#Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

[kolkena]

Hocking Hills. Went here with some friends from my WMGT 101 class.

[historyofguns]

The article "North American XB-70 Valkyrie — America’s Cold War Supersonic Speed Bomber" by Friedrich Seiltgen, published on The Armory Life, discusses the history and development of the North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie, a planned supersonic strategic bomber for the United States Air Force. Intended to replace the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress and the Convair B-58 Hustler, the Valkyrie was designed during the Cold War to fly faster and higher, evading interceptor aircraft. The program, initiated in the mid-1950s, was ultimately canceled in 1961 due to advancements in Soviet surface-to-air missile technology and the rise of cost-effective Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). The article highlights the Valkyrie's ambitious design goals, including a proposed cruising speed of Mach 3 and an operational altitude of 70,000-75,000 feet. Despite the cancellation, two prototypes were built, contributing valuable data on supersonic flight, aerodynamics, and airplane propulsion. The Valkyrie program also faced a tragic incident in 1966 involving a collision with an F-104 Starfighter during a photo shoot, leading to the destruction of one prototype. The surviving XB-70 is now displayed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

[nerds-yearbook]

On December 17, 1969, the United States Air Force closed their "Project Blue Book" investigation of Unindentified Flying Objects. (SETI, event)

[usafphantom2]

Celebrating 60 Years of the XB-70 Valkyrie Mach 3 Super Bomber

September 16, 2024 Military Aviation

XB-70 60th anniversary

The lone XB-70 Valkyrie is photographed as it is moved to a new building at the Museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, on Oct. 27, 2015. Beginning in the late 1950s and continuing through the mid-1960s, tests were conducted at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn., headquarters of Arnold Engineering Development Complex, in support of the XB-70 program. The now-retired aircraft made its first flight on Sept. 21, 1964. (U.S. Air Force photo by Will Haas)

The experimental legacy of the iconic XB-70 Valkyrie, which made its first flight on Sept. 21, 1964.

An article published on the U.S. Air Force website commemorates the 60th anniversary of the first flight of the legendary XB-70 Valkyrie, a supersonic bomber that captured the imagination of aviation enthusiasts and engineers alike. Known for its sleek and futuristic design, the XB-70 remains a symbol of the experimental and ambitious spirit of Cold War-era aircraft development. Despite only two prototypes ever being built, the aircraft has left an indelible mark on military aviation history.

The XB-70 Valkyrie was originally conceived in the 1950s as a high-speed, high-altitude bomber for the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command. At a time when technological advancements were rapidly accelerating, the U.S. Air Force sought a bomber capable of flying faster and higher than the B-52 Stratofortress, its workhorse of the era (as well as the backbone of the strategic bomber fleet today and for some more decades in the future…).

With a planned cruise speed of Mach 3 and an operating altitude of 70,000 feet, the XB-70 promised to outpace and outmaneuver Soviet defenses, which were a growing concern during the Cold War.

One of the most remarkable features of the XB-70 was its ability to “ride” its own shockwave, a design innovation that allowed it to maintain stability and performance at supersonic speeds. The Valkyrie’s iconic delta wing, combined with six powerful jet engines, gave it an exotic and striking appearance, making it one of the most visually distinctive aircraft ever built. Its outer wing panels were hinged, allowing them to be lowered during flight to optimize the aerodynamic performance at high speeds.

The XB-70 looks like an alien spacecraft from this angle. (Image credit: USAF)

The article highlights the crucial role played by Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) in the development of the XB-70.

The testing of the Valkyrie’s engines, aerodynamics, and other key components began at Arnold Air Force Base in the late 1950s, well before the first prototype took shape. The AEDC’s facilities were instrumental in pushing the boundaries of what was possible in aviation at the time. One of the earliest tests involved the air-breathing engine nozzles proposed for the XB-70 in March 1958. This was followed by extensive wind tunnel testing of scale models of the Valkyrie, where the aerodynamic characteristics of bombs dropped from the aircraft were also studied.

A technician makes adjustments to a scale model of the XB-70 Valkyrie before aerodynamic characteristics related to the aircraft are evaluated in Tunnel A of the von Kármán Gas Dynamics Facility at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn., headquarters of Arnold Engineering Development Complex, in 1959. Beginning in the late 1950s and continuing through the mid-1960s, tests were conducted at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn., headquarters of Arnold Engineering Development Complex, in support of the XB-70 program. Only two Valkyries were built, with only one of the pair remaining. The now-retired aircraft made its first flight on Sept. 21, 1964. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Development continued into the early 1960s, with the YJ93 turbojet engines, designed specifically for the XB-70, undergoing rigorous testing at AEDC. These engines were critical to the Valkyrie’s ability to reach and maintain supersonic speeds. However, in 1961, before the first prototype was even completed, the bomber program was canceled due to budget constraints and concerns over the bomber’s vulnerability to Soviet surface-to-air missiles, which had rapidly advanced in capability.

