North American XB-70A Valkyrie

108 Pages·2002·77.103 MB·English

by  Dennis R Jenkins, Tony Landis

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34
VOLUME
NORTH AMERICAN
. By DENNIS R. JENKINS TONY LANI?lS
AND
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COPYRIGHT © 2002 DENNIS R. JENKINS AND TONY LANDIS
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and is not tobe construed as usable for aircraftorcomponentrestoration, maintenance, or use.
Printed inChina
Front Cover: Thefirst XB-70A late in its career sporting the yellow NASA tail stripe. This photo gives an excellent view of
the undersurfaceofthefuselage, showinggear doors, weapons bay, and elevon details. (Mike MachatCollection)
BackCover (LeftTop): AirVehicle 1returns to theFlight Research Centerafter aflight on 11 August1967. Note thatall 12
elevonsare deployed upward. (NASAjDFRC Collection)
Back Cover (RightTop): The XB-70A used over20,000 squarefeet ofa unique stainless steel honeycomb skin. The skin was
formedfrom three layers - solid (but thin) sheets on the top and bottom, with aporous core between themfor light weightand
heatresistance. (NorthAmerican)
BackCover(RightLower):AirVehicle2underconstructionin theNorthAmericanfacility inPalmdale,California. The two
positionforward windscreen is shown lowered. Alsonotehow the lower radome is attached to thefuselage. (GeraldH. Balzer
Collection)
Title Page: The two maidens on theground at Edwards. A/V-2 is in theforeground with the older sister behind her Thefive
degrees ofdihedral on thewingseemsexaggeratedin this photo, butit was neverthelessanoticeabledifference between the two
aircraft. (AFFTC HistoryOfficeCollection)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
NORTHAMERICANXB-70A VALKYRIE
PREFACE 4
THE THANKS Go To
CHAPTER 1 ANTECEDENTS 7
PRELUDE TO WEAPONS SYSTEM 110A
19
CHAPTER 2 Two AIR VEHICLES •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
AND CONTINUED RESTRUCTURING
CHAPTER 3 FLIGHT TEST 27
A SHEEP IN WOLF'S CLOTHING
COLOR SECTIQN THE RIDE TO VALHALLA. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• 65
THE AWESOME WHITE MAIDENS
CHAPTER 4 THE DETAILS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 43.
ADVANCED STATE-OF-THE-ART
ApPENDIX A FLIGHT LOG 53
THE 129 FLIGHTS OF THE MAIDENS
73
ApPENDIX B PILOT'S PERSPECTIVE. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ••
FLIGHT TEST SUMMARY REPORT
ApPENDIX C ALKYLBORANE 95
HIGH ENERGY FUELS
ApPENDIX D SIGNIFICANT DATES •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 104
KEY DATES IN THE HISTORY OF THE XB-70A VALKYRIE
NORTHAMERICAN
IB-10AVALnllE
PREFACE
THE THANKS Go To
hen one thinks ofMach3 something that could only have what is often overlooked, especially
aircraft, what generally been imagined during the 1950s 50 years later, is that the B-52 was
comes to mind is the and a new Mach 3+ interceptor, the the second in a line of "interim"
Lockheed SR-71 or perhaps the MiG F-108 Rapier. All three of these pro bombers. The first was the Convair
25. But there was another Mach 3 grams were intended to share sys B-36, a project begun when it was
design, one that was a good deal tems and components, largely as a feared that World War II would
larger and five times heavier than cost-cutting measure, and the fund need to be conducted entirely from
the Blackbird or the Foxbat. Perhaps ing nightmare soon unraveled as bases within North America. The
even more futuristic looking, the first the nuclear-powered bomber, resulting aircraft was something of
North American Aviation XB-70A thenthe F-108,werecancelled. a technical triumph, but it was still
Valkyriewas the culmination of a piston-powered aircraft born into
General Curtis LeMay's quest for Today, the popular conception of a the beginning of the jet age. Almost
the ultimate strategicbomber. strategic bomber is the Boeing B-52 as soon as the aircraft appeared,
Stratofortress. A product of the the Strategic Air Command (SAC)
Thebeginning ofthe XB-70Astoryis 1950s, the B-52 recently made the began planning to replace it with
intertwined with the development nightly news while carpet-bombing the newer B-52.
of a: nuclear-powered bomber - the Taliban in Afghanistan. But
But the B-52 was also born at an
awkward time. Althoughthe aircraft
thateventuallyemergedwasblessed
with swept win,gs and jet engines -'-
resulting in a bomber that cruised
almost twice as fast as the B-36 - it
was still a subsonic aircraft at a time
when the Air Force desperately
wanted to go supersonic. The first
supersonic bomber - the Convair
B-58 Hustler - was an outgrowth of
the preliminary studies that eventu
ally led to the B-70. Sleek looking
and fast, it was, at best, a medium
bomber. As events turned out, the
B-58 - magnificent as it was
became a maintenance nightmare,
pushing the state-of-the-art a little
toofar. Its tenurewasverybrief.
