North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie

[master09shredder]

Any idea what television program this is from? Pretty interesting to see Neil Armstrong interview someone.

[Caballingus]

I simply love that plane.

[hcrun]

@40390576

The Brits also did the same thing with what would arguably have been the finest strike-fighter of its day - the TSR2.

[x3LEMONz]

We had something like this but it is already gone. Its called the Concorde

[aspiringdrummer17]

@x3LEMONz The concorde was an airliner not a bomber. Not to mention it was half as fast as the XB-70. Two completely different aircraft my friend

[x3LEMONz]

@aspiringdrummer17 Oh.. Im sorry. I did not know that.

[bosatsu76]

"The actual handling qualities were generally good"... Pilot speak for "Flies like a cow..."

[dks13827]

We cant make spacecraft and rockets, apparently. :(

[InfiniteMushroom]

@dks13827 The ruling Elites have decided that they don't want to finance our manned space program any longer. We are under a sustained and long term starvation of the American spirit. It was starving under Jimmy Carter but, Reagan came along and pumped full of Plastic Patriotism and debt-fueled prosperity. Now, we are right back where we started from and worse off for the 30 year binge. We don't have the industrial base any longer and we will permanently lose the expertise in a few short years.

[TumisHumis]

Ok, Cool is a word that could be associated with this plane. I enjoy jet technology as much as the next guy, but "Beautiful" is not the word to discribe this thing. It looks like the Loch Ness Monster.

[khmersrey1993]

beutiful plane very very

[Flyfisher5011]

Glad to see this. Was watching a video of the Soviet TU-??...folks saying it was the forerunner to the SST. Bull...this plane was the forerunner to the SSt.

[XxAeronautxX]

@Flyfisher5011 Tupolev TU-144? Famed as only one of two supersonic transports to enter service.

[matt18352]

I think there was really 3 made

[mastermytube117]

30 miles a minute that's fast

[oceantrolls73]

ugly alright... but amazing

[ContreJours]

Ugliest plane ever...

[SSTTEEAALLTTHH]

@ghamubark

New World Order? Haha tin foil hat...

Also, that was the worst spelling I have ever ever seen, what you just displayed.

[SSTTEEAALLTTHH]

@scratchpost

If you there is an absolute truth in taste, you are the idiot. Stay off the interwebs.

[The00anders]

Cosy....

[TANTAULUS]

is this the one Joe Walker bumped in with the F-104 Starfighter?

[EPCBear]

I grew up in the Antelope Valley where the Valkyrie were built and test flown --- my Dad actually worked for North American Aviation and helped build them at Air Force Plant 42 (in Palmdale). I can still remember seeing them fly over my grade school followed by chase planes....RIP NASA Test Pilot Joe Walker and Air Force Maj Carl Cross, both killed in the crash of ship 002.

[jrcadet4]

@EPCBear Hi---my story is much the same, and my dad may have known yours.

[cavaliersfan08]

i saw one of these at WPAFB in Dayton, Ohio

[T2oys]

why did they stop using it?

[tomibewi]

@T2oys newer planes came out, this is extreemly outdated and also there were numerous errors in the plane design to keep production going although i would jizz if i saw one with my own eyes

[royboyerickson]

@T2oys After a political stall, the B-1 was the redesigned bomber, also made by North American Aircraft. Look at the top view of both side by side and you will be surprised.

[MrGoblin60]

The glory that never was. I wonder whether the outcome of the Vietnam war would have been different if the Yanks had been flying these baby's instead of B-52-'s?

[Ps05205]

@MrGoblin60 i think that using these expensive monsters against obsolete vietnam forces would be nonsense.

[MrGoblin60]

@Ps05205 You're probably right. The "obsolete" Vietnamese forces waged their war in a more sophistocated way by making use of their Fifth Column within the United Sates itself.

[FPSCclanleader]

you can actually see this exact plane today at the air force museum in Dayton, Ohio, i went to see it, and it was one of the most majestic planes i have ever seen, closely following the SR-71 blackbird

[Hautamekki]

looks disgusting

[andrewkennedy27]

lovely plane

[oWipWaP]

It looks like a goose :)

[jglwba]

that plane and the concorde- stunning.

[StephenB58]

November 22, 1963; someone did Jackie Kennedy a really big favor by taking out that lying, cheating, two-timing sob she was married to. He fucked any woman with a pulse, often when Jackie was in the other end of the White House. He probably picked up some kind of STD and gave it to her. That is probably why she had so much problems with pregnancies.

[StiviGun1]

Cancellation of this program was just another case of US politicians showing their stupidity and incompetence. Kennedy's attitude towards this programs was a whore like one. He based his campaign on this programs, he relied on this program to win his elections, promising he would restart it & then, after winning, he canceled it. What a backstabbing bastard he was. He also canceled the Minuteman railed garrison program. What a douchebag. Brainless liberal.

[rolfen]

@StiviGun1 No. That airplane was awesome but pretty much useless for the military because of the fast progress in missile technology. Still would have made a nice SST.

[scvs2]

Lol, at the start of the video is looks sort of like a cheaply made airplane model or yet a transformer!

