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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1356.PDF
508 FLIGHT, 21 September 1956 THOUGHTS ON THE HUSTLER First Allied Supersonic Bomber—and the First True Weapons System By THE TECHNICAL EDITOR I ONCE met a Texan who stood a bare five feet in his socks—but he was merely the exception which proves the rule. Ingeneral the inhabitants of the Lone Star State are massive in stature; and their accomplishments are—so they tell us—on acorrespondingly grandiose scale. Not the least of their achieve- ments is the manufacture of nearly 400 enormous B-36 bombersat the Convair plant at Fort Worth. There is no doubt that the existence of these awe-inspiring aeroplanes has been a major factorin the Strategic Air Command's global policy of "massive retaliation." Today one of the U.S.A.F.'s leading problems is whether or notthe B-36 is still a sufficiently effective delivery system to enable it to function as a "great deterrent." One is increasingly drivento the conclusion that it is not, and even to the contention that its sleeker, jet-propelled successors by Boeing might prove uncom-fortably vulnerable to the latest fighter and missile systems. This is unpalatable, for several billion dollars are locked up in thesemachines. Yet facts cannot be ignored and the U.S.A.F. were not slow to draw up basic requirements for a supersonic bomber(design limit, Mach 1.7-1.8) capable of placing paralysing blows on even the most heavily defended target. The first discussionson such a project date from the late 1940s but the Air Force did not really crystallize its ideas until about 1952. In that year two great machines contended for the honour ofselection as the standard long-range bomber for Strategic Air Command. These were the Boeing B-52 and the Conyair B-60,the first entirely new and the other a redesigned B-36 which might have been available rather sooner. In the event the Air Forcechose die Boeing and it was therefore not surprising when Convair received the design contract for the supersonic machine,designated B-58. Doubtless the requirement was put out to tender but it is unlikely that any other firm could really havespared the engineering effort necessary to produce such a design. It is also relevant to remember that at this time the Air Force hadalso to decide who was to build its future jet tanker, and this also was put out to tender even after a preliminary contract had beenplaced with Boeing at Renton. Convair are a division of the General Dynamics Corporation, Convair had a big hand in developing both the J79 and the B-58 nacelle. There are three ram-air coolers, fed by side doors at under Mach 0.6 and by secondary intakes at higher speeds. Details shown include:— 1, Sliding nose-cone; 2, engine intake; 3, secondary cooling intakes; 4, cooling-air outlets; 5, flow through inner cowling; 6, low-speed intake door; 7, reverse cooling flows at low air speeds; 8, oil cooler; 9, cabin-air heat exchanger; 10, accessory group; 11,(con-di afterburner nozzle; 12, compressor-bleed ejector pump. with divisional headquarters at San Diego. The Fort Worthplant has a floor area of almost 4J million square feet and a payroll of roughly 21,000. The last of the B-36s went out of the doorthere more than two years ago, and the works have since suffered what Americans term a "bathtub," i.e. a period of inactivitybetween the completion of one production programme and the start of its successor. This bathtub has been partially filled bymajor modification programmes to B-36s and other aircraft. On the engineering side, however, there has been intense effortever since the B-58, or "Hustler" (the name has now been officially adopted), went to Convair. The work-load on the com-pany was gready increased by the fact that the whole Hustler programme is the first true "weapons system," as the U.S. indus-try understands the term. Briefly the idea is that each weapon shall be a complete system in which every single related part shallbe designed in harmony with its neighbours. Thus, for example, the B-58 airframe, engines, accessories, ground equipment,training aids and even the technical manuals are all the respon- sibility of the "prime contractor"—Convair. In the past the "prime" has seldom been responsible for muchmore than the design of the airframe. Engines and accessories have often been dictated in advance, and all contracts connectedwith their purchase, and with sub-contract of structural parts, have been placed by, or on behalf of, the customer (the Air Force).Under the weapons system concept the Air Force undertake to buy a weapons system called the B-58 from one supplier, Convair.This manufacturer decides who shall build which parts, places all the orders, works closely with each of the hundreds of equipmentmanufacturers which he has chosen, and so integrates the whole system mat—in theory—it comes out at the other end as a goingconcern. Government-furnished equipment (G.F.E.) is held to an absolute minimum. Advantages of such an arrangement are self-evident. Thedrawbacks are few, but the autocratic position of the "prime" could certainly render the arrangement open to abuse. In factseveral sub-contractors have become worried that, in time of recession in particular, they might find themselves without anybusiness (as happened to certain British sub-contract companies in 1954). To safeguard themselves they formed the SmallDefense Industries Association, which is at present hoping that the threat will never be more than a potential one. With the B-58 everything seems to have gone smoothly, andseveral hundred small firms have been brought into the pro- gramme. From early on the engine supplier has been GeneralElectric, whose J79 is ideal for this application. In a supersonic bomber the volume of engines plus fuel is critical and the J79'shigh pressure ratio, small bulk and low weight form an attractive combination. Initially the B-58 was intended to have four after-burning J79s in twin pods mounted conventionally under the wing, but ground-running tests with J47s and with an afterburn-ing J57 indicated that, particularly on the ground, this disposition would raise the temperature of the underside of the wide-chordwing to an unacceptable level. The next arrangement was to have the four engines podded above and below the wing, butarea rule (Flight, September 30, 1955) dictated a different layout. Probably more than any other firm Convair are area-ruleconscious. Through it they managed to make the F-102 inter- cepter supersonic and their neglect of it held up the performancedevelopment of this machine for more than a year. Tunnel tests of B-58 models indicated that the bomber was also likely to
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