XB-70 Valkyrie, Things You Might Now Know | The North American Supersonic Bomber That Never Was

XB-70 Valkyrie, Things You Might Now Know. The North American Supersonic Bomber That Never Was. A rare interview with General Fred Ascani, the person responsible for the XB-70 program for the Air Force, and a look at the history of the Boeing SST 2707, the supersonic airliner that was also prematurely scrapped.
The North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie was the prototype version of the planned B-70 nuclear-armed, deep-penetration supersonic strategic bomber for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command. Designed in the late 1950s by North American Aviation (NAA), the six-engined Valkyrie was capable of cruising for thousands of miles at Mach 3+ while flying at 70,000 feet (21,000 m).
By the mid-1950s, the United States had developed a state-of-the-art, all-jet-powered bomber force. The newly introduced Boeing B-52 Stratofortesss could reach the Soviet Union from just about anywhere in the world. The soon-to-be-introduced supersonic Convair B-58 Hustler could dash to supersonic speeds. Both aircraft were engineering marvels. But even so, they were expected to perform poorly over Soviet airspace. The B-52 flew too slowly to stand a chance against the latest generation of Soviet interceptors, while the supersonic B-58 lacked the required range and payload to be truly effective. The U.S. Air Force needed a next-generation bomber that would combine the capabilities of both these aircraft. A plane that could fly at supersonic speeds, travel long distances, and carry large payloads.
To meet their new bomber requirements, the Air Force contracted leading aerospace companies to explore radical new technologies, like nuclear-powered jet engines for extending aircraft range and high-energy ‘zip-fuels’ to increase aircraft performance. Boeing and North American Aviation would play a vital role in research. But given the limitations of technology, the most practical solution put forward was the ‘dash concept’ which detailed an enormous aircraft that would travel subsonically most of the way to its target, before jettisoning outer portions of its wings and fuel tanks to make a supersonic dash. These concepts were studied in an era of extraordinary advances in aviation technology and engineering, and by 1957 it became apparent that it might be possible to build a large, long-range bomber that could fly supersonically over its entire mission.
In 1957, the Air Force outlined their specifications for an aircraft that would cruise at Mach 3, up to an altitude of 75,000 feet. It was expected to offer a similar payload and range to the B-52. Boeing and North American Aviation both submitted design concepts, but North American’s proposal was selected for development. A key principle in North America’s design was compression lift, which would significantly improve the aircraft’s lift-to-drag ratio when flying at high supersonic speeds. The new bomber would be designed as the B-70 (XB-70 in experimental prototype form) and named the Valkyrie.
General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 185 ft 0 in (56.39 m)
Wingspan: 105 ft 0 in (32.00 m)
Height: 30 ft 0 in (9.14 m)
Wing area: 6,297 sq ft (585.0 m2)
Airfoil: Hexagonal; 0.30 Hex modified root, 0.70 Hex modified tip
Empty weight: 253,600 lb (115,031 kg)
Gross weight: 534,700 lb (242,536 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 542,000 lb (245,847 kg)
Fuel capacity: 300,000 pounds (140,000 kg) / 46,745 US gal (38,923 imp gal; 176,950 L)
Powerplant: 6 × General Electric YJ93 afterburning turbojet, 19,900 lbf (89 kN) thrust each dry, 28,000 lbf (120 kN) with afterburner
Performance
Maximum speed: 1,787 kn (2,056 mph, 3,310 km/h)
Maximum speed: Mach 3.1
Cruise speed: 1,738 kn (2,000 mph, 3,219 km/h)
Combat range: 3,725 nmi (4,287 mi, 6,899 km)
Service ceiling: 77,350 ft (23,580 m)
Lift-to-drag: about 6 at Mach 2
Wing loading: 84.93 lb/sq ft (414.7 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.314
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#aviation #XB70 #valkyrie

[@Dronescapes]

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[@willkarney3920]

title correction, "things you might NOT know"

[@user-qe1mw3yu1l]

Almost as beautiful as the B58 Hustler

[@anderspedersen6750]

This airplane alone is worth a trip to the air force museum.

[@joshuajuarez3471]

Yes sir

[@shenmisheshou7002]

I agree, but the other plane that shocked me was the B-36. After seeing the B-36 in person (which was a jaw dropping experience) I read the book "Magnesium Overcast" , and I confess that prior to seeing it and reading the book, I had a rather low opinion of the B-36, but after seeing it and reading the book, I came away a complete fan of the plane. The XB-70 is still my favorite though.

[@billenright2788]

i've seen the one at the air force museum. awesome beast.

[@shenmisheshou7002]

The book "Valkyrie - North Americans Mach 3 Superbomber" is the best aircraft book I have ever read. Nothing else even comes close. Not only does it go into tremendous detail on the design, engineering, production, and testing of the XB-70, it also explores competing designs and the foray into nuclear power for bombers and even the cold war politics and polices. It stands above any other aircraft specific book I have ever read. It is out of print but you can find used copies on line. If you love military aviation, THIS is the book to read.

[@user-rx7ns4re9u]

We have a J-93 on display at GE Aerospace Evendale Ohio

[@billenright2788]

the 5 and 12minute YT ads during this are brutal.

