The Airplane That Looked Fake, But Was 100% Real: XB-70 Valkyrie

XB-70 Valkyrie was a supersonic bomber that could ride its own shockwaves! The largest airplane of its time, the XB-70 was a marvel of engineering. That said, it never made it into production, but the reason, is #NotWhatYouThink #NWYT #longs

Thanks to Mike for allowing us to use parts of his footage.

Music:
Peacewalker - ELFL
Particle Emission - Silver Maple
Inbound - Brendon Moeller
Thyone - Ben Elson
Astral - Lupus Nocte
There Is No Sequel - Philip Ayers
Subconscious - Nihoni
Fallout - Lennon Hutton
Chaos Theory - Ava Low
One Last Drama - Philip Ayers
We Are Giants - Silver Maple

Footage:
Select images/videos from Getty Images
Shutterstock
National Archives
Mike Bell
US Department of Defense

Note: "The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement."

0:00 What was special about XB-70 Valkyrie?
1:42 Why did the US started the XB-70 program?
3:22 What is Compression Lift?
5:33 XB-70 interesting windshield design
6:51 XB-70 hydraulics problems and fueling
8:06 XB-70 anti-skidding fifth wheel and heat resistant tires
9:24 First flight of XB-70 and the incident
10:57 Why did the XB-70 body paint chip off at high speeds?
11:31 XB-70 No. 2
12:16 How did the Soviets help with the XB-70 program?
12:47 The XB-70 photoshoot accident
14:35 What killed the XB-70 program at inception
16:21 How did the XB-70 program help create the F-15?
17:02 What happened to the only remaining XB-70?

[NotWhatYouThink]

Check out Mike Bell's video on the details of the photoshoot crash:

[dakshmandavkar]

This video clearly shows how hard it is to at least reach mach 3 let alone sustaining that speed, so XB-70 and SR-71 Blackbird are true masterpieces of Engineering

[gpaull]

Seeing this for the first time back when it was parked outside at Dayton was one of the most magnificent and surreal things I’ve ever seen. I was working in aviation and had never even heard of it before I laid eyes on it. Truly incredible.

[chrisbrinzo]

One of the things that absolutely gets me is that we have this footage of such a futuristic, marvel of engineering surrounded by typical cars of 1960's. Sometimes I cannot help but wonder what secret projects we're hiding that would seem such a 50+ years ahead of our time.

[nolo]

Something that's hard to put into perspective is just how BIG this thing is. You can actually walk around and under it in the Dayton Airforce Museum, it's gargantuan and makes everything around it feel tiny. (Also it looks like a star destroyer from the back!)

[littlerayofsunshine]

It's odd as hell seeing footage of cars and trucks from the early 60s mixed with such a futuristic looking aircraft.

[BilTheGalacticHero]

The XB-70 is an incredible aircraft built by incredible people. The loss of air vehicle 2 was a tragedy both in the measure of human life and the science that the aircraft would have performed. I've been to the crash site of both the XB-70 and the F-104. I have few small pieces of titanium and a small section of honeycomb from the aircraft. Volunteers have built memorials at both sites to the pilots and the aircraft. It's quite something to visit.

[williamromine]

It is amazing how futuristic this plane was, when we realize everything was worked out with slide rules. For those of you who aren't 81(as I am), the slide rule was in regular use, even for the space race. Great video, as usual. Also, as usual, you told me things I didn't already knew, such as the photo op. I don't think that was talked about at the time.

[The_Lone_Wolf]

Thank you for this video, I personally think that XB-70 is a Beautiful plane way ahead of her time, and I often wonder if we would be able to reengineer the XB-70 today and make her a better and updated Beauty of a bomber

[justtheflagguy]

Such a interesting looking plane, thanks for the video NWYT
I had No idea what to comment I just saw no one else had commented

[voivode]

Both prototypes were operational. Flaws in the sandwich structure of prototype number 1 after its first high Mach run resulted in disbonding and it was never flow that fast again.However it continued testing with NASA before being retired. Prototype 2 that crashed was built with an improved structure and different wing incidence.

[davidgrisez]

Since I recently turned 72 years old I remember the news articles about the XB-70 Valkyrie experimental bomber. During the 1960s this was one of the most amazing and futuristic looking airplanes. Even to this day the XB-70 Valkyrie is still a very amazing looking airplane. No other aircraft has such an astonishing appearance.

[StringBlazer]

When I was a kid, there was a video game called Ace Combat 2 that I played front to back frequently. There's a mission where you have to take down a handful of XB-70 and SR-71 that are so high in the atmosphere the plane that you fly has to struggle to get up there without stalling, and time in the mission is limited due to their speed. I'll never forget my dad telling me that (most) of the planes in that game were real, and how it blew my mind that something so peculiar looking could exist. Needless to say that game created a plane nerd 😂

[Kiyoone]

This plane is CURSED. BUT it looks SO FREAKING COOL.

[thefirstsalty]

My grandfather worked on the XB-70. he didn't say much about working on it, but he didnt seem to like working on it.

[michaelmoorrees]

During a business trip in the 1990s, I had some spare time, and made my way to the Air Force Museum, outside Dayton, OH. I was aware of the museums exhibits, and made a bee line to their B-36. After viewing that for a while, I started looking at their other artifacts, such as the remaining XB-70.

[danielshegog]

It's amazing that the XB-70 is the grandfather to the B-1, F-15, B-2, and even the F-22/35. Although it never entered service, the technology and data they were able to get from the test flights, was incalculable. I know that thing had to be loud as hell. 6 engines at the same time?

[Real__ATF]

First shot is at Wright Paterson AFB in Dayton Ohio. I was there last week. Loved the val so I had to come back to see this video.

[frankwaugh]

I am so very glad i got to see the valkyrie at the air force museum last year with a good friend of mine and have many pictures of it from many angles. It is so big there is a full size jet under 1 of its wings. The tires are as tall as a grown man. Standing at the back looking up at the 6 engines makes you think of the imperial star destroyer at the beginning of star wars. It is mind bogglingly HUGE

[minimalbstolerance]

One of my favourite aircraft of all time. Utterly gorgeous looking, and pretty incredible that something designed in the 1950s and built in the 1960s still looks like it's from the future in the 2020s.