT Rampage is frakkin' AWESOME!!!!!

 

[My imp]

View attachment 5064View attachment 5065View attachment 5066 My upload did not work. here are some more shots

I definitely have a FULL ON CHUBBY now!

 

[My imp]

One last thing about the evolution of the military aircraft of the day. All of the latest planes from the F-117a & up (including the the B-2) aren't even fly able w/o the aid computers. So much time & money has been wasted just proving that something that normally couldn't, or barely could fly, can be made to fly. The computers are triple redundant for a reason. They go out, you go down, FAST. Jack Northrup tried to get the flying wing feasible. He got it to fly, & not much more. Props, jets, or both, left him with an unstable platform. 2 billion a pop (not including all the research, prototypes, etc.) just to prove it CAN fly? They should've worked out the bugs in the B-58, then brought B-70 on line. There's no need for a sub-sonic 2 billion dollar albatross. The B-52 has filled that bill since, well '52! Stealth non-withstanding, any of those other aircraft could've been re-tooled for stealth at considerably less cost. But only "new" can be good it seems?they started a program to upgrade the engines & radar on the B-58. It's sitting in the desert. Has a nose like an F-111 Aardvark. Engine gone, nacelles hanging, all banged up. If I had serious money, I'd love to purchase it for scrap, do a cosmetic resto on it, & turn it into a video console! But then I'd be spending like the govt., throwing good money after bad. But boy would it be fun!