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The first XB-70 carried out its maiden flight in September 1964 and many more test flights followed. [71] The data from the XB-70 test flights and aerospace materials development were used in the later B-1 bomber program, the American supersonic transport (SST) program, and via espionage, the Soviet Union's Tupolev Tu-144 SST program. [72]
The program ended early due to financial and technical difficulties. In 1961, he was selected as chief test pilot for the flight test program of the XB-70 Valkyrie, the world's largest supersonic aircraft, piloting the first flights of both XB-70s and taking the aircraft through the buildup programs to flight at Mach 3. [1]
North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F-86 Sabre jet fighter, the X-15 rocket plane, the XB-70 bomber, the B-1 Lancer, the Apollo command and service module, the second stage of the Saturn V ...
XB-70 Valkyrie 62-0207 following the mid-air collision on 8 June 1966: The XB-70 can be seen at the far left of the image, missing one of its vertical stabilizers, while the large fireball is the F-104 Starfighter with which it collided.
The XB-70 Valkyrie was chosen in 1957 to replace the Hustler but suffered as a result of a switch in doctrine from a high- to a low-altitude flying profile. By the late 1950s, however, anti-aircraft surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) could threaten high-altitude aircraft, [12] as demonstrated by the 1960 downing of Gary Powers' U-2. [13]
Walker was killed on June 8, 1966, when his F-104N Starfighter chase aircraft collided with a North American XB-70 Valkyrie. [13] At an altitude of about 25,000 ft (7.6 km) [ 14 ] Walker's Starfighter was one of five aircraft in a tight group formation for a General Electric publicity photo when his F-104 drifted into contact with the XB-70's ...
It was the second fatal helicopter crash in Southern California this week. On Tuesday, five Marines died when a military craft went down in Pine Valley, about 40 miles east of San Diego.
1966 Palomares B-52 crash: 62-0001 North American XB-70 Valkyrie North American XB-70 Valkyrie: 62-1920 Bell UH-1B Iroquois: 1974 White House helicopter incident: 62-4137 RC-135E Rivet Amber Rivet Amber crash: 62-4448 North American CT-39A Sabreliner: 1964 T-39 shootdown incident: 62-6000 Boeing VC-137C VC-137C SAM 26000: 63-7789 Lockheed C-130 ...