Customer Reviews

Valkyrie: North American's Mach 3 Superbomber

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An absolutely fascinating book that covers a lot more than just the B-70. The early 1950's were a time when anything could be done by the military. The B-70 Valkyrie was one project. It was a beautiful plane, the culmination of big, fast, high-flying manned bombers.

Unfortunately at that time there were simply too many such projects. The whole century series fighter program was under way, several missile projects, the Dyna-Soar project, and unfortunately by the end of the development program the Viet Nam War. At the same time, anti-air defense systems were increasing in capabilities -- witnes Gary Powers and the U-2 incident.

This book is truly splendid in its story of the times. While it is mostly on the B-70, it's table of contents reads, in part, as follows:

The Atomic Powered Airplane
The Mach 3 fighter - XF-103 and XF-108
High Energy Fuels

All of these projects were underway, not a single one made it into production.

Beautiful book, beautifully illustrated with hundreds of photographs, drawings and illustrations of the concepts of the atomic plane and the conceptual drawings that eventually led to the B-70.

What a great book! I have purchased every book ever written about this airplane, and this is by far the best. Lots of new photographs, many in color, and printed on slick, glossy paper. The text covers many subjects that seem only slightly related to the B-70 (Mach 3 fighters and atomic-powered airplanes), but it all adds up to the complete story of how and why the B-70 was created, then cancelled. Great line drawings and many artist concepts. And did I mention the great photos? Highly recommended.

As a long time fan of the North American XB-70A Valkyrie program, even playing a small part in presenting its history in a couple of writings, I am more than just a little impressed with this definitive presentation put forth by Dennis Jenkins and Tony Landis. They worked in concert to create what is truly a bonafide masterpiece.

Dennis is a prolific and thorough aviation history book designer and writer with many well received works; Tony is a dedicated artist, photographer and writer.

They both love the Great White Bird! And it really shows in this profusely illustrated work.

So with this latest, greatest history on the Valkyrie produced by them, there isn't any need for another book to be published on North American's Mach 3 Superbomber.

Highly recommended!

Steve Pace
Tacoma, WA

This is the best book I've seen on the Valkyrie. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars were the editing/production problems that others have noted. In my copy, Chapter 2 ends mid-sentence and chapter 4 contains several repeated blocks of text. Warts-and-all a very good book that contains lots of information not found elsewhere.

I just received my copy of this book, and am overwhelmed by the amount of information in it. The photos alone are worth the price. As others have noted there are a few editing mistakes in it (the only one not easily overlooked are a few missing words at the end of one chapter ... I wonder what they are) that should have been caught. But overall these small mistakes do not distract seriously from what is a magnificent compilation of facts, figures, stories, and photos. Anybody interested in this airplane, the nuclear-powered airplane program (which is also covered in some detail), or Mach 3 fighters (the XF-103 and XF-108 are covered in great detail) should get a copy of this book. I doubt the critics that have written other reviews could have pulled off getting so much information into such an affordable package; I would be happy to purchase their book if they can do it.

This book is an excellent addition to aviation history and is highly recommended.

Valkyrie - North American's Mach 3 Superbomber
Dennis R. Jenkins & Tony R. Landis
© 2004 Specialty Press
Review by Ned Barnett


Ohmygosh - this book is remarkable. Fantastic. Fascinating. Detailed almost beyond belief. This is without a doubt the most comprehensive volume on a single experimental aircraft type that I have ever read, and considering the fact that I've been a voracious reader of books on aviation technology since 1962, that's saying a lot.

First of all - this book, produced by Specialty Press, is a beautiful example of the printer's art. It is remarkably well-manufactured, well-designed and well laid-out. The balance of color and B&W photography, graphs and charts and line drawings - and text, reams of informative text - is a classic example of what an aviation-technology book ought to be about.

If you have any interest in the B-70, this book is for you. However, if you DON'T have any interest in the B-70, this book is still for you - it absolutely will change your mind about the Valkyrie. I know. Before I got a review copy of Valkyrie from Specialty, I never really cared much for this failed exercise in creating a high-speed manned bomber. I'd seen the cine-film shots of the plane's fatal crash on a test flight, and viewed the B-70 Valkyrie as a tragic technological "bridge too far," one that cost the lives of brave men, yet led nowhere. Besides, as a modeler, I could hardly get too interested in an aircraft that had basically one marking scheme during its too short test career. It never flew combat, never carried squadron markings or nose art, never flew in camouflage - or even bare metal. It was white, dull, unadorned - a failure.

Wrong! Oh, sure, the plane flew in one basic marking scheme. But it still offers modelers a lot of opportunities for creating something distinctive. The Valkyrie flew so fast that the paint burnt off, leaving the plane looking like it had a bad case of acne. The Valkyrie landed at such high speed that burnt-up tires were a constant companion, offering modelers interesting vignette/diorama possibilities - the famous (at least famous among B-70 fans) "tip-toe" landing just begs for a diorama. This plane had more than it's share of landing incidents, including a near-disaster on it's maiden flight - all of which could be modeled. And that's just the beginning.

