XB 70; the coolest thing the US ever flew.

Back in 1984 I was at The USAF Musem at Wright Patterson Air Force Base and I stood under it and it was wonderful to behold!

It was just an experimental design and was cancelled in favor of the B-1 Lancer which was better because it had swing wings.

The six-pack engines on the B-70 had big overheating problems that were unsolved.

Also if one was damaged it could affect the five others with a fire.

The B-1 has jet engines that are widely separated for safety reasons!

When I was there I was in Hangar 18 and all I saw was vintage aircraft like the A-12 Blackbird and a Flying Pancake!

No, this has to be the coolest aircraft the USA has ever flown:

Link

Personally, I like the XF-108 Rapier (it was to be the escort fighter for the B-70, and could also reach triplesonic speeds)


[Edited on 6/1/04 by InvaderZoch]

This site is all about the Valkyrie and it has lots of information.

www.labiker.org...

here is a pic of two of my favorite planes

community.webshots.com...

No kidding, there. The A-10 is an awesome plane. It's just ugly. (That's why the crews that fly 'em and work on 'em call them "Warthog", when the official designation is the "Thunderbolt II") The XB-70 is very pretty. (So's the F-108)

yees the Warthog is very ugly, but some planes are so ugly that they are cool looking, and the a-10 is definentely in that category. at the Langely air show it was probably the most manuverable planes there, looping and turning tightly, only turning its nose from the ground for a couple of seconds

Very true, both about it's manuverability, and it's ugliness. I was a B-52G crew chief in the USAF, and it's pretty to me, but realistically, it's ugly, too. Probably why we call it the BUFF. (You know, Big Ugly Fat F...well, you know the rest...)

i guess with the A-10 B-52 ect its a kind of respect and not really visual appeal that makes you respect it. Pretty planes are okay, but a plane that blows tons of things up is true respect

Where I was stationed (figuratively, the Bomber areas) we had a saying...

"Fighters are fun, but bombers make policy."

Originally posted by Forsazh
This site is all about the Valkyrie and it has lots of information.

www.labiker.org...

Thanks F; nice site.

Originally posted by InvaderZoch
Personally, I like the XF-108 Rapier (it was to be the escort fighter for the B-70, and could also reach triplesonic speeds)


[Edited on 6/1/04 by InvaderZoch]

Yeah, I'd heard of the F 108 (pity it was cancelled before even 1 was built - anyone know how far they got with the 1st example before cancellation?). Nice pic.

This thread may be 19 years old, but when the WS-110 specification that led to the XB-70 Valkyrie was issued in the mid-1950s, the initial submission by North American Aviation for the WS-110 requirement, the NA-239, took the form of an unusual Mach 3 bomber with a canard on the nose and large fuel-filled "floating panels" that would be jettisoned in flight when the NA-239 would begin dashing to enemy targets using boron fuel. However, the NA-239 along with Boeing's initial proposal for the WS-110 requirement were rejected the USAF when submitted in late 1956, with SAC chief General Curtis LeMay remarking: "This is not an airplane, it's a three-ship formation." Thus, North American and Boeing returned to the drawing board and eventually issued new designs for the WS-110 competition with delta wings.

Link:
www.secretprojects.co.uk...