Valkyrie

[underfire]

Found this amazing image of a Valkyrie today..

The design is amazing, the fuselage in an airfoil configuration.


thought I would share

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/02/ec/f2/02ecf2b9d77433602bb6b11516ae0b7a.jpg

EDIT:
American XB-70A Valkyrie. The Valkyrie measured 185 feet in length, had a wingspan of 105 feet and an empty weight of 210,000 pounds. With a GTOW of 550,000 pounds, it was the heaviest supersonic-capable aircraft of all-time. The aircraft was powered by a six-pack of General Electric YJ93-GE-3 turbojets totaling 172,200 pounds of thrust in afterburner.

Just found this on Pinterest, some really amazing aircraft photography can be found there...

[srobarts]

Ah nostalgia, it was an aircraft that fascinated me. There is an entry in my 1967 copy of Jane's AWA. I love the picture with the wingtips drooped. I have uploaded a photo of the two pages for you. http://s596.photobucket.com/user/jasperspaniel/media/Aviation/DSC02993_zps15e6de51.jpg

[RedhillPhil]

Here you are..........


XB-70 Valkyrie - The Mach 3 bomber - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wsPLthWrr8&feature=player_detailpage#t=2)

[WHBM]

Not dissimilar to the contemporary Sukhoi T-3 Sotka, also Mach 3, which was intended to strike against US aircraft carriers.

Sukhoi T-4 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_T-4)

[flarepilot]

you do realize you can see the XB70 in person at the Wright Patterson USAF museum, in Dayton, Ohio, USA?

You can also stop by the WRight Brothers home and shop while in town.

I've seen the XB70 in person at the museum...the color of the tires was unusual.

[treadigraph]

"the color of the tires was unusual"


In what way? I seem to recall SR-71 tyres were silvery because of metallic content to help the rubber resist the high temperatures?


Fantastic aeroplane!

[flarepilot]

yes, silvery

and in person even more so than pictures


encourage everyone to go to his fantastic museum

I'd love to fly every plane there

[Rosevidney1]

The Flight Manual for it is most interesting. It was a research aircraft so no hint can be gained as to its ability as a bomber. I heard (not in the manual) that it required the paint to be re-touched after every flight.

[John Farley]

underfire

Fully agree your comments about the looks of XB-70.

In the mid '60s I was on Aero Flight at Bedford when they were doing HP115, FD2 and T221 flying in support of Concorde design concepts. We also spent hours in an early Concorde sim at Bristol.

View on the approach was a big issue at that time and because of what we were up to in the UK when I went as an RAE Flt Lt to the SETP symposium around '66 I got well looked after by Lockheed and spent some time in their SST cockpit mockup. They also flew me to Edwards where Joe Cotton was kind enough to give me the XB-70 tour. What a jet. For me far and away the sexiest looking monster that ever sat on tyres.

As it happens the senior student on my ETPS course was one Lt Cdr Jerry Skyrud USN who was flying the F-4 on the port canard when the collision happened. His story of the accident day and flight plus the subsequent 'BOI' (all three versions) would fill a book.

As an aside when I was shown the XB-70 I was very impressed with the colours on a nearby X-15 nose cone - Just like a chisel when I had hardened it as an apprentice. As for the A-12 in the same hanger as the X-15 - what programmes they had in those days.

Regards

John

[Vzlet]

The R&D hangar in Dayton certainly vies for best in the world!

A view of the XB-70 tyres can be seen here (http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Air/North-American-XB-70A/1949816/M/).


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/768x1036/da2ad678_bc3d_44e8_897e_a6b48e3c4496_3f4431074c898f6e6c61c1d c5e872dfb4e20506c.jpeg

[aerolearner]

The midair collision is also the subject of a chapter in this NASA ebook:
"Breaking the Mishap Chain: Human Factors Lessons Learned from Aerospace Accidents and Incidents in Research, Flight Test, and Development" | NASA (http://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/break_mishap_chain_detail.html)

BR,

aerolearner

[Mac the Knife]

Surely one of the most fabulous designs of all time.

Stands for me with the Douglas X-3 Stiletto.

[The Convair B-58 has to be the meanest looking]

Mac

[Captain Dart]

I have a very detailed book on the XB-70 programme but I am jet lagged and 'down the line' and can't remember its title and author. Salient points from it:

The B70 was, and I quote, the 'chemically powered' forerunner of a nuclear powered iteration.

