bl@hplabsb.UUCP (Bruce T. Lowerre) (09/10/84)
I tried to post this once before but don't know if it made it to the net. The XB-70 was made of titanium honeycomb. The original fuel was an exotic aeromatic hydorcarbon that had a high heat content. I'm not sure why it was dropped, but it was either not cost-effective or it dissolved the rubber in the fuel system. The crash of the prototype was due to a mid-air collision with a fighter during formation flight for publicity photos. The entire collision and crash was filmed (good publicity!). The plane that struck the vertical stabilizer on the bomber was flow by Jimmy Walker who earned his astronaut wings by flying the X-15 above 50 miles altitude. Walker was killed but the crew of the XB-70 bailed out safely. What killed the B-70 project was the ICBM concept. Why use a vulnerable manned bomber that requires 2 hours to reach its target when at the push of a botton, the bomb can be dropped from outer space within a half hour?