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With research and development studies beginning in 1955, the
XB-70 was a large, long-range strategic bomber was planned to be the replacement
for the B-52. As in the B-58 program, the Air Force wanted new technology
advances. To this end, the Air Force gave the prime contractor total weapon
system responsibility. Competition between Boeing and North American for the
contract occurred during the design phase. In 1958, the North American design
was chosen and a development contract awarded. The Air Force requirement was for
a Mach 3, high-altitude, long-range bomber capable of carrying nuclear and
conventional weapons.
The aircraft was fabricated using titanium and brazed stainless
steel “honeycomb” materials to withstand the heating during the sustained
high Mach number portions of the flights. The propulsion system consisted of six
General Electric turbojet engines (J93-GE 3) with two large rectangular inlet
ducts providing two-dimensional airflow.
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. Aircraft No. 2 (serial # 62-0207) with its improved
wing design, was capable of sustained Mach 3 flight at altitudes around 70,000
ft. This highly instrumented vehicle was destroyed in a mid-air collision with
NASA F-104N (N813NA) on 8 June 1966. The collision killed test pilots
Joseph A. Walker and Major Carl Cross.
For more information about the XB-70A crash site click
here.
For more information about the F-104N crash site click
here.
Retrieved from the crash site, this piece of honeycomb is a reminder of that
crash and the death of the supersonic bomber until the B-1 program of the
mid-1970s.
Included is a Certificate of Origin, certifying that your
artifact came from this historic site.
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