OT: The XB-70 Valkyrie and her offspring


Message posted by Peter Merlin on July 12, 2004 at 21:10:35 PST:

The XB-70 was a beautiful airplane that never really lived up to its potential. After the bomber contract was canceled, the XB-70 served as a research platform for gathering data that would have been useful for the proposed supersonic transport (SST) that was also canceled.

The mid-air collision between XB-70A (62-0207) and F-104N (N813NA) was blamed on a combination of factors. The most direct cause was an "inadvertent movement" of the F-104 that placed it in a position such that "contact was inevitable." They believed that something may have distracted Joe Walker. I have listened to the audiotape of the accident sequence. There was a B-58 passing over in the supersonic corridor and each pilot in the formation called out that he had the traffic in sight. Walker never made that call. He was probably looking upward, trying to spot the B-58. That motion could easily cause a slight back-pressure on the control stick, raising the nose of the F-104 slightly. The F-104 drifted back into the wake vortex of the XB-70 resulting in contact between the airplanes. The accident investigation board concluded that Walker's position relative to the XB-70 left him with no good visual reference points for judging his distance. Therefore, a gradual movement in any direction would not have been noticeable to him.

The entire chain of events was set in motion by general Electric test pilot John Fritwho requested permission for the photo mission from North American Aviation.Subsequently, XB-70 Test Director Col. Joe Cotton agreed to provide such an opportunity on a non-interference basis following a regularly scheduled test flight. Although a North American official disapproved the photo opportunity, Cotton and Fritz lobbied to include it in an upcoming flight.
John McCollam and Col. Robert Cate finally approved the photo op without asking permission from higher headquarters. All along the way there were numerous opportunities to halt the chain of events, but these opportunities were lost. Additionally, the motion picture photographer on the photo plane requested more time to take pictures. The photo shoot had already been extended because weather conditions required a modification of the flight plan.

I don't believe that any airplane matching the description of the so-called "Super Valkyrie" has been built.


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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