B-58 Navigator
The first operational supersonic bomber of the US Air Force, the B-58, took flight on November 11, 1956. Apart from its delta wing design, the Hustler was distinguished by its advanced inertial guidance navigation and bombing system, its slender “wasp-waist” fuselage, and its extensive use of heat-resistant honeycomb sandwich skin panels in both the wings and fuselage.
Since the thin fuselage prevented the carrying of bombs internally, a droppable, two-component pod beneath the fuselage contained a nuclear weapon, along with extra fuel or other specialized gear. The B-58 crew consisted of a pilot, navigator/bombardier, and defense systems operator.
Richard “Butch” Sheffield, was flying the B-47 as navigator/bombardier, he volunteered for the then brand new B-58.
“Mainline”
As he explains in his unpublished book “The Very First,” the USAF needed a long-range, low-level reconnaissance system. This became apparent during the Cuban missile crisis. General Powers, CINCSAC, ordered the 43rd Bomb Wing to do it, and we did.
He recalls;
‘Our crew was selected. Only six crews in the wing were made “Mainline crews.” They are the best crews in the wing.
‘We trained at five hundred feet and six hundred knots. The radar was almost useless at the low altitude, so we had to navigate by dead reckoning and map reading. It was exhilarating flying that fast at those low levels. I don’t believe most SAC personnel knew about this capability.
‘The B-58 reconnaissance crew’s code name was “Mainline.” The fact that the B-58 had a reconnaissance capability was kept close hold so our adversaries did not know.
‘Our crew was selected to fly to the UK with the reconnaissance pod on board. The flight was uneventful. A far cry from the first time I had crossed the Atlantic all by myself, shooting stars the whole time. The B-58’s navigation system was almost automatic. It had a star tracker for heading, Doppler for ground speed, and inertial for all movement of the airframe.
‘After we landed, another crew took the aircraft to France and then back home to Carswell. The B-58 program did not treat its crews well like the program I was heading for did [the SR-71 Blackbird program]. They could have arranged a better way for us to return home, but did not.’
Dropping Mark-53 nuclear bomb (without plutonium pit)
He continues;
‘SAC had a program called “Dual Exhaust.” The program was to test the reliability of the real nuclear weapons SAC possessed. We were selected to drop a real Mark-53 nuclear weapon at White Sands test range in New Mexico with the nuclear pit removed [Plutonium].
‘We dropped it at five hundred feet about the ground and at six hundred and twenty-eight knots. After release, we pitched up into a forty-five-degree bank and watched it go off. It looked just like a nuke explosion.
‘We decided to fly back to Carswell subsonic with altitude hold-off, to see how high the aircraft would go without the pod on it. It just keeps climbing, higher and higher, we finally stopped the climb at about *forty-seven thousand feet. This was the only time I was never in a B-58 without the pod; it sure flew like a bird without one.’
B-58 navigator at dinner with Doolittle Raiders and Jimmy Stewart
Sheffield continues;
‘Our Wing Commander, B/G Brick Holstrom, was a “Doolittle Raider.” He was one of the first pilots to take off from the aircraft carrier Hornet to bomb Tokyo. He was as fine of a gentleman as I ever knew. He really liked our crew, I think it was because of Dick Reynolds and his can do attitude.
‘On April 18, 1964, the “Raiders” all got together in Ft. Worth for one of their annual reunions and we got to attend. Jimmy Stewart was master of ceremonies. General Doolittle was there and all the living raiders. It was a fine affair.’
Up until 1964, when he was hired away to the SR-71 program, Sheffield remained with the B-58s. Early in March 1965, after passing the astronaut physical at Brooks Air Force Base in Texas without problems, he arrived at Beale Air Force Base, home of the USAF Blackbird fleet.
Check out Habubrats SR-71’s Twitter profile and Born into the Wilde Blue Yonder Habubrats‘s Facebook page for further Blackbird photos and stories.
Photo by Linda Sheffield Miller and U.S. Air Force