XB-70A Valkyrie Supersonic Bomber Phase 1 Flight Tests 1964 - New Restoration

The XB-70 supersonic bomber was one of the most beautiful aircraft of all time! The image quality of surviving copies this film is variable. This is a new restoration- now in HD.
The critical first four flight tests of the XB-70A over 34 days at Edwards AFB are shown in detail culminating in the aircraft's first supersonic flight (with an B-58 Hustler chase plane!). As might be expected, these early flights included some dramatic moments, including an in flight engine flame out and one of the landing gear bursting into flames during touch down. But, as mission chief test pilot Col Al White says, "if there were no problems during testing, you wouldn't need test pilots or test flights." You'll see the unflappable Col White and copilot Col Joe Cotton work the sleek Valkyrie through a series of critical tests, including landing gear, flaps, flight controls, advanced hydraulic systems, first deployment of the folding wing tips and more. A highlight of the film is a press conference/debriefing by the XB-70 test flight team. As you'll see, there's nothing "routine" about testing a revolutionary and extremely complex aircraft like the XB-70A Valkyrie.
The super size, supersonic XB-70 was conceived to meet a specification from the Strategic Air Command issued in the early 1950s for a high-altitude bomber that could fly three times the speed of sound, and was the culmination of the "higher, faster" school of bomber design going back to the B-29. The B-70 was given the go ahead over a competing Convair atomic powered design. But, by the end of the decade, due to funding constraints, improvements in Soviet surface-to-air missiles and a new emphasis on cheaper to build ICBMs, the combat bomber specification was dropped and only two XB-70s were actually produced as research aircraft for the study of aerodynamics, propulsion and supersonic flight.
The North American design was a huge, sleek, delta winged aircraft with an added canard, powered by six General Electric YJ93 after burning turbojet engines, with a thrust of nearly 30,000 pounds each. Gross weight was above 500,000 pounds. The six engines were housed side-by side in the rear of the large under fuselage box, fed by a variable-inlet system with a series of movable ramps, optimizing the airflow into the engines at varying Mach numbers. Maximum speed was 1,982 mph at 75,550 feet. The Valkyrie was built of stainless-steel honeycomb sandwich panels and titanium and was designed to use "compression lift" when the shock wave generated by supersonic speeds supported part of the aircraft's weight. For improved supersonic stability, the Valkyrie could droop its wingtips as much as 65 degrees.
The No.1 XB-70 made its initial flight on Sept. 21, 1964, and achieved supersonic flight on Oct. 14th. The No. 2 airplane first flew on July 17, 1965, but on June 8, 1966, it crashed following a mid-air collision. The No. 1 airplane continued in its research program until flown to the Air Force Museum on Feb. 4, 1969, where it is now on display.
Zeno, Zeno's Warbird Video Drive-In
www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com
Don't miss this video and more on our X-Treme Bombers DVD. Also includes the Northrop Flying Wing! www.zenosflightshop.com/X_tre... Visit our aviation DVD store at www.zenosflightshop.com for the World's largest selection of World War 2 & vintage jet aircraft aviation videos. We license our footage!

[@ZenosWarbirds]

Your purchases in our DVD store help make this channel possible! (Our videos are not monetized, so no annoying commercials.) Visit our aviation DVD store at www.zenosflightshop.com for the World's largest selection of World War 2 & vintage jet aircraft aviation videos. We have 100s of films in our library and have licensed footage to major TV networks and cable channels world wide. For more info see kzbin.infoabout

[@k0jed215lov]

I worked on this program in the 60s at North American's Los Angeles Division. The mock up sat in the hangers at LAX along with Bob Hoover's P-51 mustang, Ole Yeller. Quite a contrast!

