The US Air Force’s 3,218 km/h XB-70 Valkyrie aircraft inspired the design of later civil supersonic aircraft Concorde and Tupolev Tu-144.
Five years before Concorde’s first flight, another supersonic aircraft took off. That is the XB-70 Valkyrie, an experimental aircraft developed by the US Air Force. Its first flight 60 years ago in September 1964 opened the golden era for supersonic aircraft. This plane then reached a speed of more than 3,218 km/h, nearly 50% faster than Concorde, according to CNN.
The XB-70 program also has its own problems. As a military aircraft, the vehicle becomes obsolete before even being deployed. Its short life was marked by a tragic accident. However, the aircraft’s design remains a symbol of supersonic flight.
The XB-70 Valkyrie was born from the competition between Boeing and North American Aviation, then a large aerospace manufacturer, and was selected by the US Air Force in 1957 to develop a bomber that could carrying weapons at a speed of 1,535 km/h and an altitude of 18,288 m. However, the shooting down of a U2 reconnaissance plane by the Soviet Union in 1960 led to the transition from manned bombers to ballistic missiles. In 1961, President Kennedy believed that the next XB-70 model had little ability to successfully penetrate enemy defenses. As a result, the program’s focus shifted to high-speed flight research.
The first XB-70 model, nicknamed Valkyrie, was deployed in Palmdale, California, on May 11, 1964. With a wingspan of more than 30 m, a length of 56 m and equipped with 6 turbojet engines, this is one of the most impressive aircraft ever built. The vehicle’s characteristic is that the wingtips remain horizontal at subsonic speeds, but fold when reaching supersonic speeds to reduce drag. Key design features such as the XB-70 Valkyrie’s triangular wings and long, thin fuselage were modeled after both the Concorde and its Soviet counterpart, the Tupolev Tu-144. The Tupolev Tu-144 even has a glide wing behind the cockpit like the XB-70 to help pilots have better control at low speeds.
Over time, as more information became available, the design of supersonic passenger aircraft became more refined like Concorde. After the Valkyrie’s bomber role was eliminated, designers came up with the idea of replacing it with a transport version for military and civil service.
It is difficult to imagine what passengers would experience on such a plane, but it could be quite similar to Concorde, smooth and with ample space between rows of seats. Due to the cost of operating the plane and the limited number of seats, ticket prices are only feasible for the wealthy and well-off middle class. Importantly, the vehicle is very fast, traveling back and forth between London and New York in 2.5 hours compared to 3.5 hours when flying on Concorde.
The XB-70 program was cut short by a fatal accident in 1966, during a photo shoot organized by General Electric. The second Valkyries, more advanced than the first, crashed into the smaller F-104N in mid-air, killing two pilots and seriously injuring another. The destroyed Valkyrie aircraft had flown only 46 flights while the other aircraft ended its career after 83 flights and more than 160 hours in the air. The final flight took place on February 4, 1969, to carry the aircraft from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, where it joined the Museum’s collection. Air Force.