The XB-70 Valkyrie promised unmatched speed and altitude, but its story ended in tragedy. From Cold War innovation to a fatal ...

The XB-70 Valkyrie was a groundbreaking aircraft in the history of aviation, designed by North American Aviation in the 1960s ...

A technician makes adjustments to a scale model of the XB-70 Valkyrie before aerodynamic characteristics related to the aircraft are evaluated in Tunnel A of the von Kármán Gas Dynamics Facility ...

The SR-71 Blackbird, B-1B bomber and other military aircraft can trace some aspects of their lineage to the XB-70 Valkyrie. Unfortunately, the XB-70 story doesn't have a happy ending.

The XB-70’s Design. In 1957, North American Aviation won the contract to develop XB-70, a delta-winged behemoth designed to cruise at Mach 3 (over 2,300 miles per hour) and altitudes exceeding ...

The accident occurred in 1966, and the XB-70 would go on to fly until 1969. Ironically, the B-70 bomber program was canceled even before the aircraft first flew back in 1961. It wasn't that exact ...

One of the most popular ideas for the XB-70’s post-military career was as the first stage for a space-launching system. The Valkyrie could fly to altitudes of up to 72,000 feet, negating the ...

The first XB-70 Valkyrie built, the XB-70A, had handling at speeds greater than Mach 2.5, and only got above Mach 3 once. So a second one was built, the XB-70B, with the wings adjusted just 5 ...

The XB-70 Valkyrie was a massive undertaking on the part of North American Aviation, which pitched the plane to the U.S. Air Force as a successor to the legendary B-52... Trevor Filseth December 2 ...

It was the XB-70 Valkyrie, an experimental plane developed for the US Air Force. Its inaugural flight — 60 years ago in September 1964 — kicked off a golden era for supersonic aircraft.

The XB-70 Valkyrie epitomizes early Cold War aviation. It was a wild design that pushed the limits of performance and technology. But despite its speed, it couldn't keep up with the times.

In 1966, during a midair photo session following a test flight, an F-104 fighter clipped the right wing of XB-70 No. 2. The fighter rolled over the top of the Valkyrie, damaging both wings and ...