Message posted by Beltway_Bandit on July 12, 2004 at 20:39:53 PST:

As far as I understand it, there was no "pressure" for the GE shoot and I've never heard anything about Walker commenting on the safety of the flight plan...

ASFAIK, the photo flight was approved by XB-70 program director Col. Joe Cotton because he felt that GE had been accommodating to the AFFTC needs, so long as the photo flight did not interfere with the test program and as long as the request did not put any of the aircrews in danger.

The transcript of the accident doesn't have Walker saying anything over the radio for at least the last 8 minutes of his life.

In Reply to: The XB-70 Valkyrie and her offspring posted by Philip on July 12, 2004 at 19:53:51 PST:

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