Highway to the Dangerzone

XB-70

Did you know the B-58 was powered by the General Electric J79, the same engine that powered the F-4? But while the Phantom made do with two, the Hustler packed four of them! Here they are lined up at Carswell AFB in 1962: the heyday of the speed as protection philosophy.

Northrop YB-35 (or XB-35) experimental flying wing bomber, likely during early taxiing tests in the mid-1940s. 

Radical Design: This aircraft pioneered the "flying wing" configuration, eliminating the traditional fuselage and tail section to reduce drag and increase payload efficiency. 

Unique Propulsion: It was powered by four large Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major radial engines driving distinctive eight-bladed contra-rotating pusher propellers. 

Operational History: Developed for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, only one YB-35 was fully flown, with others later modified into the jet-powered YB-49. 

Convair B-58 Hustler, the United States Air Force's first operational supersonic bomber. 

Design: It featured a distinct delta-wing design. 

Speed: It was the first operational bomber capable of sustained Mach 2 flight (over 1,300 mph). 

Payload: Lacking an internal bomb bay, it carried a nuclear weapon and fuel in a pod underneath the fuselage. 

North American X-15 hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft attached to the wing pylon of a NASA Boeing B-52 Stratofortress mothership. 

Vehicle Identification: North American X-15. 

Mothership Identification: Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. 

Speed Record: Holds the official world record for the highest speed ever reached by a manned aircraft, reaching Mach 6.7 (4,520 mph). 

Altitude Record: Set an altitude record of 354,330 feet (over 67 miles high), crossing the edge of outer space. 

Purpose: Operated by the U.S. Air Force and NASA to collect data on flight conditions at the edge of the atmosphere for the space program. 

C-130H

Aircraft mechanics from the British aircraft carrier HMS Furious (47) roll a Fairey Barracuda torpedo bomber onto an aircraft elevator during a voyage in the North Atlantic. Supermarine Seafire carrier-based fighters are visible on the upper hangar deck. April 1944.