Posted on 03/13/2008 5:37:53 PM PDT by Renfield
Thanks for prompting me to do a little hunting for XB-70 info.
Even if it’s from Wikipedia, I do like the first photo they have of
the XB-70 flying over rocky mountains...looks like a futuristic
spaceship cruising some desolate, rocky moon.
Here’s a link to the full resolution version of the photo
(WARNING: pretty big image for dial-up users!)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/North_American_XB-70_in_Flight_EC68-2131.jpg
Bush flew the F 104. The one in the picture looks like a bigger plane to me, maybe the F106 delta dart.
Yep—not just tooling. All of the design and development costs, infrastructure, training, etc. Congress and DOD need a basic lesson in economic ordering quantity. Building 20 of just about anything is bound to be expensive. IIRC, the cost of the B-2, had they built the initial quantity they planned (120?) was twice the cost of a 747 (that had a much higher production rate).
How about we just nuke the camel jockeys and the chicoms and then we wouldn’t need them,
Their wings have all been broken off.
Bush flew the F-102A Delta Dagger. The F-106 Delta Dart is similar, a later version.
The F-104 was a Strafighter—basically a missile with stubby wings and a high tail.
LOL..A musician,eh?...that’s the first thing that came to my mind ,too.
Strafighter = Starfighter for the F-104.
I Googled XB-70 Valkryie photos, and this photo was one of them.
The chase plane pictured is a TB-58A trainer. This is the B-58 Hustler bomber, a delta wing bomber that came out in the late fifties, and the chase plane is the trainer version.
The B-58 was a large plane, and the B-70 made it look like a fighter!
You beat me by like nine seconds. Thanks for posting the photo with the caption. I’m not skilled in doing that.
I used to love the B-58 Hustler. One of my favorite models as a kid.
"How about [Americans] just nuke the camel jockeys and the chicoms and then [Americans] wouldn’t need them,"
Because that would be genocide and murder? And eventually another enemy would rise up anyway, and there would once again be a need for them.
(You probably weren't actually proposing a nuclear holocaust, but the comment was pretty stupid).
President Bush flew the F-102 Delta Dart in the TX ANG.
The chase plane appears to be a B-58 Hustler. the B-58 was used as chae for several of XB-70 flights IIRC
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
If they also made it a space delivery vehicle and replacement for the shuttle, this would be a real hit.
No, Bush flew the 106 in an ADC unit.
I don’t understand the need for a heavy bomber. Instead of paying 5 to 10 times the price of an F-22, build the extra F-22s instead. You end up with more flexibility and more bomb load.
102, my bad.
That depends on what threat needs bombing. The B-52 is a great old bird, with emphasis on OLD. She's as big as a barn, literally, on radar.
Let's see, what RCS did I use for the BUFF...well I think Big as a Barn, is close enough. Something like 1,000 sq. meters.
Which one was the widow-maker? I remember getting a copy of Jane’s Aircraft of the world in 1963 which showed the Valkyrie and the SR-71. I remember thinking how cool they were. Amazing how far ahead of the times those planes were. I grew up believing that we would be flying to London in 2 hours and make it to CA in just under two. Guess it is still ahead of its times.
My spelling has always been atrocious
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