[@johnhutchison9782]

At least most you can opt out of. YT is sucking more and more.

[@TheDwightMamba]

I used to pay and stopped. They left the adverts out for an entire year. Now they are dropping doubles on me. $14/month doesn't seem so bad now. My time is money. Podcasts at work are a lot easier to listen to without running to my phone every 5 minutes to hit Skip Ad. Signing back up.

[@Bramon83]

whats an ad?

[@matthewcuratolo3719]

I recall a giddy Neil Armstrong interviewing one of test pilots. He seemed in awe of the fact that he flew the XB-70. I thought, "Dude, you walked on the moon"!

[@joshuajuarez3471]

This episode was very cool and good. Good job on this one. Loved it !!! Keep it up

[@jenniferwhitewolf3784]

Bombers not needed? The B52 is on course to be a 100 year in-service delivery vehicle.

[@PraecipeWrit]

Bombers are needed, supersonic nuclear bombers are not. And XB-70 could hardly be used in any other way.

[@elroyfudbucker6806]

At 19:13, regarding a nuclear reactor carried aboard a Convair B36; "Tests were carried out in Earnest". Poor Earnest. I hope he survived the tests.

[@matthewcuratolo3719]

A half million pounds of stainless steel and titanium, powered by 6 J-93 engines, cruising at mach 3, designed and built by people with slide rules.

[@sferrin2]

1/4th of a century? Over half a century.

[@KingPantocrator]

This documentary was made more than 25 years ago

[@APbbb]

1:00:30 John Glenn was NOT the first American in space. That honor was earned by Alan Shepard in 5/61, followed by Gus Grissom in 7/61. Glenn was in fact 3rd, his flight was 2/62.

[@sidefx996]

Wonder how many other countries could build this and make it work even today.

[@shenmisheshou7002]

I don't even know if the US could build this plane today. NASA Engineers confess that they would struggle to build the Saturn F1 engines because the don't fully understand how they were built.

[@tippo5341]

The SR-71 of the bomber world (or more like the SR-71 being the XB-70 of the recon world)....so far ahead of its time, and such a beautiful aircraft from any angle, and such a tragic loss of AV-2, given the rapidly changing nature of the nuclear weaponised world, that she never ever saw a production life, but wow, what an aircraft regardless...we now may have the B1 Lancer, but she"s not the XB-70!!!!

[@Bramon83]

its just glorious looking aint it.

[@user-en9zo2ol4z]

I know that the use of one of these beauties in earnest would be a true nightmare, they are so elegant and beautiful, it fools the eye.

[@abitofapickle6255]

We need a video on the underrated F-105

[@eloquent_redneck3719]

There's literally 8 of them already on this channel

[@robertclark3010]

Thrust numbers on boeing are way off

[@f1hotrod527]

They need to display it with the wing tips down. That is the way she was meant to fly.

[@shenmisheshou7002]

Yes, but it was not meant to fly with the tips down and the gear down. If it were on a pedestal, then the tips down would be best. On the gear, wings flat.

[@jerryg53125]

101:40. There was never a Miles M-52.It wasn't 80% complete.It never got past the mock-up stage.Eric Brown was a great test pilot but the Miles M-52 story simply isn't true.

[@Dronescapes]

You would be surprised to learn that we know the person that taped the Miles archives before they were destroyed, and according to him there is VERY important material that shows the progress of the M.52 beyond the few documents and even fewer photos you can see. Hopefully we can transfer those Betacam tapes to digital soon, as they would be a great addition to the story. Obviously he said that having been part of the tape transfer, it is obvious that stopping the Miles was purely political, and that the company still had money to spend for the project, when it was halted. The first test flight, apparently, was really scheduled, and Brown was certainly not suicidal, given that to this day he is the test pilot that flew just about anything you can think of, including semi suicidal German prototypes. Brown was not known to be a liar, he did not need to. He praised aircraft and accomplishments from othe rpoeple and nations when credit was due. I really hope we can soon unearth that treasure trove of information regarding the M.52 and other obscure projects, we are working on that, including WW2 primitive drones used by the U.S., another hidden gem.

[@jerryg53125]

@@Dronescapes Eric Brown was one of the greatest test pilots who ever lived.He was not a liar.The fact remains that Miles never started to build the M-52.They may have had 80 % of the parts to start building it but the most they ever did was build a Ply-wood mock-up.The real problem with the M-52 was Frank.Whittle's company. Power Jets wasn't even close to having an engine ready.I believe Miles could have built the M-52 airframe but with out an engine it would be useless.

[@Dronescapes]

History is confusing on that as well, as Brown was ready for the flight, and defended Whittle's engine as well. As you might know a radio controlled version of the M.52 later broke the sound barrier. It was tested in sort of a covert way. The Miles tapes might reveal, as far as I know, VERY interesting things. did you watch the Eric Brown and Whittle tapes we have on the channel? Most of them were never released before. We also have upcoming Von Ohain interviews (also never released).

[@nonovyerbusiness9517]

The first supersonic flight of the X-1 was October 14, 1947. Don’t make up facts because you are too busy to do actual research.

[@sidefx996]

It’s SACK not s-a-c 🙄