Navigating the Supersonic B-58

Abstract

This account of the problems of navigating the Hustler, the Convair B-j8 supersonic bomber, was presented at the sixteenth Annual General Meeting of the American Institute of Navigation, held at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs on 16, 17, 18 June. It is published with the kind permission of that Institute.In navigating high-performance vehicles with the precision required to get acceptable results, the individual is limited in his ability to assess all the data available about heading, speed, instrument readings, &c, and to act upon this information in sufficient time to get the job done. The same limitations apply to pilots when flight conditions approach the design limits of the aircraft. For these reasons the manual tasks required of the crew of the B-58 have been automated to the extent that transition to a missile environment seems almost complete.