[fairbanks55]

The Surviving XB-70 Is At Wright Patterson Air Force Base U.S. Air Force Museum In Dayton Ohio

[fairbanks55]

The Surviving XB-70 Is At Wright Patterson Air Force Base Museum In Dayton Ohio

[raynus1]

Can't help but wonder how many BUFF crewmen would be alive today had the USAF adopted this bird as their heavy bomber. SAM's & MiG's would've had a very tough time shooting down a mach 3 target 75,000' up.

[123456789mischief]

@raynus1 doubt they would have been able to. SR71 is proof of that. by the time you detect it and launch a missile or get a mig 25 up its out of range. 

[BBQFanNo1]

Wish this aircraft could have been around for Air Shows today.

[Treblaine]

looks like a swan

[SOWHATIMADEIT]

funny

[49bobbyk]

Still an incredible looking aircraft. Fantastic.

[CaptainRon1913]

looks like the pilot is fighting the controls

[rolfen]

@CaptainRon1913 yeah why are his feet trembling like that? You can see it by looking at his notepad.

[carstars]

You can see that baby in Dayton today. Grounded. As a kid I took a piece of the tire home with me - but for the life of me can't find it anymore. Well that was 40 years ago! I bet they don't let kids go up and peel stuff off the displays anymore.

[megashegem]

I got to see the first one fly when i very young...I still have the black&white photo of it flying along with a B-58 Hustler chase plane. Thanks dad for taking me to the Edwards AFB air show to see this fatastic airplane.

[crackruckles]

why doesn't somebody convert one of these beasts to a passenger plane i mean if we were capable of making engines go Mac 3 in that thing then, imagine what we could do now and if it could hold a massively heavy nuclear bomb then surely it could handle all the crap that's required to make it into a passenger jet.

[TheDuckling1992]

The closest thing to a real life paper-airplane

[the18gearJammer]

what is the purpose of the wings bending like that

[SecretTrollAccount1]

@the18gearJammer Same reason queers have limp wrists

[jay55also]

@the18gearJammer to facilitate improved speed,as the guy said,they used a B-58 Hustler as a chase plane,and the Hustler could only keep up with the XB-70 at Mach 2,after that the Valkyrie was doing about Mach 3. I think it's still on display at the Air Force Museum in Ohio.

[jay55also]

@jay55also Also,the Mig 25 existed to counter the XB-70,the mig 25 had no real purpose after the cancellation of the Valkyrie,and became basically a high altitude recon aircraft. The Mig 25 tried to intercept a SR-71,it just got close enough to see the jet blast in the distance getting smaller as it disappeared from view.

[raynus1]

@the18gearJammer: To capture the high-pressure air that existed under the wings/fuselage, allowing the aircraft to 'ride the wave' so to speak. A ~15% drag reduction was achieved, allowing speeds in excess of mach 3.

[rolfen]

@the18gearJammer they would bend the tips down during supersonic flight, because less lift but more stability is needed at higher speeds.

[royboyerickson]

@the18gearJammer At supersonic speeds dropping the tips captured the pocket of high pressure the plane would ride on, increasing lift with less drag and thus more distance.

[salvatorearcilesi]

die amerikanische Concorde-viel besser-viel teurerer-viel grösser-viel schneller mach 3-

[sailordiver2007]

Supersonic bombers had huge fuel appetites and no supersonic aerial refueling was possible.. Supersonic bomb drops came with huge deficiencies in accuracy.  It was soon realized that fast planes needed long runways, and the expenses were not sustainable. North American did make a superb contribution in high speed technology with another plane that also crashed, but yielded data still used today for the space shuttle - from the X-15.

[NickB1967]

@sailordiver2007: it also became apparent, after the U-2 incident and lots of SR-71 near misses, that the Soviets had high altitude missile technology. Add a tactical nuke to the high altitude missile, and the idea of flying higher and faster than the Soviets could reach was over. Better to fly low and under the radar. To which the venerable B-52 proved surprisingly adaptable.

[nazca091]

アメリカ人が珍しく正しい事をした２つの例だね。

１つはこの最も美しい翼を作った事。

もうひとつは制式採用して、この純白の翼を汚らわしい迷彩色に塗­らなかった事だ。

[hallo54521]

@nazca091 fuck your moter

[1tristian]

its beautiful

[Epochalyptik]

The plane is ugly as all get out, but the machine is beautiful.

[336kgf]

I can't imagine the operating expenses for a beast like this if we tried to build it today.

[123456789mischief]

screw the B1 and B2 build these suckers. with the new technology it would be a snap to fly. by the time they locked on to you or launched an interceptor your allready eating lunch at home. same idea as the SR71/YF12A. beutifull machine.

[ThisIsPeteJamison]

"Nice ride." - Frank Sinatra re: a late 50's Ford Thunderbird...

[jaw1024]

i can haz?

[voxhunden]

@jaw1024 no can haz not tha project haz scrapped for centiriez.

[jaw1024]

@voxhunden dayum

[Indianmalujl]

Looks like a long duck throat sticking out.