Although the XB-70 bomber program was terminated, the Valkyrie found new life as a research aircraft.

Three drag chutes were needed to slow down the landing roll of the XB-70. (Image credit: Reddit edit The Aviationist)

The U.S. Air Force recognized the potential of the aircraft to serve in aerodynamics and propulsion research, particularly in the study of large supersonic aircraft. Consequently, two XB-70 prototypes were completed, and testing continued, including at AEDC, where a scale version of the XB-70 inlet, paired with a full-scale YJ93 engine, was tested in August 1962.

XB-70A number 1 (62-001) made its first flight from Palmdale to Edwards Air Force Base, CA, on Sept. 21, 1964. The second XB-70A (62-207) made its first flight on Jul. 17, 1965. The latter differed from the first prototype for being built with an added 5 degrees of dihedral on the wings as suggested by the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, wind-tunnel studies.

North American XB-70A Valkyrie on the taxiway with a cherry picker. Photo taken Sept. 21, 1964, the day of the first flight. Note: the left main landing gear brakes locked during the landing causing two tires to blow. (U.S. Air Force photo)

While the 62-001 made only one flight above Mach 3, because of poor directional stability experienced past Mach 2.5, the second XB-70, achieved Mach 3 for the first time on Jan. 3, 1966 and successfully completed a total of nine Mach 3 flights by June on the same year.

However, the Valkyrie program suffered a devastating setback in June 1966 when the second prototype was destroyed in a midair collision with an F-104N Starfighter during a photoshoot. This tragic accident resulted in the loss of key personnel and diminished the future prospects of the Valkyrie.

North American XB-70A Valkyrie just after collision. Note the F-104 is at the forward edge of the fireball and most of both XB-70A vertical stabilizers are gone. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Despite this setback, the remaining XB-70 continued to serve as a valuable research platform. In 1967, the U.S. Air Force transferred the aircraft to NASA, where it was used in support of the National Supersonic Transport (SST) program. NASA employed the XB-70 to investigate supersonic flight operations, but the SST program was eventually canceled in 1971, marking the end of America’s efforts to develop a commercial supersonic airliner.

The XB-70 Valkyrie’s final flight took place on Feb. 4, 1969, when it was flown to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. There, the aircraft was placed on display at what is now the National Museum of the United States Air Force, where it remains a testament to the audacious engineering and design of its era.

A view of the six massive afterburners on the XB-70 Valkyrie as the aircraft is towed out of its display hangar temporarily for museum maintenance. (Photo: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force via YouTube)

Though only two XB-70s were ever built, their legacy endures: the aircraft’s pioneering advancements in aerodynamics, engine performance, and high-speed flight helped shape the future of supersonic aviation.

Pilots who were to perform the first test flights for the XB-70 Valkyrie operate the YJ93 engine, the powerplant of the XB-70, while the engine is tested under simulated flight conditions in May 1964 in the Rocket Test Facility at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn., headquarters of Arnold Engineering Development Complex. This was done to help the pilots familiarize themselves with the performance characteristics of the engine prior to the first XB-70 flight, which occurred on Sept. 21, 1964. Beginning in the late 1950s and continuing through the mid-1960s, tests were conducted at Arnold AFB in support of the XB-70 program. Only two Valkyries were built, with only one of the pair remaining. (U.S. Air Force photo)

The first prototype made a total of 83 flights, amassing 160 hours and 16 minutes of flight time, while the second prototype completed 46 flights, totaling 92 hours and 22 minutes.

The XB-70 Valkyrie, with its daring design and groundbreaking capabilities, continues to captivate aviation enthusiasts and engineers. Its story, though short-lived in terms of operational use, highlights the relentless pursuit of innovation that defines the U.S. Air Force and its engineering partners. Sixty years after its first flight, the Valkyrie remains an iconic symbol of the bold ambitions of Cold War-era aviation.

XB-70 Night Take-off. (Photo via Air Force Materiel Command History Office)

About David Cenciotti

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

@TheAviationist.com

[aviationgeek71]

Brrrrrttt!

When you design a gun with wings... 😎

Fairchild Republic A-10A Thunderbolt that served in Operation Desert Storm, 1991. U.S. Air Force Museum, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. June 11, 2021.

By @aviationgeek71

[alex99achapterthree]

Pink airplanes ???

In another post we were talking about pink airplanes. Did you know that, once upon a time, THIS famous airplane...

the North American Aviation X-15 hypersonic research aircraft, was pink?

It was. I kid you not.

That's it. Really.

