Valkyrie The North American XB-70 by Graham M Simons

Author:Graham M Simons [Simons, Graham M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-84884-546-6
Publisher: Pen & Sword
Published: 2013-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

AV 1 undergoing pre-flight checks prior to her second flight on 5 October 1964. Note the amount of ground equipment surrounding the aircraft, not made any more tidier by the collection of cars parked on the side of the taxiway. (AFFTC History Office Collection)

After the second flight 62-0001 started to show signs of paint-peeling. (USAF)

The aircraft returned to Palmdale at the end of this flight for a series of structural tests. They would be non-destructive in nature since the programme had not built a dedicated structural test airframe, although a number of ‘test specimens’, had been built, including most of the rear fuselage that was used for wing bending tests, loads in the engine duct region and fuel tank verification.

While at Palmdale, engineers puzzled over why some of the white paint peeled off during three of the first four flights. It was finally determined that too-thick paint caused by several re-paintings – allegedly done in order to impress various VIPs – was being cracked as the Valkyrie flexed in flight, and was then torn away by the airstream. During the winter stay at Plant 42, AV 1 was stripped and repainted with a single thin coat of white paint. A major exterior change was that the bottom fuselage around the engines was now painted white instead of being left natural titanium finish as it had been for the first four flights.

Structural testing completed satisfactorily, Phase Two testing began on 16 February 1965, when Al White and Joe Cotton took the Valkyrie on its fifth flight. For the first time, the wingtips were lowered to the full 65-degree position, and the manual air inlet control system (AICS) throat ramps were cycled. This flight lasted 1 hour and 10 minutes, including 40 minutes at Mach 1.6 and 45,000 feet. Continuing an unhappy trend, the drag chutes again failed to deploy completely, and AV 1 required 11,100 feet to rollout.

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