[tumadoireacht]

@Indianmalujl guess where the idea for the klingon bird of prey came from ..

[georgegoss1]

I'm more amazed that Neil Armstrong is the questioning interviewer.

[USAmerican100]

@georgegoss1

Well Neil was a test pilot at Edwards before he became an astronaut, he knows these guys and planes from back then. Actually Neil had already gone into space in the X-15 at Edwards before going up and orbiting in the Gemini and Apollo programs.

[RyanWehr]

so much money was waisted in this time of our history..

[USAmerican100]

@RyanWehr

Since you don't much seem to like the freedom and prosperity the XB-70 gave you how about giving half of your stuff to me.

[NickB1967]

@RyanWehr *cough*Welfare payments called "Stimulus"*cough*

[MrPiperCub1]

man........beautiful:D

[TV843]

Arguably the most beautiful airplane ever built... Thanks for the footage!

[applesmurfen]

they say that the Concorde looks like a swan. Well... this looks like a mongoose :)

I like it all the same. Awesome plane.

[Fromanttodugong]

@applesmurfen Not a bad animal to take after - fast and lethal :)

[Mr95bartman]

Just another piece of wonderful aircraft history. Somthing to remember, like a B2.

[mow1717]

aircraft evolution, what is next.i hope america finds it first.

[geocam2]

The real problem was that interceptor missiles would have no problem hitting this bird, even at Mach 3 - and that was 1960's era technology. That's what really killed the program.

[hammr25]

This prototype is the reason the Soviets built the MIG-25.

[Charnel42]

Actually the funny thing is that this aircraft scared the Russians into building the Mig 25 to combat it, and then the Mig 25 scared us into building the F 15 Eagle to counter the Mig 25. Turned out to be a huge waste of money for both of us since the Mig 25 turned out to be a paper tiger.

[tumadoireacht]

@Charnel42 but military spending is FUN --think of all the boring schools,hospitals and homes that were avoided with each single 50,000,000 dollar jet fighter

[rxccc]

it looks almost something like from Star Wars

[kuluku]

This was a pretty good bomber!

[NorceCodine]

Its hard to believe that at one time we could actually engineer something, or

that engineering was a respectable

career.

[NickB1967]

We still can...we just have to kick the so called "multicultural" (really communist) propaganda out of academia.

[raynus1]

Bravo. Well said.

History revisionionists, ultra-leftists.

No wonder we're stalling.

[tumadoireacht]

@NickB1967 fer shure bubba ! jest teach WASP creationism and let them damn kikes, russkies and nazis that we got all our ideas from take a hike. murikins don't need yurrup no more -hey let's bomb yurrup !

[NickB1967]

@tumadoireacht: You really are a typical dupe, aren't you? The reason math and science were given short shrift was because of "multicultural" crap and the resulting grade inflation, pushed by radical communist scum like you.

[FreeScience]

@NickB1967 :'| you make me sad

[TheJomogogo]

Dude....the B-2 and Raptor fighter would make the people who made the B-70 shit their pants. We still can make stuff.

[CarlSchwamberger]

Amen. Consider the aircraft beyond those, which will remain secret for a few more years. Always some thing better in the skunk works. Folks who think the US cant build cutting edge tech anymore...I have a hard time taking them seriously.

[Stewker]

We still and can engineer all sorts of things. Problem is you have so many anti-this or anti-that groups that there is so much red-tap anymore that it never gets off the ground. Democracy and freedom of speech is great but sometimes dictatorships are more effective... Opposition to a program? Just crush it mercilessly ;)

For example nuclear propulsion in space. Great idea and is something that can really open up space to human kind. We would already have it, if not for the crazy opposition.

[Concordski101]

Yep, bureaucracy....sometimes (actually quite a lot), you wish you could squash it like a bug...

[tumadoireacht]

@Stewker so true -let's protect democracy using fascism -oh wait -that's what the whitenighted states of hummerica already does abroad--ask 1031,000 dead iraqis

[NickB1967]

@tumadoireacht: You miss getting Saddamized, eh? Well, you can go bend over and take it up the backside for Hugo Chavez. That Latin Look among communists really gets you going. That's why you were performing political fellatio on the Sandinistas two decades ago. How much commie cum is still fermenting in your belly?

[tumadoireacht]

@NickB1967 funny how right wing guys go on and on in detail about gay penetrative sex especially as metaphor.

[NickB1967]

@tumadoireacht: Hey, you know it. Your fawning obedience to the Communists was political pornography. The jihadist savages won't be so nice, you know. Or maybe you don't.

[tumadoireacht]

@NickB1967 americans always need a bogeyman- afraid to look at themselves

[NickB1967]

@tumadoireacht: In the real world, there always is one. But keep on appeasing yourself to death, some day there won't be any Americans to save your sorry ass.

[fulcrumSMT29]

Is that Neil Armstrong?

[jaglavaksoldier]

Yes...

[raynus1]

Who is Armstrong interviewing?

Al White?

[TheDakRadz]

@fulcrumSMT29 Well, he was a USAF Colonel. Which is awesome, Go Air Force! (: