Product Description

The North American XB-70 Valkyrie was an attempt to build the ultimate offensive weapon for the Cold War--a heavy bomber capable of flying at Mach 3 and reaching targets deep inside the Soviet Union. The aircraft that emerged to satisfy the requirement was one of the most graceful large aircraft ever to fly, and one that looked every bit as fast on the ground as it was in the air--over 2,000 mph at high altitude. It was years ahead of its time. But politics and changing requirements ultimately doomed the Valkyrie program to only two aircraft. Neither was a true prototype of a weapons system, and instead was used to test the concept of such a large aircraft flying so fast.

The authors have uncovered a great deal of new material on the XB-70 program--both on the aircraft as flown, and on what the proposed production aircraft would have looked like had they been built. Many never-before-seen photographs and drawings are included in the book. Details of the defensive and offensive weapons systems are included. The authors also attempt to place the aircraft in historical perspective with the politics and economic realities that caused its cancellation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #635159 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 104 pages

Customer Reviews

The next best experience to actually flying in a Valkyrie
Volume 34 in the outstanding Specialty Press "WarbirdTech" series, Dennis R. Jenkins and Tony Landis' North American XB-70A Valkyrie is a comprehensive, profusely illustrated study of a unique and fascinating type of military aircraft created during the 1960s amid the tension of the Cold War. The Valkyrie was the largest Mach 3 aircraft ever flown; its story from its conception and creation to the pilot's perspective is recounted in this amazing book, enhanced with black-and-white photographs and a color insert section. The next best experience to actually flying in a Valkyrie, the North American XB-70A Valkyrie is an amazingly detailed look at an incredible plane and strongly recommended for military aircraft buffs.

Finally
For years I have been waiting for a decent book on this airplane. Several earlier books were less than ideal, but I was beginning to think that perhaps there was no other data available to authors, hence the constant rehash of the same things (to be fair, the Jeannette Remak book contains a lot of interesting programmatic information, but remarkably little the hardware). Because of that, I have been avoiding purchasing this book.

Well, I finally saw a copy of it in a store so I picked it up. I was very surprised. The authors have found a great deal of data that is not in the other books, along with a great collection of photos, many of which are either new, or at least seldom seen.

Considering the minimal price of the book ($16.95) it is a remarkable bargain with good printing on smooth, glossy paper. The only disappointment was that there are only 8 pages of color photos, but given that the airplane was essentially all-white, this is not a major problem.

If you want a good book on the B-70, but this one and skip the others.

Lots of new material
In contrast to another reviewer, I found there to be a great deal of new material (or corrections of previous misinformation) in this book. By far it is better than any of the earlier B-70 books on the market, although it does not cover some of the managerial and political areas quite as well as the Remak-Ventolo work. Things like descriptions of the proposed boron-laced fuel, ECM systems for the never-built operational airpanes, and early signature reduction (stealth) efforts are covered here for the first time. Footnotes allow the reader to figure out where the material came from, lending authority to many of the statements.

In addition, the photos are great (with several never-before published ones), the paper quality is good, and the writing is concise, unlike earlier books by Aero and McGraw Hill.

Highly recommended.