XB70 Valkyrie

[timcantwell]

I forgot to mention that a healthy dose of Viagra should help the the Sukhoi T-4 with its limp "nose".

 

[GT38]

Thanks to all for the positive comments.

Tim - Yes, the XB-70 is stainless steel. But I don't know how much Viagra/lb of stainless would be required to solve the T-4's problem. Maybe Bill has the engineering formula. :lol

Bill - You and I both have been fortunate in our experiences over the years, and the gratitude about all the info you've provided me is mutual. Are you coming to the BCS game? If so and if you have time, Jeff & I can show you some interesting items we have tucked away close by. What would really be great though, is if we could run down to Tucson and you could give me a tutorial on the J-58 they have on display under their SR-71!

 

[Kayvan]

Those soviet defense grave yards make me sad.

Ive see so many spectacular weapons from Truck-launch Nukes, to Hovercrafts, Rail-Canon Guns to Nuclear Choppers

http://jalopnik.com/5490236/the-nuclear-warhead+equipped-ekranoplan-soviet-invasion-machine

http://jalopnik.com/5668960/a-vehicular-appendix-to-zero-history/gallery/

http://jalopnik.com/5640967/russias-new-nuclear-missile+carrying-16+wheelers

http://jalopnik.com/5403963/russian-k7-flying-fortress-if-world-war-ii-had-never-ended


They should have proper Military museums instead of 174 Gucci stores

 

[GT38]

Those soviet defense grave yards make me sad.

Ive see so many spectacular weapons from from Semi truck -launch Nukes, to Hovercrafts to Nuclear Choppers

http://jalopnik.com/5490236/the-nuclear-warhead+equipped-ekranoplan-soviet-invasion-machine

http://jalopnik.com/5668960/a-vehicular-appendix-to-zero-history/gallery/

http://jalopnik.com/5640967/russias-new-nuclear-missile+carrying-16+wheelers

http://jalopnik.com/5403963/russian-k7-flying-fortress-if-world-war-ii-had-never-ended


They should have proper Military museums instead of 174 Gucci stores

Thanks Kavan. Do you know if the Ekranoplan in the second link still exists? The photos look digital, not vintage. It if still exists, I'd like to go see it some day. :thumbsup I suppose it would have to be at a port somewhere on the Caspian Sea.

They also have a Bartini VVA-14 at Monino, but it is partially disassembled and in a storage area that was not accessible when we were there. Bartini was a Russian designer of Italian ancestry if I recall correctly, and the VVA-14 seemed to be able to operate as either wing-in-ground effect vehicle, or as a conventional aircraft.

 

[Kayvan]

Yup, its still in Caspian...based on my rusty (no pun) Russian

motherload of 100s pics

http://igor113.livejournal.com/51213.html#comments

 

[GT38]

Here's the Bartini with it's wings removed behind an An-24, this was as close as we could get. The fuselage is a huge airfoil - kind of turtle shaped (a bit more evident in the first photo). The fuselage blends into pontoons, but it also has landing gear to make it amphibious. It was dark and gloomy that day with very heavy thunderstorms moving through one right after the other, and I just had a pocket camera with me. Not the greatest photo opportunity.

It is a real shame that something as unique as this is decaying in these conditions. A few of the other aircraft appear to be well preserved, but it could just be the illusion that comes with new paint.

 

[GT38]

Yup, its still in Caspian...based on my rusty (no pun) Russian

motherload of 100s pics

http://igor113.livejournal.com/51213.html#comments

Kavan, WOW is an understatement!!! Those photos are fantastic - you DID hit the motherlode!

We're getting ready to leave right now, but I'll have my wife read it and I'll let you know if there's anything interesting. Thanks!!! :thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup

 

[Kingman]

That thing must have made some racket taking off. .....and if it ever went down, there was going to be one huge dent in the earth!

 

[Indy GT]

Thanks to all for the positive comments.

Tim - Yes, the XB-70 is stainless steel. But I don't know how much Viagra/lb of stainless would be required to solve the T-4's problem. Maybe Bill has the engineering formula. :lol

Bill - You and I both have been fortunate in our experiences over the years, and the gratitude about all the info you've provided me is mutual. Are you coming to the BCS game? If so and if you have time, Jeff & I can show you some interesting items we have tucked away close by. What would really be great though, is if we could run down to Tucson and you could give me a tutorial on the J-58 they have on display under their SR-71!

Dick, PM sent. Look forward to it.

 

[nota4re]

Dick, your pictures and story telling are both absolutely fantastic!! Thanks so much for sharing!!

 

[GT38]

Dick, PM sent. Look forward to it.

Fantastic! :thumbsup

 

[GT38]

I located the "Loon" version of the Ekranoplan pictured in Kavan's links. It is in the town of Kaspiysk on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. I don't think I can post a .kmz link here, but in Google Earth, just go to 42-52-54.6N, 47-39-23.5E and you'll see this:

 

[GT38]

I spent a couple of hours on New Years Eve going through the Igor133 "motherlode" link from Kavan. I didn't have to torture my wife with it, but a Ukrainian-Canadian (not Terry!) at the dinner graciously went through it all in detail with me. Igor133 has a lot of very well presented information on that site, some of which I have not seen or heard anywhere else. I will distill the parts that seem to be obscure or unique to Igor133 later, but there's a lot to wade through.

I'd almost forgotten about the History Channel's program on the Ekranoplan several years ago, which I'd saved to DVD. It's on YouTube, and if you want to see various Ekranoplan's in flight, take a look:

[video=youtube;Ujrneil9ph4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujrneil9ph4&feature=related[/video]

[video=youtube;wvyXdcLRfFs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvyXdcLRfFs&feature=related[/video]

[video=youtube;cFwCpTZn974]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFwCpTZn974[/video]

 

[GT38]

Test pilot Robert W. Smith's web site has an interesting account of the aftermath of the XB-70-2 midair. You'll be surprised who was blamed for the accident http://www.kalimera.org/nf104/ (see "Limited Feedback" in Chapter 5 in the biography section).

Also worth reading on the same web site is about the NF-104 AST program, particularly Chuck Yeager's accident which was part of the movie "The Right Stuff".

Photos of the XB-70 midair taken from Frank Sinatra's LearJet:

 

[GT38]

F-104 pilot Joe Walker and XB-70 co-pilot Carl Cross were killed. It was Cross's first flight in the Valkyrie. XB-70 pilot Al White ejected but suffered career-ending injuries.

 

[Indy GT]

Wow, Dick, those pictures are fantastic. And bring back memories from reading about the accicent and seeing similar pictures in Aviation Weekly.
The very first of your pictures should be ordered a little later in sequence, as it shows the 104 just an instant before it clipped the XB70 verticle stabilizers. Amazing shot showing how the "little" plane was sucked into the delta planform low pressure area.

If I recall correctly, the purpose of the flight was to assemble then current aircraft all powered by GE aircraft engines for a promotion picture. So we had two T38's, an F104, an F4 and the XB70 which I believe were all GE powered at the time.

 

[GT38]

Amazing shot showing how the "little" plane was sucked into the delta planform low pressure area.

Yup, the little 22' wingspan of the '104 was caught completely within the tip vortex of the XB-70.

If I recall correctly, the purpose of the flight was to assemble then current aircraft all powered by GE aircraft engines for a promotion picture. So we had two T38's, an F104, an F4 and the XB70 which I believe were all GE powered at the time.

Yes again - and that's why the base PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER :eek was held partially responsible for the accident, one of several such travesties I've seen in high-profile military aircraft accidents.