The World’s Fastest Bomber: The XB-70 Valkyrie

By the mid-1950’s, 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 American’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.

Given the XB-70’s incredible speed and altitude capabilities, it was expected to be practically immune from interception. But developing such an ambitious bomber would be fraught with technical challenges. More critically, huge advances in missile technology would soon threaten to render the entire concept of a supersonic intercontinental bomber obsolete.

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[PokeMaster]

The 20th Century must've been a mind-blowing hundred years; from the first airplane in 1903 that didn't travel all that far, to these supersonic jets in fifty years, then rocketing to the Moon. The two most devastating wars in history, as well, just 20-30 years apart.
All within an average lifespan.

[aurorajones]

Dude...your stuff is truely next level. HBO, Netflix, would be proud to have you if docs actually ment anything. I say your material is the benchmark produced or YouTube.

[ojtheaviator]

I can't believe it! I was just thinking about how much I want a new Mustard video, and here it is! And the XB-70 is one of my favorite aircraft ever made. I was lucky enough to see it up close in the National Museum of the US Air Force, before they moved it to the new hanger. That old hanger was inconvenient to access, but once you were there, you could get so close to this vast array of mind-boggling planes. I can say that I peered right into the cockpit of an X-15, just inches away from the glass of the window

[Highice]

That crash was not without warning. The Starfighter pilot radioed he was getting into the Valkrie's jet wash, and was backing off, but the photographer said he needed the shot, and to continue moving closer. Dispite the Starfighters continued protest, he was ordered to move closer. The jet wash from the Valkrie caused him to lose control, and roll over the valkrie and take out it's tail section.

[UncleKennysPlace]

More than half-a-century old, and still looks strikingly modern.

[fighter_pilot_]

Hands down my favourite aircraft. It looks so futuristic, despite being older than almost any military jet flying today!

[grimsville]

I can't express enough how much effort you put into these videos, they're always worth the wait

[mitchellminer]

My dad was an hydraulics engineer on the XB-70 development. I'm sure it was just a coincidence that there were hydraulic issues. Seriously, though, he was mechanical genius.

I must have been taken to an open house at Palmdale, or something, as a little kid, because my very earliest memory is of something huge and white and beautiful inside an enormous building.

[faceofsarcasm]

Can we all just appreciate the level of detail in his modeling and animations? They are phenomenal!

[User-phxh]

They actually had the engineering power to get it flying, wow

[relaxedpenny]

This guy makes better animations in a time frame of 1 month than an entire high budget cgi team can in a year

[josephfarbstein]

My grandpa, Joseph Cotton, was one of the test pilots for the xb-70. He passed away a few years ago and were now developing boxes of films he had from the 60s that captured the xb70s test flights. Hoping to have it available to view at the Edwards AFB museum in time for the October Airshow!

[daflotsam]

Two pilots lost. Just to clarify, only one of the XB-70 pilots, Major Carl Cross, died; the second pilot who died was Pilot Joe Walker in his F-104. Pilot Al White, the chief test pilot of the XB-70, was able to engage his ejection capsule and survive with some injuries.

[Mr.Who]

been here for quite some time when Mustard was still relatively small. Always thought you deserved more, glad you've come this far. Keep up these amazing videos and go even higher!!

[quintonworden]

I remember seeing the one they had on display at the USAF museum in Dayton a few years ago and thought it was an incredible concept. Particularly seeing it just a couple hangars away from primitive WW1 planes, it really puts into perspective just how fast aviation technology progressed in just a few decades. It was also a big reminder that for better or worse nothing fuels innovation like war.

[ALOUD]

The XB70 is my favorite aircraft, Concorde is a close second. Seeing them tumble out the sky is literally heartbreaking. Rest in peace to the brave men that pushed technology to its limits.

[Tsotha]

That's a lot of info about the XB-70 Valkyrie I have never heard of until now, from the challenges it was designed to solve over the technical issues early in testing to the alternative uses NASA wanted to put it to. Great animation as well, makes it clear how elegant yet intimidating its design look... the exact type of aircraft that deserves the title "Valkyrie". Always found it one of the most beautiful aircraft ever designed.

Great job as usual Mustard!

[ElsinoreRacer]

An ex-girlfriend's Dad was an AF test pilot and was in the GE photo formation, flying I forget what. I remember he said that with time compression at the time, the 16 seconds the XB-70 flew on seemed like forever. He figured that the drooped wingtips were giving lateral stability and was trying to remember if there had been a calculated max-droop while landing. He said he had time to wonder if the max-droop would be defined by ground clearance or by center of gravity. The wing-droop while supersonic also had the effect of shifting the center of lift forward to offset nature's pushing it (center of lift) back at high mach (This was the trifecta of the wing droop: compression lift, additional lateral (rudder area) stability, and forward center of lift shift). Drooping at sub-sonic speeds was limited by how much fuel you could pump forward to move the CG forward or it got tail heavy.

So he had what felt like forever to run numbers in his head. Then it Dutch-rolled and then flat-hatted and came apart.

He also said it was difficult in an odd way to formate up to because it was hard to settle on visual cues for separation, to run parallel. He later worked for GE.

[Wallyworld]

The XB-70 Valkyrie and SR71 Blackbird both first flew just 19 years after WW2 (1964). Technology advanced at lightning speed during those 2 Decades!

[nielsharksen]

Imagine you were born in 1900 and an aviation enthusiast. In your childhood, you experience the first motor planes and 150km/h are fast, 300km are long range. When you retire in the 1960s, the Valkyrie flies with Mach 3 and (theoretically) can cross oceans. Must have been amazing to see this developent. My generation will experience the same with AI, Biotech and Human-Machine-Interfaces, I believe. Less visually spectacular, but probably even more impactful than high speed aviation.