In late 1960, the USAF decided to publicize the capabilities of its new B-58s by capturing a series of aviation records. The first of these was a project known as
Quick Step I in which 59-2442 of the 43rd BW set three new speed-with-payload records (0, 1000 and 2000 kilogram payloads) by flying at a speed of 1061 mph over a closed circuit 2000-kilometer course on January 12, 1961. On the same flight, the crew also set a 1000-kilometer record by flying at an average speed of 1200.19 mph.
The closed circuit and 2000-kg records still stand.
On January 14, 59-2441 set three international speed-with payloads by flying at a speed of 1284.73 mph over a 1000-km closed circuit. The crew of 59-2441 (Lt. Col. Harold Confer, Lt. Col. Richard Weir, and Major Howard Bialas) were awarded the 1961 Thompson Trophy for this feat.
On May 10, 1961, 59-2451 crewed by Major Elmer Murphy, Major Eugene Moses and Lt. David Dickerson, flew a 1073-kilometer closed course at an average speed of 1302.07 mph, taking 30 minutes and 43 seconds to complete the course. This won the Bleriot Trophy, which had been established back in 1930 by the famous French aviator M. Louis Bleriot to be awarded permanently to any aircraft flying for at least a half-hour at an average speed of 2000 km/hr (1242.74 mph).
On May 26, 1961, 59-2451, crewed by Maj. William Payne, Capt. William Polhemus, and Capt. Raymond Wagener, while enroute to the 1961 Paris Air Show, set a New York-to-Paris speed record, covering the 3626.46 mile route in 3 hours 19 minutes 58 seconds (an average speed of 1089.36 mph. The flight also set a Washington DC to Paris (3833.4 miles) speed record of 3 hours 39 minutes 48 seconds (average speed of 1048.68 mph). The crew was later awarded the prestigious Mackay and Harmon Trophies for this flight. Sadly, the return flight crew, consisting of Maj. Elmer Murphy, Major Eugene Moses, and Lt. David Dickerson (the same crew who had won the Bleriot Trophy two weeks earlier) were killed when 59-2451 crashed on June 3 following departure from Le Bourget Field.
Further records were set on March 5, 1962, when 59-2458 crewed by Capt. Robert Sowers, Capt. Robert Macdonald, and Capt John Walton set a trascontinental speed record by flying nonstop from Los Angeles to New York and back again. The first leg (Los Angeles to New York) was completed in 2 hours 0 minutes 56.8 seconds at an average speed of 1214.71 mph. The return leg was completed in 2 hours 15 minutes 48.6 seconds, at an average speed of 1081.77 mph. This return flight was particularly notable, because it was the first transcontinental flight in history that moved across the country at at a speed faster than the rotational speed of the earth.
On September 18, 1962, 59-2456, with a crew consisting of Major Fitzhugh Fulton, Captain W. R. Payne, and civilian flight test engineer C. R. Haines was used to set two more records. During a zoom climb over Edwards AFB, the aircraft reached an altitude of 85,360.84 feet while carrying a payload of 5000 kg, winning the crew the 1962 Harmon trophy. This broke two previous Soviet-held records. On October 16, 1962, 61-2059 crewed by Major Sidney Kubesch, Major John Barrett and Captain Gerard Williamson, flew supersonically from Tokyo to London, spending five hours at supersonic speed. The flight set five world absolute records.
Sources:
- American Combat Planes, Third Enlarged Edition, Ray Wagner, Doubleday, 1982.
- Post World War II Bombers, Marcelle Size Knaack, Office of Air Force History, 1988.
- United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.
- Convair B-58 Hustler: The World's First Supersonic Bomber, Jay Miller, Aerofax, 1997.