What Curtis LeMay wanted was an
aircraft with the range and payload
capabilities of the B-52 and the
The second XB-70A shows the massivearea provided by the delta wing. In addition speed of the B-58. Initially, the
to providing agreat deal oflift on its own, the delta wing used the shock wave replacement for these bombers was
produced by the forward tip ofthe lowerfuselage to generate approximately 30 to be split between a futuristic
percentmore lift- somethingcalled"compression lift" by theengineers. This photo nuclear-powered bomber (WS-125A)
providesagood comparisonwithA/V-l on thecover. (RockwellviaJayMiller) and a more conventional aircraft
-
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(WS-llOA) that used a new high it was truly awe-inspiring. Minor The authors would like to thank:
energy fuel. When these programs technical glitches plagued the pro Tony Accurso, Gerald H. Balzer,
began to lag due to technical chal gram early on, but eventually the Randy Cannon, Joe Cotton, Archie
lenges and funding difficulties, the aircraft routinely flew at its Mach 3 DiFante at the AFHRA, Fitzhugh
"interim" B-52 was supplemented designspeed. "Fitz" Fulton, Michael H. Gorn and
with an "improved" B-52 that even Dill Hunley at DFRC, Marty Isham,
tuallyemergedas theB-52G/H. Then tragedy. Air Vehicle 2 was lost Denny Lombard, Michael J. Lombar
in a midair collision during a staged di at the BoeingArchives, BettyLove
There was, however, a dark horse photo shoot after returning from a at DFRC, Scott Lowther atAerospace
that had been largely dismissed by test flight. XB-70A pilot Al White Projects Review, Yancy Mailes, Don
the user command (SAC), but was survived, but copilot Carl Cross, Mallick, Jay Miller, Doug Nelson at
high prized by the development along with F-I04 pilot Joe Walker, the AFFTC Museum, Ken Neubeck,
commands (ARDC and AMC) and died in the accident. The program Terry Panopalis, Charles E. Rogers at
the politicians. The intercontinental would continue to fly for a while AFFTC,TomRosquin,MickRoth,Jim
ballistic missile (ICBM) was using Air Vehicle I, but the end was Tuttle, Jack Weber at AFMC, and Jim
thought to be decades from opera in sight for the largest Mach 3 air YoungintheAFFTC HistoryOffice.
tions. Then, rather suddenly, break craft ever built. Today the single
throughs that resulted in smaller remaining aircraft is housed at the DennisR. Jenkins
thermonuclear weapons and reli AirForceMuseuminDayton,Ohio CapeCanaveral, Florida
able guidance systems allowed the just as awe-inspiring as the day she
Atlas and Titan to be deployed was rolled out in Palmdale , Califor Tony Landis
much sooner than had been expect nia,40yearsago. Lancaster, California
ed. Mannedbombersnow appeared
- atleastto some- toberedundant.
The demise of the WS-I25A was a
,
( mixed blessing for the B-70 pro-
gram. It left the Valkyrie as the only
manned strategic system under
development, helping it gain priori
ty. But the loss of a second funding
source for shared systems made the
B-70 appear to overrun its budget.
The cancellation of the F-I08 exas
perated this appearance. The
deploymentofworkable ICBMs was
thedeathblow.
Changing political and budgetary
climates at first killed the program,
thenbroughtitbackto life as a two
vehicle test program - sort of a
sheep in wolf's clothing. Regard
less, when the Valkyrie finally flew,
A/V-2flies pastthe parkedA/V-l
duringan airshowatEdwards AFB,
California. Thesecondaircraftis
accompaniedbyaB-58chaseplane (and
aT-38 thatisjustoutoftheframe).
(TomRosquinCollection)
NORTHAMERICAN
I~-10A 'llIlME 5
A/V-l during taxi tests at Palmdale prior tofirstflight. At500,000 pounds, the Valkyrie was the heaviest aircraft built at the
time. This posed some challengesfor systems that had little to do with the bomber's Mach 3 speed potential - such as brakes,
which tended to chatterduring low-speedstops. Taxiing the XB-70A tooksomegetting used tosincethe pilots sathighandfar
infront ofthe landinggear. (TonyLandisCollection)
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\
ANTEC DENTS
""
PRELUDE TO WEAPONS SYSTEM 110A
T
T")he building of the XB-70A work at all. Ultimately, break diate range ballistic missile (IRBM)
i probably ranks as one of the throughs in building smaller ther and the Navy's Polaris (and later,
,.,..:, most convoluted processes monuclear weapons and accurate Poseidon and Trident) submarine
in modern defenseprocurement. Ini guidance systems allowed the launch ballistic missiles (SLBM).
tial studies were hampered by limi development of the Atlas and Titan These largely spelled the end for
tations in the state-of-the-art, but intercontinental ballistic missiles both the long-range cruise missiles
ultimately resulted in the develop (ICBM) as well as the Thor interme- and the mannedbomberprograms.
ment of the Convair B-58 Hustler,
theworld'sfirst supersonicbomber.
