John Denver’s father set speed records with this Castle Air Museum arrival

One of the last B-58 Hustler bombers that set air speed records during the Cold War is making the trek from Illinois to Castle Air Museum.

The Convair B-58 Hustler strategic bomber, one of six remaining of the 116 built to serve the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command in the 60s and 70s., is expected to arrive at the Atwater museum Thursday, according to a news release.

The plane will start its journey on three semi-trucks from Rantoul, Illinois Monday, the release states.

“When it comes, Castle Air Museum will represent one of the most complete collections of bombing aircraft in the United States,” museum CEO Joe Pruzzo said Saturday.

The B-58 Hustler contains 1950s technology, and was the first strategic bomber capable of Mach 2 speeds, or twice the speed of sound.

One of the more famous record-setting pilots of the B-58 Hustler, according to the release, was Maj. Henry J. Deutschendorf, the father of singer and humanitarian John Denver.

An online dossier of airplanes at www.aerialvisuals.ca suggests that the plane coming to Castle completed its first flight on March 20, 1958, and was the seventh B-58 Hustler built.

It made the longest B-58 early test program flight at 11 hours and 15 minutes.

This story was originally published August 12, 2017 at 3:59 PM with the headline "John Denver’s father set speed records with this Castle Air Museum arrival."