B-70 Valkyrie (Wallpaper 4)
Monday, October 24, 2011
image dimensions : 1092 x 682
B-70 Valkyrie (Wallpaper 4)
Four . B-70 Valkyrie, Bomber Supersonic Aircraft. Photo, image, picture, wallpaper, review, specification.
The B-70 Valkyrie supersonic heavy bomber was one of the most elegant planes that ever took to the skies. It was not only a remarkable looking aircraft but also the most advanced flying platform of its time. Its elegant design and airborne avionic systems were decades ahead of its peers. Just the sight of a Valkyrie flying sent chills down the collective spines of military leaders in both America and the Soviet Union. But, as with most revolutionary weapons platforms, the B-70 was also an aircraft without a true dedicated mission profile. In an ironic twist of fate, the B-70, once conceived and designed with the intention of penetrating the most complex of the Soviet’s air defensive systems, as well as their most advance fighters. In the end it was terminated by advances in those same systems, specifically the Soviet’s surface to air missile (SAM) systems. The new Soviet SAMs made the Valkyrie’s great advantage and sheer speed, somewhat irrelevant. Conceived to replace the United States Air Force’s fleet of Boeing‘s B-52 heavy bombers, the XB-70 program commenced at earnest in the spring of 1955. The Air Force, fresh out of the complex and highly technical B-58 program, wanted the new bomber to be incorporated with the latest of the so called “next generation” technology package available. It was towards this end, that the Air Force was willing to give total weapons system design responsibility to the winner of the contract. During the design phase, two companies emerged as the leading contenders for the contract to build the most advanced aircraft in the world: Boeing and North America. After a relative short test design stage, North America was awarded a developmental contract. Work commenced on the project late in 1958 and in 1964, the first of two ordered prototypes performed its maiden flight. The XB-70 was indeed an elegant flying machine. One that concealed its true nature: the nuclear showering of targets deep inside the Soviet Union. This amazing aircraft had a fuselage length of 196 feet with a height of 31 feet. Its estimated maximum gross operational weight was of 521,000 pounds. The bomber was manned by a crew of four: a pilot, copilot Bombardier and a defensive weapon systems operator. The aircraft was fitted with a thin delta wing structure that spanned 105 feet. Six massive General Electric YJ-93 engines, capable of producing 30,000 pounds of thrust each with afterburners. They were located in a side-by-side configuration on a large pod underneath the airframe. Two rectangular inlet ducts provided the engines with a two dimensional airflow profile. The aircraft’s fuel tanks where housed on the delta wing structure. The high drag ratio of the B-70 while flying at Mach 3, required a total fuel load comparable to that of a B-52. This in turn limited the operational range of the bomber to around 5,000 nautical miles. The wing structure was swept at an angle of 65.5 degrees, and the wing tips were folded down hydraulically 25 to 65 degrees to improve the aircraft’s stability while performing at speeds of Mach 3. While flying at this speed envelop, the XB-70 was designed to “ride” in its own shock wave. A large canard fore-plane (28 feet, 10 inches) installed near the front of the fuselage was utilized for stability moderation. Two large vertical tail units, each of them possessing hydraulic-moving sections, were fitted on the aft of the airframe. The Valkyrie was made completely out of titanium and brazed stainless steel materials. These composite materials were incorporated to enable the aircraft to withstand the heat during the sustained high Mach portions of the bomber’s flight. The aircraft’s fuselage was painted with a nuclear blast reflecting white-looking paint cover which did not stand up well to the Mach 3 kinetic heating. The aircraft did not have any defensive armament system and could only carry its ordinance inside due to its speed profile. The B-70′s had a massive payload capacity. Up to 50,600 pounds of free falling nuclear bombs could have been stored inside the aircraft’s underbelly.
Four . B-70 Valkyrie, Bomber Supersonic Aircraft. Photo, image, picture, wallpaper, review, specification.
The B-70 Valkyrie supersonic heavy bomber was one of the most elegant planes that ever took to the skies. It was not only a remarkable looking aircraft but also the most advanced flying platform of its time. Its elegant design and airborne avionic systems were decades ahead of its peers. Just the sight of a Valkyrie flying sent chills down the collective spines of military leaders in both America and the Soviet Union. But, as with most revolutionary weapons platforms, the B-70 was also an aircraft without a true dedicated mission profile. In an ironic twist of fate, the B-70, once conceived and designed with the intention of penetrating the most complex of the Soviet’s air defensive systems, as well as their most advance fighters. In the end it was terminated by advances in those same systems, specifically the Soviet’s surface to air missile (SAM) systems. The new Soviet SAMs made the Valkyrie’s great advantage and sheer speed, somewhat irrelevant. Conceived to replace the United States Air Force’s fleet of Boeing‘s B-52 heavy bombers, the XB-70 program commenced at earnest in the spring of 1955. The Air Force, fresh out of the complex and highly technical B-58 program, wanted the new bomber to be incorporated with the latest of the so called “next generation” technology package available. It was towards this end, that the Air Force was willing to give total weapons system design responsibility to the winner of the contract. During the design phase, two companies emerged as the leading contenders for the contract to build the most advanced aircraft in the world: Boeing and North America. After a relative short test design stage, North America was awarded a developmental contract. Work commenced on the project late in 1958 and in 1964, the first of two ordered prototypes performed its maiden flight. The XB-70 was indeed an elegant flying machine. One that concealed its true nature: the nuclear showering of targets deep inside the Soviet Union. This amazing aircraft had a fuselage length of 196 feet with a height of 31 feet. Its estimated maximum gross operational weight was of 521,000 pounds. The bomber was manned by a crew of four: a pilot, copilot Bombardier and a defensive weapon systems operator. The aircraft was fitted with a thin delta wing structure that spanned 105 feet. Six massive General Electric YJ-93 engines, capable of producing 30,000 pounds of thrust each with afterburners. They were located in a side-by-side configuration on a large pod underneath the airframe. Two rectangular inlet ducts provided the engines with a two dimensional airflow profile. The aircraft’s fuel tanks where housed on the delta wing structure. The high drag ratio of the B-70 while flying at Mach 3, required a total fuel load comparable to that of a B-52. This in turn limited the operational range of the bomber to around 5,000 nautical miles. The wing structure was swept at an angle of 65.5 degrees, and the wing tips were folded down hydraulically 25 to 65 degrees to improve the aircraft’s stability while performing at speeds of Mach 3. While flying at this speed envelop, the XB-70 was designed to “ride” in its own shock wave. A large canard fore-plane (28 feet, 10 inches) installed near the front of the fuselage was utilized for stability moderation. Two large vertical tail units, each of them possessing hydraulic-moving sections, were fitted on the aft of the airframe. The Valkyrie was made completely out of titanium and brazed stainless steel materials. These composite materials were incorporated to enable the aircraft to withstand the heat during the sustained high Mach portions of the bomber’s flight. The aircraft’s fuselage was painted with a nuclear blast reflecting white-looking paint cover which did not stand up well to the Mach 3 kinetic heating. The aircraft did not have any defensive armament system and could only carry its ordinance inside due to its speed profile. The B-70′s had a massive payload capacity. Up to 50,600 pounds of free falling nuclear bombs could have been stored inside the aircraft’s underbelly.
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