Later studies were intertwined with
at least three other programs. An
effort to develop a nuclear-powered
bomber (NPB) under WS-125A
itselfanoutgrowthoftheveryexpen
sive Nuclear Energy for the Propul
sion of Aircraft (NEPA) and Aircraft
Nuclear Propulsion (ANP) programs
- provided an unnecessary diversion
of funds and interest from the less
technicallyadvancedWS-llOAchem
ically-powered bomber (CPB) pro
gram that eventually became the
B-70. A fleeting desire to build a
reconnaissance version of the new
bomber as WS-llOLfell by the way
side as other programs promised
more significant advances,but again
diverted resources from the B-70 for
a short time. The F-I08 interceptor
was seenasa second funding source
for many WS-110 and WS-125 sub
systems (including the J93 engines),
and its premature cancellation
forced a major funding crisis upon
theB-70program.
Perhaps most significantly, one of
the competitors for funds was the
intercontinental missile program.
At first it was not obvious whether Initially the ballistic missiles were given little chance ofimmediate success since
the resulting weapon would be a the size ofthe thermonuclear warheads was so large. However, much sooner than
large cruise missile or a ballistic expected, the warheads became smallerand missiles like the Atlas became possible.
missile. In fact, it was not readily This is theninthAtlas-B testvehicleon its padat Cape Canaveral AFS,Florida, on
apparent that the concept would 17November1958. (45thSpaceWingHistoryOffice)
NORTHAMERICAN
IB-10AVALnRlIE 7
ONCE UPON ATIME ••. program was not expected to yield ing intercontinental range while car
an operational weapon in the fore rying a 50,000-pound thermonuclear
As early as 1947 the Air Force had seeable future, due in large part to payload. It was to become opera
begundeveloping requirementsfor a the anticipated size and weight of tionalinthe 1960-1965timeframe.
supersonic intercontinental bomber. the thermonuclear warhead. There
In early 1948 two companies, Boeing fore, SAC called for the design and Boeing presented their preliminary
and Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft production of a high-performance results on 22 January 1954, leverag
(usually called Convair), received long-range bomber to follow the ing heavily off developments made
Air Force contracts to study the pos B-52. The projected bomber was to in the NEPAlANP programs. The
sibilities of a supersonic bomber. employ"... the longest range, high problem was that the early nuclear
Over the next four years these and est altitude, and greatest speed (in engines - although being very long
subsequent studies evolved into a that order of priority), capable of ranged - were not expected to be
competition that resulted in the Con attainment in the time period under powerfulenoughto pusha large air
vairB-58Hustlermediumbomber.! consideration and consistent with craft through the sound barrier. In
requirements for military payload order to gain more speed for short
On 30 March 1953 the Strategic Air and defensivesystems."2 periods of time, Boeing augmented
Command (SAC) defined its future the nuclear engines with a pair of
aircraftrequirementsinalettertoAir The bureaucracy was apparently conventional turbojets (called chem
Force Headquarters. SAC believed much more responsive in 1953, and ical engines although they burned
that manned flight to high altitudes on 1 May 1953 contract AF33(616) standard JP-4). The nuclear engines
and long ranges should be "... at all 2070 was issued to Boeing for a one would provide a long-range subson
times a priority objective of the Air year study of an advanced strategic ic cruise capability, while the chemi
Force development program." The weapons system. The requirement calengineswouldproduceaddition
on-going intercontinental missile was for a manned aircraft possess- al thrust for a short supersonic dash
over the target. In March 1954, Boe
ing presented their final report on a
chemically-augm~nted nuclear-pow
ered aircraft; Convair and Lockheed,
under contracts with the Office of
AircraftNuclearPropulsion, submit
tedsimilardata.3
Then the unexpected occurred. By
May 1954 the National laboratories
had managed to reduce the size and
weightofthe so-called "H-bombs" to
the point that they no longer repre
sented a daunting payload. At about
the same time, breakthroughs at MIT
and other research institutes allowed
the development of accurate and
compact guidance systems. These
technical advances provided a strong
impetus to acceleratedevelopmentof
a new manned strategicbomber. Per
haps unfortunately, they also provid
ed the break that was necessary for
The initial studiesfor asupersonic bomber resulted in the development ofthe Con the developmentofworkableballistic
vairB-58Hustler. Theaircraft was muchfaster than anyotherbomberin theworld missiles, which eventually replaced
at the time, butithadrelatively short legs and wasamaintenancenightmare. After the manned bomber as the deterrent
less than adecade in service, SAC retired them. (U.s.Air Force) systemofchoice.
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