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The North American XB-70 Valkyrie was America’s and the USAF’s very first supersonic March 3 heavy bomber. In this show we present two historic USAF publicity films from 1964 the production and rollout and first test flights of this amazing aircraft, which was so far ahead of its time.

The first film presents the factory rollout of aircraft number one on May 11, 1964, and we are presented with the magnificent appearance of this sleep, giant supersonic bomber. She weighed 542,000 pounds and was 189 feet from nose to tail with a 105 foot wingspan, towering 30 feet above the ground at the top of her rear vertical fins.

The film also presents the XB-70s first flight on September 21, 1964, as she released her brakes on the runway for the first time to power down the runway with her all white paint job gleaming in the sunshine, and then easily climbing into the air. The film presents many interesting facts about the XB-70 as her test pilots discuss many of the aircraft’s impressive features and initial teething problems.

The XB-70 is put through a demanding series of test flights including riding its own supersonic shock and breaking the sound barrier. The sight of the 6,300 square foot delta wing bomber inflight performing various tests is more than impressive, as is the articulating outer main wing sections, which can be folded downward inflight to maximize directional stability of the aircraft. The crew explain what it was like to fly the XB-70 at supersonic speeds, as it was a very highly advanced aircraft for the mid 1960s.

Only two examples of the North American XB-70 Valkyries were actually built. Very sadly, one of the two crashed the result of a mid-air collision with the USAF chase plane during flight testing, while the surviving example permanently resides at the famous Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) in Dayton, Ohio.