Alvin S. White, a North American test pilot, and Col. Joseph F. Cotton piloted the XB-70 Valkyrie, which took off from Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, and landed at Edwards AFB
The intriguing image in this post shows the North American XB-70 Valkyrie experimental aircraft in action during its inaugural flight, which saw the aircraft departing from Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, and landing at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB). Alvin S. White, a North American test pilot, and Col. Joseph F. Cotton piloted the XB-70.
The futuristic XB-70A Valkyrie was initially imagined in the 1950s as a high-altitude, nuclear strike bomber with the ability to fly at Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound), rendering any prospective foe defenseless.
But by the start of the 1960s, brand-new Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs) posed a danger to the capacity of fast, high-altitude bombers to survive. Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), which are less expensive, are also entering service.
As a result, the expensive B-70 bomber program was abandoned in 1961 before any Valkyries were finished or sent into service.
However, the U.S. Two XB-70As were purchased by the Air Force (USAF) and used for flight research by the Air Force and NASA’s Flight Research Center (FRC), a forerunner to today’s NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.
The XB-70 flight research program’s main goals included analyzing the aircraft’s stability and handling characteristics, assessing how it responded to turbulence in the atmosphere, and figuring out how well it performed in terms of aerodynamics and propulsion. Secondary goals included calculating the levels and amount of engine noise during takeoff, landing, and ground operations. They also included measuring the noise and friction related to airflow over the aircraft.
The first Valkyrie kept flying and producing useful test data for the research program until its final flight on February 4, 1969, when the number two XB-70 was accidentally destroyed in midair on June 8, 1966.
Photo by Edwards History Office file photo / U.S. Air Force