The pilots did not eject as from a normal jet, they each 'encapsulated' into a protective shell which enclosed them prior to ejection. A precautionary encapsulation could be carried out with the basic flight controls still accessible and a view through a small window enabled the pilot to read the instruments. This feature was fitted to the prototypes. The aim for the operational version was for the mission to be continued in this configuration. It was also planned for the aircraft to continue its mission with both pilots incapacitated.

The command and control system which the the B70 was intended to operate under was apparently the forerunner of the internet.

A picture of a technician almost standing inside the intake duct to the six engines, it was the size of a small room.

A 'what might have been' photo of one of the XB's taxying past a line of B47s during a visit to an operational SAC base.

Another photo of its ablated paint after the Mach III run.

The XB70 was known by the chase pilots as 'Cecil the Sea Sick Sea Monster', as almost every flight resulted in a problem, particularly with the landing gear.

Taxying the thing was 'interesting', as the cockpit vibrated up and down due to its position on the extended nose.

Its wingtips folded down in supersonic flight to 'enclose' the shock wave and use it to produce lift.

An amazing visionary leap for the 1960s, not a silicon chip in sight, killed by advancing missile technology and horrendous costs. Thank you for posting the image, underfire, it is stunning.

[JEM60]

Fabulous aircraft!!. I was lucky enough to see it at Dayton, unfortunately, it has other aircraft around it and underneath it, so a little difficult to get the full impression of just how dramatic it really is. When my late friend visited a few years before me, it was stood outside in the sunshine, all on it's own..........:{

[Spooky 2]

This is an interesting thread. I was on the tarmac at the Van Nuys airport (VNY), when the Clay Lacy Learjet landed after filming the mid air. Needless to say there was a lot of distress at what they had just filmed and the media was in a frenzy asking for simplistic answers for the evening news.

More recently I have worked with the son of John Fritz, the GE Chief Pilot was part of the formation flying that day. His career was pretty much destoyed by this event as someone had to take the spear for being a part of the organizing effort for this flight. John Fritz is alive and well living in the North West these days.

I have friends that have visited the crash site and actually recovered very small parts of the B70. Kind of amazing as one would have thought they would have used a fine tooth coomb to clean up the wreckage or whats left of it.

[wub]

The sequence of XB-70 crash photos is here:

http://area51specialprojects.com/xb-70_crash_sequence.html

[ORAC]

Waveriders (http://www.ricknewlands.webspace.virginmedia.com/downloads/technical-papers/Supersonics%20and%20Waveriding.pdf)

[Satellite_Driver]

I'd highly recommend Valkyrie: North American's Mach 3 Superbomber by Dennis Jenkins and Tony Landis, although it seems to be out of print and second-hand copies are a little pricey.

Valkyrie: North American's Mach 3 Superbomber: Dennis R. Jenkins, Tony R. Landis, Alvin S. White, Fitzhugh L. Fulton Jr.: 0619051000725: Amazon.com: Books

[India Four Two]

Valkyrie: North American's Mach 3 Superbomber Some cheaper but still pricy used copies at abebooks.com.

I was told that Amazon buys its used books through abebooks and marks them up. Caveat emptor.

[hoofie]

There is a very good book on Amazon available as an Kindle read

Valkyrie : The North American XB70 by Graham M Simons

that I would recommend

[Sorry don't have a link typing the title off my Kindle]

[dfv8]

:ok: Agreed, I bought this in softback and it's a keeper. Some interesting info on the B58 Hustler as well.

[Foxxster]

A new video for a very old thread. Extremely annoying voice ..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=emb_logo&time_continue=831&v=EDze-NIz3Qs

[piesupper]

A new video for a very old thread. Extremely annoying voice ..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=emb_logo&time_continue=831&v=EDze-NIz3Qs


You may find his voice annoying, I find it interesting, melodious and informative. The History Guy does a fantastic series of videos of little-known snippets of history covering a multitude of topics of which aviation is only one. He's not a pure aviation nut as those on this forum are but in general his take is realistic and his research is good for a general audience. Definitely worth checking out more of his stuff. Use the subtitles if his voice is not to your liking.