[@holdendavid9025]

Sure lololololol

[@JG-mp5nb]

My Pop worked in the Palmdale plant in the 60’s on the XB-70. Woke up many times with the house shaking at night as they cell tested the engines. As a kid, the rollout for the plant workers and their families remains forever in my mind. Walking up the steep stairs to poke our heads into the cockpit-instrumentation area with the Pilots giving us “Think you’d like to fly this…”!

[@johnbuchman4854]

The B-70 at Mach 3+, riding on shock lift, was very fuel efficient too!

[@windwhipped5]

saw it at Wright Patterson..Big Bastard..

[@brianv1988]

Supercruise

[@MrPolymers]

I was at Wright Patterson when the brought the bird in. 1969. I was 11 years old. Truly a Big Bird..

[@borntoclimb7116]

4:40 absolute Stunning. 7:41 what a view to the plane. 17:57 nice landing. 19:29 wow. 23:10 the Plane looks majestetic. 29:09 interesting to see the wingtips from this perspective.

[@jessecovington6639]

That sure was an amazing airplane if everything hadn't been so focused on the icbm's maybe we will still have a couple but I don't know it was pretty extensive

[@metrostatetacticalicecream6945]

The pictures don’t do justice to the sheer size of these. The last surviving one is at WPAFB in Ohio and is almost as long as the Titan III lying next to it. It looks like a 20 foot climb to even get in it.

[@bobwilson758]

Amazing technology !

[@ZenosWarbirds]

First flight less than 20yrs after the end of WW2😎

[@accousticdecay]

What a bad-to-the-bone aircraft.

[@bradrothberg5863]

XB70, beautiful. Didn't one of the planes crash with a chase plane?

[@winternow2242]

It wasn't a chase plane. It was an F-104 that was flying in formation for a photo-op. Also, it was the other plane that crashed into the XB-70A, not the other way around.

[@ZenosWarbirds]

That’s in the description for the upload.

[@bobwilson758]

The ruzzians freaked out when USA came out with this thing !

[@winternow2242]

Nope. This had already been canceled as a bomber. The Russians had defense missiles and ICBMs.

[@winternow2242]

@@brianv1988 The Soviets' SS7 ICBM was in service by the end of 1961. SA2 mssiles had already been used against Taiwanese aircraft and the U2 by 1961, with another U2 shot down over Cuba during the missile crisis. Most weapons systems spend their service lives in some process of continued development, and these missiles are no exception, but clearly they were already developed by 1964.

[@calebshuler1789]

Supersonic bomber, heck. Hypersonic bomber

[@publicmail2]

A F-104 brought this plane down flying too close to wingtip vortex during a photo op.

[@ZenosWarbirds]

That was XB-70A Number 2. This is Number 1. Now resides at the USAF museum.

[@well-blazeredman6187]

Citing paint problems, Qatar Airways immediately cancelled its XB-70 order.

[@PaulLorenzini-ny2yw]

funny how they had dem cammers everywhere even then

[@nunyabeeswax3936]

How about the X-15 and the SR 71

[@ZenosWarbirds]

See the X-15 here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6bGnJpmi95spdk

[@katsu-graphics5634]

Spread the word, the XB-70 test platform was not a "Bomber" and never had a "Bomb Bay" , it had an "Air Chamber". . . The XB-70 did not have intake cones like the SR-71. . .at supersonic speed, they needed an air chamber with vents to reduce the air speed to subsonic before the engine inlets. Go to Wright Patterson AFB museum (Free in Dayton Ohio) and look under the actual plane, there is NO ROOM for bombs..

[@smark1180]

The weapons bay was a test and recording equipment bay in the XB-70.

[@santiagoecheverri5743]

Mirándolo de frente, era algo feo. Mirándolo de lado…también. Solo hablo de la estética.

[@rocco7672]

Promo sm

[@Zickcermacity]

In 1959 we had the Valkrie. In 1969 we had the moon. In 1980 we had the STS (space shuttles). In 2020 we have the 'smart phone'. Pathetic.

[@nissmo66]

Commies saw this and it blew their mind