During the early
1960s, the
NASA Flight Research Center was involved in support of the national
Supersonic Transport Program (SST). Two
prototype Mach 3+ high
altitude
bombers, built by
North American Aviation for the
Air Force, became available for SST research with the cancellation of their intended
military program. The
XB-70A Valkyrie was the largest
experimental aircraft, measuring 190 feet in length, with a
wing span of 105 feet and standing 33 feet in height. The
aircraft had a
delta wing and hinged wing tip that could be folded down to a 65 degree angle to improve stability at the aircraft's supersonic speeds of up to Mach 3. At this speed the
Valkyrie was designed to ride its own
shock wave.
Unfortunately program got several serious setbacks including crash of other prototype which caused death of two pilots. After that whole project was abandoned...
(Originally created under wrong name : Fri Apr 28 2000 at 10:16 utc)