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You know why I love this picture the most?

This was taken after the 4th flight, Mach 1.4 sustained for 40 minutes.

To hear the historians tell it,

Upon returning to Palmdale, engineers puzzled over why the Valkyrie had been shedding herself of paint on all but her first flight. Although not overly concerned, no one was especially happy with unexplainable things on a plane that was to test the limits of jet-powered flight! Although some observers wondered if the Air Force was being entirely truthful about the XB-70's top speed, it was finally determined that too-thick paint caused by several re-paintings (in order to pretty the plane up for various VIPs) was being cracked as the Valkyrie flexed in flight, and was then torn away by the airstream. During her winter stay at Plant 42, the XB-70 was carefully repainted with just a single, thin coat of white paint.

Here are the particulars:

Cruise Speed of Mach 3 (2,000mph)

Cruise Altitude of 70,000 feet

A "shirtsleeve" environment for the crew.

50,000 pound payload

A range of 7,500 miles

Sized such that existing runways, hangers, etc. that had already been built for the B-52 could be used without further modification.

Have flying characteristics suitable for use with average USAF line crewmen.

The reason I love this picture the most is that the pickup truck underneath is an early 60's model, and the people driving trucks like that were making planes like this.

Cheers.