vertical position. Hoping it would level out
on contact White landed, but its run of 3
miles (4.8km) on the Edwards AFB desert
oor ended in a long curve with the wheels
still in the ‘tiptoe’ position.
More undercarriage faults jeopardised
AV2 on April 30 when the nose gear door
retracted before the nose gear, jamming its
wheel against the door’s edge. Cotton was
advised to use a paperclip to bypass the
relevant switch, but he did so with a wire
from his oxygen hose and the damaged
nose-gear extended. However, all the
brakes locked on landing, blowing out six
tyres and starting res.
AV2 began a series of sonic boom tests
for NASA’s SST research programme and
at the end of one run on June 8 it was
required to join a formation of other General
Electric-powered aircraft for publicity photos.
One was Lockheed F-104N N813NA
own by highly experienced test pilot Joe
Walker. His ghter inexplicably moved in too
close to the Valkyrie’s right wing tip, made
contact and passed inverted across its
rear fuselage. Both of the XB-70’s vertical
stabilisers were ripped off and its left wingwas severely damaged as the crippled
Star ghter slid across it and disintegrated in
ames, killing Walker.
White, momentarily unaware of the
disaster, ew on for 16 seconds but the
Valkyrie began to roll and entered an
uncontrollable downward spiral. White
closed his ejection capsule (injuring his arm
when the door closed on it) but co-pilot Carl
Cross appeared to be unconscious and
couldn’t do likewise. AV2 smashed into the
desert oor and White, with an injured back
following his ‘ejection’, landed hard. Sadly,
Carl Cross died in the crash.
The USAF ended any involvement with
the Valkyrie on July 5.The research programme continued until
February 1969 by AV1, in NASA markings. It
was still the only aircraft capable of providing
realistic SST simulation, although that
programme was ended in May 1971.
NAA suggested various commercial
Valkyrie applications including a 76-seat
airliner conversion. It was proposed as a
carrier aircraft for Mach 3 launching of a
hypersonic X-15 rocket plane derivative
but by 1969 NASA decided to retire the
X-15 and AV1. The latter was donated to
the National Musuem of the USAF ending
the career of what Al White described as a
“truly outstanding
airplane.”http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 65NORTH AMERICAN XB-70 VALKYRIE –
RECOMMENDED READING
If you enjoyed reading this feature, you’ll no doubt be interested in the
author’s book North American XB-70 Valkyrie, published by Osprey
Publishing as part of its superb X-Planes series. Much of this article’s
information and photos was sourced from the book which is available
in paperback format for £12.99. It can also be purchased as a
download. For more details or to order, call 01256 302699 or visit
http://www.ospreypublishing.comThe cockpit of the XB-70 Valkyrie. AV1 is preserved at the Ohio-based National Museum of the USAF. USAF/Ken LaRockRestoration staff move the Valkyrie into the new fourth building at the National Museum of the USAF on October 27, 2015. USAF/Don Popp60-65_xb70DC.mfDC.mfDCDC.mf.indd 65 03/05/2018 16:27