The Valkyrie went through more provisional designs - many of them visionary, others nothing short of bizarre - than you can shake a large-sized stick at, and this exceptional book covers them all, with line drawings, photos of desktop models, and remarkably informative text. I literally had no idea just how fascinating the development of this Superbomber really was, but this book was enough to open my eyes.

The B-70 was not an aircraft developed in isolation - a series of Mach 3 fighters were created in lock-step; none went into production, but when you see these sleek machines and marvel at their performance, you've got to wonder why. In addition, the Valkyrie was planned to be more than "just" a multi-sonic strategic bomber. Designers saw it as a launch vehicle for the X-15 rocket plane, for nuclear-armed ICBMs, for manned Gemini spacecraft and for low-earth-orbit satellites. And that was just for starters. However, no matter how remarkable the aircraft was (and it was VERY remarkable) the Valkyrie ultimately fell victim, first to the potential threat from Soviet SAM missile technology such as the SA-2 that shot down a high-flying U-2 spy plane, and more directly to the dubious management style and budget-cutting talents of President Kennedy's Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara. This is the man who also gave us the botched TFX program ... and, perhaps coincidentally, the man who finally admitted that he lied to Congress and the American people about Tonkin Gulf in order to "justify" an aggressive war in Vietnam, a war that cost American 58,000 fighting men to no good purpose.

While it's a shame that the Valkyrie didn't become operational - this is a conclusion I reached after reading the book - McNamara's budget-cutting decision that killed the B-70 is a minor issue compared to this once-respected Secretary of Defense's blood-soaked dishonesty over Vietnam. If McNamara ever made a good decision as Secretary of Defense, I'm not aware of it. Killing off what was arguably the most remarkable aircraft developed to that time is merely an example of the kinds of bad decisions McNamara made while serving under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.

Almost none of this political rant is in the book - I just have strong feelings about McNamara's lies and the blood-price America paid for his misguided decisions - but his impact on the B-70 is noted. No matter how you feel about McNamara - or Vietnam - set that aside and enjoy this book. It's about technology, not politics, and it's perhaps the most stellar book on a single airplane I've ever seen.

I generally skim review books - except those that really zero in on my areas of personal interest. This should have been a "skim-job" - but instead, I invested an entire weekend reading it from cover to cover in one giant gulp. Sleep? Who needs it!

Unless I haven't made it clear, I cannot recommend this book too highly. From every perspective - text, illustrations, design, even printing - this is an exceptional book and well worth your investment in time and dollars.

One of the few books that really cover the XB-70, an airplane that was cancelled after two prototypes were built in Palmdale during the early 1960's. The F-108 Rapier was killed before even a prototype could be built. I was thre when the XB-70 made its first flight and worked at NASA when they used it for a test bed. It was a shame that the plane was terminated when short sighted people thought that iw would be vulnerable to a SAM like the U-2. Since it was capable of Mach 3 flight, sustained ( just like the SR-71 which was never really threatened though many attempts were made to shoot them down). It was an awesome aircraft to see and I was lucky to have found this book which I recommend to anyone that wants to know more about this truly great aircraft. It was a shame the aircraft number two was destroyed when it was on a General Electric photo flight when NASA pilot Joe Walker's F-104 sheared off the XB-70's tail during a mid-air.

In all the years of interest in this aircraft, this is the first book where I have seen photos of the cockpit, and even detailed diagrams of same. It looks similar to the B-52 cockpit, which I flew for 24 years. Best documented book ever on the B-70.

This book is more than a book about the valkyrie, it is about many of the advanced aerospace concepts that took place during the mid 50's to mid 60's. It talks about nuclear propulsion and the politics behind the valkyrie.

The book has great content and would receive a 5 star rating if it weren't for the crappy editing. In one chapter the last sentence isn't even finished and in another section a sentence is repeated from one page to the next. I thought this would be the end of the errors but, oh no, it goes on. There is actually a duplicate paragraph on the SAME PAGE! Overall it reads like a draft, you find yourself meandering through thoughts over and over. It could be consolidated and much more concise.

Oh, I wrote to the publisher expressing my disappointment and got no response ...

Bottom Line:
5 stars for content, 1 star for editing = average 3 stars...

With any theatre of war in the past century, control of the air has been paramount to ultimate success on the battlefield. The resulting aviation arms race has been one of continuous, non-stop technological innovation. One such sterling example is the high-altitude rapid response bomber aircraft such as North American Aviation's XB-70A Valkyrie. Co-authored by military aviation experts Dennis R. Jenkins and Tony R. Landis, "Valkyrie: North American's Mach 3 Superbomber" showcases an aircraft that flew just 164 times, but was so spectacular in its concept and execution that it became an iconic example of what was technologically possible, only to be scuttled by the political and fiscal conditions that dominated the 1960s. Profusely illustrated with 100 color and 500 black-and-white photographs, "Valkyrie" provides a superbly detailed history of this remarkable and impressive aircraft, making it a highly prized and enthusiastically recommended addition to personal, community, and academic library Military Aviation History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.