XB-59: US Bomber Projects #20

[Orionblamblam]

US Bomber Projects #20 is now available. Issue #20 collects all the previously published articles and diagrams of the XB-59 antecedent designs and updates them. Additionally, more antecedent designs have been included as well as several designs that followed along after the XB-59. The biggest USXP publication yet! Cover art was provided by Rob Parthoens, www.baroba.be

USBP 20 includes twenty nine unique aircraft concepts (the usual issue of USXP has eight designs) from Boeing Models 484 and 701 showing how Boeing evolved the XB-59, their competitor to the Convair B-58 “Hustler.” Beginning with subsonic flying wings, the concept saw concepts both conventional and unconventional before eventually settling on Model 701-299-1, the final XB-59 design. This issue includes a half dozen Model 701 designs that followed along after the cancellation of the XB-59 program.

USBP #20 can be previewed and purchased here:
http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/blog/?p=3138

 

[Orionblamblam]

Anybody know why this topic was locked? I hit "post," and bam, it was auto-locked before I could click on it to take a look at it myself.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Wasn't me...

 

[Orionblamblam]

Hmm. Must've been those hidden forces that don't want The Truth About The XB-59 to be made public.

Clearly, the best way to deal with this vile accursed conspiracy is for everyone to buy a copy of USBP #20...

 

[flateric]

some glitch, no plot here, Scott

 

[GeorgeA]

Pulled my copy down yesterday, one of Scott's best efforts in some time. Well worth the dough.

 

[fightingirish]

I bought my copy last evening for 6,91€ (8$). This morning I downloaded to my tablet.

Dear Scott and Rob,
great work again! B)

Slán,
fightingirish

 

[Orionblamblam]

Thanks. The XB-59 seems like one of those designs that should be better known than it is. It failed because it did not promise the performance that the B-58 did... but had it actually been built, that lack of performance *might* have actually helped the B-59 have a longer service life than the B-58. The B-58 was designed to go blisteringly fast at high altitude, but Soviet SAM development made it fly low and slow, utterly ruining the potential of the plane. The B-59 was also supposed to fly high, but with a subsonic cruise and a rather meager supersonic dash. In the new SAM environment, it might have done better low and slow.

 

[fightingirish]

Yeah, as quoted in your paper, the Boeing Model 701-299-1 aka B-59 was conventional design. So it would have easily been modified to conventional bomber compared to the B-58.
In a What-If-Scenario, I can see a "Boeing B-59C" dropping general-purpose bombs out of its bomb bay in the last days of the Vietnam Conflict. In my scenario, the "B-59C" would have been retired in late 70s, just before the FB-111 or later on the B-1B were introduced into service.