Valkyrie: The North American XB-70 - The USA's Ill-Fated Supersonic Heavy Bomber by Graham M. Simons

overscan (PaulMM)

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Valkyrie: The North American XB-70

During the 1950s, at the time Elvis Presley was rocking the world with Hound Dog and the USA was aiming to become the world's only…
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Anyone seen? Find it hard to believe it will have anything new from the Jenkins/Landis book.
 
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I personally wrote two books and two feature articles on the Valkyrie program. I agree - nothing 'new' can be added beyond Jenkins' and Landis' B-70 book. Still, as a B-70 lover for life, I'll get a copy to see what he 'might' have come up with that 'might' be new. Steve Pace
 
I have found a fair number of interesting papers on XB-70 in AIAA and SAE archives.

I have been wondering if the info in those has been rolled into present books.
 
XB-70 Guy said:
nothing 'new' can be added beyond Jenkins' and Landis' B-70 book.
Click to expand...

I disagree. At least theoretically, a number of good things could in principle be published... for instance, there have so far been no truly definitive large-format, clear, detailed and accurate plans of the B-70 published (the Paul Matt are the best, but since they're not NAA plans, their accuracy may be questioned). Definitive info - such as photos - showing the progress or lack thereoff of air vehicle #3. There undoutedly were a lot of detailed proposals for derivatives and modifications that have so far been shown only fragmentally (such as the orbital launch systems) or not at all.

There's still a lot of story to be told. The question is whether this information exists anymore in a form where it can be properly collated.
 
sferrin said:
Anybody know anything about this?
Click to expand...

Other than it was published in September of last year... not a thing.
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Valkyrie: The North American XB-70

During the 1950s, at the time Elvis Presley was rocking the world with Hound Dog and the USA was aiming to become the world's only…
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

My google-fu failed to turn up any reviews or images other than the cover.
 
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I note that it is available new for about $25, (and also $360), and second hand for $520 and higher. I just don't get this.
 
Don't know anything about this book either, but note that last fall the author's book

Mosquito: The Original Multi-Role Combat Aircraft


was published and next June his book Concorde Conspiracy: The Battle for American Skies 1962-77 is due out. From the description, the latter sounds particularly interesting.
 
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sferrin said:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1848845464/ref=s9_newr_co_g14_ir01?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=left-2&pf_rd_r=1BAJ14BCHX6F0TK2FYSZ&pf_rd_t=3201&pf_rd_p=1280661782&pf_rd_i=typ01

Anybody know anything about this?
Click to expand...

I do now!
Got a copy yesterday.
Did a good skim and read here and there.
Graham Simons, the author, seems like a genuine XB-70 enthusiast!
Beautiful cover!
Subtitle: "The USA's Ill-fated Supersonic Heavy Bomber" kind of bothers me. Not sure why yet.
Initial impression, is it's a beautiful book. Lots of pictures. Printed well. I'm enjoying photos I don't
recall seeing before, as well as some I have. I think I have all the XB-70 stuff out there, plus some
stuff that is from the 60's that you just kind find anymore. This book is a good addition to the collection.
I'm enjoying all the manufacturing shots. I love to see all the components that makeup such an amazing
machine. Lots of discussion on structure and materials. Lots of info on what was to become AV-3 which
I don't recall elsewhere. Figures and info from the flight manual are used in the discussion
to drive home the experience, it came off pretty well for me. Some stuff is missing that you can find
in other books, for example he discusses inlet operation but without diagrams. Most readers would be
lost by that. Discussion of J93 misses variable stator contribution, but he does discuss other aspects
of the engine from a high level. He has some interesting things to say about politics during the
years of the project. Interesting aspects of the fuel system and how it is used to cool components and
how, when fuel is low, other aspects of the system are employed, and even the process to remove oxygen from contaminating the JP6 fuel when refuelling. Seeing the manufacturing shots made me think of
North American Aircraft and what amazing aerospace vehicles they did, the P-51, the F-86, F-100,
Apollo CSM, XB-70, Space Shuttle, ... and they're gone! Through Scott's recent blogs we are seeing some
of their hypersonic ideas. Jeez, they're gone! Anyway, Mr. Simons also discusses how the blackbird
relates, and near the end of the book is a large discussion on how the XB-70 related to the American
SST effort. Graham also discusses the state of AV-1 at the USAF Museum and he includes some photos
of its cockpit that he took in the 1990's when he was allowed in there. I also enjoyed a discussion of the
service vehicles employed to service the aircraft. An amazing aircraft! It's like a starship from the 1960's!
 

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