Convair B-58 Hustler MITO Tests 1963 (Restored Color)

There's some beautiful color B-58 Hustler take-off footage here, shot from many angles, including overhead helicopter shots of dual launches and afterburners lighting up the night. I digitally restored the color. During the depths of the Cold War, SAC bombers had only 15 to 20-minutes to get airborne between the launch of enemy missiles and their arrival at US targets. That meant that the ability get US air forces on their way quickly and efficiently was absolutely essential for survivability, striking power and deterrence. A critical element in this quick response was “MITO“ - “Minimum Interval Take-Off.“ This involved determining the optimum interval between the launching aircraft to achieve the fastest possible deployment, while avoiding jet thrust and wing turbulence from preceding aircraft while allowing an adequate safety margin in case an individual plane had to abort. In January, 1963, SAC B-58 units conducted a series of tests to determine optimum MITO for the Hustler for day and night launches, singly and in pairs, with up to a half dozen B-58s queuing up on the flight line. Zeno, Zeno's Warbird Video Drive-In See this film and more on our “Record Breaker: The B-58 Hustler Story DVD Volume 2“ DVD Visit our aviation DVD store at for the World's largest selection of World War 2 & vintage jet aircraft aviation videos. We have 100s of films in our library. We have licensed footage to major TV networks and cable channels. For more info see Zeno