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Cranston Fine Arts Aviation Art and Artists Modern Era Pilot Signatures United States M to Z Widmer, Robert

Robert H Widmer

Bob Widmer is also a pioneer in aviation/ aerospace technology. Born in 1916 to parents who had immigrated to America from Switzerland, Bob's father, Dr. Robert Widmer, was an eminent chemist. Bob attended Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, and during summer breaks worked at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, where he designed and built a small racing biplane as his thesis project. Following graduation from RPI, Bob attained a Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology. He joined the Consolidated Aircraft Company in San Diego in 1939. His initial assignments included work on the PBY, PB2Y, and B-24. With America's entry into the War, Bob was transferred to Consolidated's Fort Worth operations. Bob worked on the B-32 and B-36 programs, and by 1970 he had advanced to Vice President of Research and Development for both the Ft. Worth and San Diego operations. During this time Bob was responsible for development of the B-58, the F-111, the RB-57, the F-16 prototype, and the Tomahawk Cruise Missile. In 1974 Bob was promoted to Vice President of Science and Engineering for General Dynamics. He retired in 1981 after forty-two years in the industry. He holds numerous honors and distinctions, including: The Air Force Association Field of Science Award, and Lifetime Membership for his work on the B-36, the ASME Spirit of St. Louis Medal for his work on the B-58, and the A1AA Reed Award for his pioneering efforts in the eras of supersonic flight and fly-by-wire flight control. Bob was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from TCU for his many contributions to aerospace technology and education. He died on 20th July 2011.

Robert H Widmer - Signed Aviation Art

Arctic Hustler by Stan Stokes. 3 of 5 editions available. All 2 editions featuring up to 2 additional signatures are available. £35.00 - £120.00

Text for the above items :

Arctic Hustler by Stan Stokes. No bomber made so definite a break with the past as the Convair B-58 Hustler. Reversing the trend towards ever-larger bombers, the worlds first supersonic bomber, the B-58, was ordered by the Air Force in 1954. This was also the final year of the production of the huge Convair B-36. From the beginning of its operational career, the Hustler set a string of performance records that may never be matched by another military bomber. Alone in its class, the B-58 could fly faster than twice the speed of sound, pinpoint targets from an altitude of 60,000 feet, and avoid radar detection in low level supersonic flight. Powered by four General Electric J79 engines delivering 15,600 pounds of thrust each, the Hustler was faster than any other bomber, and had a range of 4,500 miles without aerial refueling. The B-58s electronic bombing and navigational systems were ten times more precise than those on earlier bombers. To reduce drag the aircrafts designers utilized the area rule principle in the design, giving the Hustler its sleek shape. Very strong honeycomb skin material was utilized to further reduce weight and allow the bomber to withstand the high temperatures of supersonic flight. Utilizing its very strong, but extremely light weight design, a fully loaded B-58 (after in-flight refueling) would carry a gross weight equal to seven times the aircrafts dry weight. It first entered service in 1960. In September of 1962 a B-58 piloted by Fitzhugh Fulton carried an 11,000 payload to the incredible altitude of 85,000 feet, breaking the world record. With a length of 99 feet and a wing span of 57 feet, the Hustler was a small aircraft compared to the B-36. Hustlers were operated by three-man crews, including a pilot, navigator-bombardier, and defense systems operator. Each crewmen had his own cramped cockpit with its own ejection system. The B-58 was unique in that it lacked an internal bomb bay. Instead all weapons were carried in an externally mounted under-fuselage pod. The B-58 could carry a weapons load of up to 19,500 pounds. The pod could also be used to carry additional fuel. Some B-58s were equipped to carry a stand-off rocket propelled weapon (a precursor of todays modern cruise missiles) with a range of 160-miles. The Hustler utilized the delta wing configuration of Convairs fighters (F-102 & F-106.) Although the B-58 was conceived as a very high altitude long-range bomber capable of penetrating Soviet air space, it became apparent during the 1960s that Soviet ground-to-air missile technology had improved to the point that high altitude, high speed bombers would be very vulnerable to interception. This revelation led to both a re-focusing of the B-58s role to a lower altitude, radar-beating, mission, and a faster phase-out of this aircraft from service than was originally planned. This was somewhat influenced by the aircrafts price tag which was four times that of a B-52, and ten times that of a B-47. As depicted in Stan Stokes painting entitled Arctic Hustler, a B-58A flying out of Elmendorf AFB in Alaska is put through its radar-beating paces in the mid-1960s.