The Grissom Air Museum, in Peru, Indiana, has expressed its gratitude for the continued support it receives from military and aviation communities across Indiana and throughout the country. Volunteers remain essential to the museum’s success, providing valuable assistance to its small staff. On August 12, 2026, more than two dozen personnel from the 434th Air Refueling Wing at Grissom Air Reserve Base volunteered nearly four hours to clean the museum’s rare Convair TB-58A Hustler, serial number 55-0663.
(Image credit: Grissom Air Museum)
The aircraft was in considerable need of cleaning, but its age, delicate structure, and new indoor location made it impossible to use the pressure-washing methods employed on many of the museum’s outdoor aircraft. Accustomed to working around—and on top of—large aircraft, the 434th personnel hand-washed the entire Hustler, including its vertical tail, which rises more than 30 feet above the ground.
(Image credit: Grissom Air Museum)
Members of the museum’s regular Wednesday volunteer group remained safely on the ground, helping manage the water used during the cleaning. By the end of the day, there was little evidence that the interior of the building had briefly become nearly as wet as the aircraft itself.
(Image credit: Grissom Air Museum)
The cleaning also revealed the extent of the work still required to preserve the historic bomber. The museum is now seeking to raise $10,000 to repair and repaint 55-0663. Built as the second of 11 YB-58 pre-production aircraft, 55-0663 is the oldest of the eight surviving Convair B-58 Hustlers. During its career, it became the first B-58 to release its external pod at supersonic speed and later at Mach 2. It also supported reconnaissance equipment testing and NASA research before being converted into a TB-58A trainer in 1963.
(Image credit: Grissom Air Museum)
(Image credit: Grissom Air Museum)
After spending nearly five decades outdoors, the aircraft was moved into the museum’s new Captain Manuel Cervantes Building in February 2026. The structure, inspired by the shelters once used to protect operational B-58s, is being developed as a permanent educational exhibit dedicated to the Hustler and the people who flew and maintained it. Those wishing to support the restoration and repainting of 55-0663 can contribute through the Cervantes Building page on the Grissom Air Museum’s website.
(Image credit: Grissom Air Museum)
