In May of 1961, a Convair B-58 Hustler, crewed by Maj. William Payne, Capt. William Polhemus and Capt. Raymond Wagener, set a New York-to-Paris speed record, covering the 3,626.46-mile route in 3 hours, 19 minutes, 58 seconds (an average speed of 1,089.36 mph). This B-58 was given the name of the Firefly.

Recently, the flight log of this historic flight was donated to the San Diego Air & Space Museum. It details the flight, which originated in Carswell Air Froce Base in Texas, and gives details about it, such as wind speed, fuel consumption and speed.

For their effort, the crew would win prestigious Mackay trophy, which recognizes the most outstanding flight of the year, and the Harmon trophy, which is awarded to the most outstanding aviators of the year. Unfortunately, this story does not have a happy ending, as just a few days after the historic flight, the Firefly, with a totally new crew for the return flight to the US, crashed a few miles outside of Paris, killing all on board. The flight plan is just one of the artifacts in our Curatorial Collection that tells a story of heroics and sacrifice.

Lieutenant David F. Dickerson, Major Elmer E. Murphy, and Major Eugene Moses, all of whom would die in the June 3rd crash of the Firefly.

Click here to learn more: https://sandiegoairandspace.org/collection/item/b-58-hustler-flight-plan