NORTH AMERICAN XB-70 VALKYRIE

[FastEd]

The XB-70 is now in a hangar on the back lot.
When the new hangar is finished it will be back again.

 

[Jim Puke]

IIRC that is the only XB-70 in existence. Seems like I read that the only other one that was ever made. crashed during testing.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

IIRC that is the only XB-70 in existence. Seems like I read that the only other one that was ever made. crashed during testing.

Yep Of all things the chase plane ran into it. :roll: :roll:

The one thing the XB-70 program did was make the Roooskis spend a lot of money developing the MIG -25. What a piece of junk it turned out to be.

 

[Glasstream15]

Can you imagine the engineering that went into that beauty in the late 1950s??? Lockheed and North American were doing some serious advances in the art. XB70, SR71, F102 and many others. Even the T38/F5 which is still in use. Some far thinking people.

 

[Bull Barrel]

How was the MiG-25 a piece of junk?
It was slower only than the SR-71. And it used very little titanium, unlike the SR. It was not a fighter, it was an interceptor/bomber, much like our F-105. It set many altitude records over 100k feet. And it forced us to design the F-15.

 

[GLGAR]

Working in the North American Aviation Engineering dept in the early 60's, I remember the B-70 was affectionately referred to as "The Savior" because the first thing out of people's mouth on seeing it was Oh My GOD!

 

[Glasstream15]

How was the MiG-25 a piece of junk?
It was slower only than the SR-71. And it used very little titanium, unlike the SR. It was not a fighter, it was an interceptor/bomber, much like our F-105. It set many altitude records over 100k feet. And it forced us to design the F-15.

It was purely brute force. Technology in the Foxbat was very old and obsolete. And compared to the Eagle it was a WW1 Spad against the F22. Yeah, it would go fast. When it would go at all. It was, as stated, JUNK!

 

[Wyandot Jim]

How was the MiG-25 a piece of junk?
It was slower only than the SR-71. And it used very little titanium, unlike the SR. It was not a fighter, it was an interceptor/bomber, much like our F-105. It set many altitude records over 100k feet. And it forced us to design the F-15.

For more info read the book "MIG Pilot" which is very good. It also gives a very good insight as to how it was to grow up and live in Russia. Viktor Ivanovich Belenko who wrote the book had one of the best jobs in Russia that he worked very hard to get and he left it for a reason.

It was a very heavy Interceptor, due to being made mostly from stainless steel, in the new world of Fighters. Yes it could go real fast but you would need a new engine afterwards. It also could not turn very well at the high speed. A missile could out run it as has been proven. The MiG-25 was constructed from 80% nickel steel alloy, 11% aluminum, and 9% titanium.

Yes if the XB-70 program would have continued it would have been a threat. The US realized it didn't need high speed bombers like the B-58s and the B-70. If you can't hide from radar and missiles you are dead. Think F-117 :D :D

A little more info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-25

 

[Coop]

Last time I saw the B-70 at Wright-Pat was in late 1986. At that time it was displayed on the tarmac out in the open (no hanger). The museum placed a portable uni-frame stepladder in front of one engine opening. Attendees could climb up the stepladder and look into the engine intake. AIR, the engine intake opening was higher than six feet.

 

[Bull Barrel]

You must remmber the MiG 25 was designed in the early 60s. It first flew in '64. The only reason the engines shot craps is from going faster than approved limits. It still shows what it was capable of. Plus, the avionics were impervious to EMI and cold temps. There is something to be said for old technology. Missiles can outrun all our planes. Does that make them junk? The F-4 couldn't turn worth a darn, either. Is it junk? And the 25 could outrun it (or run it down).
The -25 has a few F-4 kills. Also F-5 and F-18. And I will repeat, it resulted in our designing the F-15 so it can't be that bad. And the F-15 was deigned as a fighter, not an interceptor.
What the MiG-25 was designed to do it did well. It was a stand off interceptor. Climb fast, aquire a target and fire. It was not a multi role aircraft.

 

[Cooperhawk]

The -25 has a few F-4 kills. Also F-5 and F-18. And I will repeat, it resulted in our designing the F-15 so it can't be that bad.

I wasn't aware of any F5 or F18 kills. For that matter where did it kill an F4?

 

[Jeepnik]

IIRC that is the only XB-70 in existence. Seems like I read that the only other one that was ever made. crashed during testing.

