Newcomers to America's Jet Air Force 2-View Drawings
October 1957 American Modeler

October 1957 American Modeler

October 1957 American Modeler CoverTable of Contents]

These pages from vintage modeling magazines like Flying Aces, Air Trails, American Modeler, American Aircraft Modeler, Young Men, Flying Models, Model Airplane News, R/C Modeler, captured the era. All copyrights acknowledged.

These 2-view drawings of the XB-58, F-104A, and KC-135A were scanned from page 31 of my purchased edition of the October 1957 American Modeler. It is another example of Walter Jefferies' fine scale drawings.

Newcomers to America's Jet Air Force

Scale Presentations by Walter M. Jefferies, Jr.

XB-58: Convair "Hustler," The Convair B-58 Hustler was the first operational supersonic jet bomber, and the first capable of Mach 2 flight.[2] The aircraft was developed for the United States Air Force for service in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) during the late 1950s. Originally intended to fly at high altitudes and speeds to avoid Soviet fighters, the introduction of highly accurate Soviet surface-to-air missiles forced the B-58 into a low-level penetration role that severely limited its range and strategic value. - Wikipedia

F-104A: Starfighter, Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, the chief engineer at Lockheed's Skunk Works, visited Korea in December 1951 and spoke with fighter pilots about what sort of aircraft they wanted. At the time, the U.S. pilots were confronting the MiG-15 with F-86 Sabres, and many of the American pilots felt that the MiGs were superior to the larger and more complex American design. The pilots requested a small and simple aircraft with excellent performance. On his return to the United States, Johnson immediately started the design of just such an aircraft. In March, his team was assembled; they studied several aircraft designs, ranging from small designs at 8,000 lb (3,629 kg), to fairly large ones at 50,000 lb (23,680 kg). The L-246 remained essentially identical to the L-083 Starfighter as eventually delivered. - Wikipedia

KC-135A: Midair Refueler, The KC-135 is derived from the original Boeing jet transport "proof of concept" demonstrator, the Boeing 367-80 (commonly called the "Dash-80"). As such, it has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the Boeing 707 jetliner. Boeing gave the tanker the designation of Model 717.[1] The 367-80 was the basic design for the commercial Boeing 707 passenger aircraft as well as the KC-135A Stratotanker.

 - Wikipedia

Newcomers to America's Jet Air Force 2-View (October 1957 American Modeler) - Airplanes and Rockets

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Notice:

The AMA Plans Service offers a full-size version of many of the plans show here at a very reasonable cost. They will scale the plans any size for you. It is always best to buy printed plans because my scanner versions often have distortions that can cause parts to fit poorly. Purchasing plans also help to support the operation of the Academy of Model Aeronautics - the #1 advocate for model aviation throughout the world. If the AMA no longer has this plan on file, I will be glad to send you my higher resolution version.

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Posted August 14, 2010