Customer Reviews

North American XB-70A Valkyrie - Warbird Tech Vol. 34

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

The authors have done an excellent job of providing a new view of the ill-fated B-70 program. Coverage is provided of the history, politics, and technical aspects of this forward-thinking program to develop a Mach 3 bomber. New information includes a proposal to use the basic B-70 airframe as a prototype supersonic transport (SST), as well as information on the infrared signature reduction effort that was begun as part of the short-lived YB-70 program that was supposed to result in operational bombers. Unfortunately, the Department of Defense decided that the era of the manned bomber had passed - 50 years later we realize it has not.

This book takes a more balanced approach to telling the story behind this fascinating aircraft than most earlier books. Instead of concentrating on what might have been, the authors concenrate on what was, with very little editorializing on possible missed opportunities - nobody will ever know if the B-70 would have made a good bomber.

What this book does contain is a well-written, straight-forward text that details the history of the airplane, its flight program, and a good, but brief, technical description. The photographs are well reporduced, many of them seldom seen, and the overall production quality is excellant.

If you want a book on the B-70, this is a good starting place.

This airplane has long been a favorite of mine and I have been looking for a book that does more than scratch the surface of its history. This book accomplishes that, along with a lot of good photos and line art. A fair amount of detail about the high-energy fuel program and various proposals to build operational bombers is covered in addition to the normal history of the two prototypes that actually flew.

I have read that the authors intend to release a larger volume on the B-70 later in 2004, and I am planning on buying that one also.

I found this book on the XB-70 to be the finest work to date on this amazing weapons system program. The authors appeared to gain intimate knowledge of the development of the aircraft and its' various tangential technologies such as the High Energy Fuel program. It contains information on the program that was conspicuously overlooked in earlier treatments of the XB-70. I found the photo research to be of high quality and the text well-written. I particularly enjoyed the few humorous entries that are so rare in works of this type. I was satisfied cover-to-cover as must have been the authors with the product of their work.

I have always been a fan of this aircraft and have traditionally picked up every book written on it. However, I ran out of steam when the same material began showing up in all the books - the same stories, the same photos, the same everything. So I initially passed on purchasing this one.

A friend told me I should give it a try, and the purchase price was minimal so I ordered it. What a surprise. Lots of new photos, new information in the clearly-written text, good paper, and great printing. Well worth the effort.

What a great airplane! Despite the fact that is is over 40 years old, this is one of the most exciting aircraft to ever take to the skies. The authors have done a fantasic job documenting why the airplane was wanted and why it was never put into production. There are lots of details about its construction, systems, and troubles, as well as its triumphs (30 minutes at Mach 3 in a 500,000-pound airplane!) and tragedies (the mid-air collision of the number two airplane). This is easily the best book ever written on the subject, especially considering its under-$20 price. Highly recommended for anybody interested in the subject.

Aside from the unfortunate absence of personal computers, and a ghastly and up tight social environment, 1950's America for the aero enthusiast must have been close to very heaven. Every year, onwards, upwards, higher and faster, till Sputnick trumped the whole race.
In 1947 Yeager had needed an air launched rocket to break Mach 1, yet within the decade Convair were testing the XB-58, a 3 man bomber, capable of delivering a 9 megaton weapon over inter-continental ranges at twice the speed of sound. At about the same time, Convair were building a 50 seater airline (Convair 340/580), VTOL turboprop (XVFY-1), Transport/Tanker Flying boat (R3Y-1,-2 Tradewind), advanced interceptors (F-102,F106) and a supersonic seaplane fighter (XFY-1,-2), and the Atlas ICBM / Spacebooster.
In this context, the XB-70 seems to make perfect sense, a vehicle with the range of the B-52 and 50% more speed than the B-58. North American was no slouch either, having made two of the hottest fighters of the fifties, and about the time they won the WS-110 contract, they were the biggest defense contractor (in dollar terms)
This book gives an excellent overview of how the project rose and fell, along with such fascinating associated items as the nuclear powered aircraft program, and zip fuel (and why you don't want to get any on you).
Read it, and sigh for what might have been