Yep Of all things the chase plane ran into it. :roll: :roll:

The one thing the XB-70 program did was make the Roooskis spend a lot of money developing the MIG -25. What a piece of junk it turned out to be.

I wouldn't say it ran into it, more like got sucked into it. Wing vortex wasn't it?

 

[Jeepnik]

You must remmber the MiG 25 was designed in the early 60s. It first flew in '64. The only reason the engines shot craps is from going faster than approved limits. It still shows what it was capable of. Plus, the avionics were impervious to EMI and cold temps. There is something to be said for old technology. Missiles can outrun all our planes. Does that make them junk? The F-4 couldn't turn worth a darn, either. Is it junk? And the 25 could outrun it (or run it down).
The -25 has a few F-4 kills. Also F-5 and F-18. And I will repeat, it resulted in our designing the F-15 so it can't be that bad. And the F-15 was deigned as a fighter, not an interceptor.
What the MiG-25 was designed to do it did well. It was a stand off interceptor. Climb fast, aquire a target and fire. It was not a multi role aircraft.

Please remember, when the F-15 was being designed, we didn't have all that much info on the MIG 25. Folks will now freely admit we were designing the F-15 to match or slightly exceed what we "thought" the MIG 25 was capable of.

When the F-15 was being flight tested, the airbase I was stationed at was a secondary. They flew one in and we went through the egress procedures. A bit later they started to fly the demonstrator around. It was a powder blue color and was darned hard to pick out of the sky.

The old Phantoms smoked like a chimney. The engines in the F-15 were much cleaner.

With regards to F-5 kills by the MIG, remember the F-5 was build as an inexpensive item primarily for export. They were pretty quick, and fairly maneuverable. Plus their small size made them an elusive target. But, the export versions usually didn't have top of the line navigation and ECM systems.

As to Phantom kills, if they did occur, they also would have been on export models that had the same downgrades as the F-5.

Interesting side note, the F-20 Tigershark was a much upgraded F-5 Freedom Fighter. But by the time it came along those to whom we would have sold it wanted F-15, and F-16's

 

[SAJohn]

All of the pieces of the crashed XB-70 were brought back to the main base area. They filled about an acre of open land and remained there for several years.

 

[graygun]

IIRC that is the only XB-70 in existence. Seems like I read that the only other one that was ever made. crashed during testing.

Yep Of all things the chase plane ran into it. :roll: :roll:

The one thing the XB-70 program did was make the Roooskis spend a lot of money developing the MIG -25. What a piece of junk it turned out to be.

I wouldn't say it ran into it, more like got sucked into it. Wing vortex wasn't it?

One of four chase planes and it was sucked-in like you indicated.

 

[Cooperhawk]

Could have been wake vortex, but what I remember is the chase plane barrel rolled from one wing tip to the other killing the pilot when the canopy was crushed. The B70 flew on for several minutes before becoming uncontrollable.

It could also have been just a mid air collision that caused it all.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Here are some great still pictures taken from the Lear photo plane. Notice that the F-104 which hit the XB-70 was out of position compared to the F-4. He was low and behind the XB-70, not a good place to be. Most all pilots are aware of the wingtip vortices and what they can cause. The vortices are basically a horizontal tornado caused by the air spilling off of the wingtip. The bigger the plane the more violent they are. I have seen films of a Lear doing test behind a Heavy and it did rolls from the vortices.
A shame it happened two good men were lost and it was a unauthorized photo shoot for GE. All the planes in the formation had GE engines in the airframes.

Take a look.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEP7niGqiNg

 

[sceva]

The XB-70 is one of my favorites and I always make sure I see it when I stop at the museum. Maybe it is because the first time I saw it "in person" was when it was taking it's last flight. Sitting in Drafting class at Springfield-Clark County(Ohio) Joint Vocational School when it flew past with a fighter escort on it's way to Wright Pat to be put on permanent display at the Air Force Museum.

It was simply beautiful.

 

[WendyZXZ]

It is a beautiful aircraft!

 

[Colonialgirl]

Strange when you look closely the similarities to the XB-70 and the SST built by the English and French are there.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Only so many ways to built an SST
Remember the one Boeing was going to build.

 

[427mach1]

Only so many ways to built an SST
Remember the one Boeing was going to build.

Lockheed was in the SST competition, too, until Boeing was declared the "winner". Somehow, Lockheed probably came out better in the end!