Feb 2012: Return of Hustler 668

Five years ago, the B-58 Hustler returned home! Before settling here for retirement – on loan from the National Museum, of course – tail number 6-6-8 had been stationed at Little Rock AFB from 1965 to 1970. The 43d Bombardment Wing used 6-6-8 as a pilot trainer before the Air Force began retiring all Hustlers in 1969. Its departure in 1970 essentially signaled the end of the strategic bomber era at Little Rock Air Force Base.   After spending seven years at the Boneyard, 6-6-8 was sent to Texas where it was put on static display at two separate museums. Ultimately, each museum was unable to allocate enough funds needed to make repairs on the bomber. That was especially the case after Hurricane Ike swept through and badly damaged most aircraft on display at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston in 2008. That museum decided to return 6-6-8 to the National Museum. Fortunately for Little Rock, in many ways, the two bases higher on the B-58 wish list also determined that 6-6-8 required too many costly and labor-intensive repairs. They therefore passed on it, and Little Rock happily accepted.   In February 2012, five years ago this month, Hustler 6-6-8 rolled into Little Rock AFB aboard a flatbed trailer. It took over a year to reassemble the wings and tail to the fuselage; restore, paint, and polish the plane’s entire surface after enduring saltwater erosion caused by Hurricane Ike; provide extensive repairs to the four engine nacelles; and multiple other details needing attention. It was dedicated in May 2013, after more than twenty futile years of attempting to bring a B-58 back here.