In order to go higher/faster and to protect the skin from extreme aerodynamic heating, the airframe was coated with Martin MA-25S ablative heat shield material. The most badass rocket airplane ever built was now PINK!

Now a perhaps-apocryphal account had it that one of the pilots refused to fly a pink airplane. True or not, that wasn't the plan anyway. The pink surface was prone to damage from spilled fuel, so it was given several coats of a white silicone to serve as a wear layer.

With the pink ablator discreetly hidden under the white outer coat, the X-15A-2 went on to reach its fastest speed ever of 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7). The special coating really didn't help and actually exacerbated damage caused by aerodynamic heating, and the aircraft came within minutes of breaking up from the damage. After repairs it was grounded and never flew again. Today, you can see it (minus the pink/white shell) at the U.S. Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

[obsidian-sphere]

1961 Ford Gyron Concept Car

The Ford Gyron was a futuristic two-wheeled gyrocar first shown to the world in 1961 at the Detroit Motor Show and designed by Syd Mead and McKinley Thompson. Like a motorcycle, one wheel was at the front and the other at the rear, and gyroscopes stabilized the car. The vehicle's two occupants were seated side by side, and when the vehicle was stationary, two small legs appeared from the sides to support it. The vehicle was created for research and marketing purposes, with no intention of putting it into production.

The gyroscopic system was based on Louis Brennan's theories and designed by Alex Tremulis, who started his career with the U.S. Air Force. In 1948, Tremulis worked at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base on the concept of Military Flying Saucers. He then became the chief designer for the ill-fated Tucker automobile before joining Ford. He was also involved with the Tuscan gyroscopic motorcycles and the Gyronaught XUI gyroscopic car.

The original fiberglass concept was destroyed in the Ford Rotunda fire of 1962. Only the studio model remains today, it was sold at an auction in December 2012 for $40,000. A second model was recently discovered in the collection of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles and displayed as part of the 2024 exhibition, "Eyes on the Road." [Source: Wikipedia]

[connectparanormal]

This supposed true story includes an interstellar alien police force named AFFA from 1959.

From the essay:

People have been interested in extraterrestrial life for a long time, which has led to many studies and theories. Navy Intelligence asked Robert Friend, acting as chief of the Aerial Phenomena Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, to investigate a mysterious finding on July 6, 1959. This essay examines what transpired during Friend’s investigation, the significance of the purported alien contact, and how this case aligns with the broader context of UFO research and other comparable cases.

[usaac-official]

YP-59A Mystic Mistress during an open house at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, 1947

[2inx4inx8inbrick]

NASA DC-8-700 N817NA and the Gulfstream 5 N95NA landing at Wright Patterson Air Force Base Dayton Ohio

Camera info: Nikon d5500, 70mm, f/5.6, iso 350

August 4th 2023

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

The Amps - Maxwell's, Hoboken, New Jersey, July 1, 1995

I was watching this recent video of the Breeders in Big Sur a couple weeks back — and however great it is (it's great!), it got me thinking about the Amps, the one-and-done mid-90s Kim Deal project. Kind of a weird moment for Kim. She had climbed to the top of the Alternative Nation after the release of Last Splash, opening for Nirvana, playing Lollapalooza, hitting the late-night talk shows, etc. But by 1995, she was blowing it all up and starting again. Kinda. Here's the rundown from a very 1990s Spin magazine cover story written by Charles Aaron way back when. Those were different times, kids!

Kind of sweet, kind of pathetic. That’s how Deal has viewed her life following Last Splash‘s surprising success, propelled by the Top 40 single “Cannonball,” one of the most unlikely mosh notes ever penned. What was meant to be a well-deserved rest for the band after opening Nirvana’s last national tour, headlining gigs with Luscious Jackson, and joining Lollapalooza during the summer of ’94, became a boring winter exile for Kim in her childhood home of Huber Heights, the planned community outside Dayton that thrived in the ’50s with the opening of Wright Patterson Air Force Base, where Kim’s dad worked as a physicist. Instead of catching up on laundry and bad TV, she learned to play drums, patched together a batch of songs, and agreed to help produce the next album by her drinking buddies Guided By Voices (of which her fiance and SPIN Senior Contributing Writer Jim Greer is now a member).

Meanwhile, the other Breeders were plenty busy. Jim Macpherson finally spent some time with his kids and renovated a new house. Bassist Josephine Wiggs fell in love (with Luscious Jackson drummer Kate Schellenbach) and out of the closet (courtesy of a November ’94 Advocate story titled “Luscious Lesbians”), eventually moving from London to New York to be near Schellenbach. Kelley Deal made the most publicized move, out of Kim’s place and into a nearby house where she was arrested in November for receiving an Emery Worldwide package containing heroin. Her trial is set for July. Considering the circumstances, Kim’s desire to record a solo album made more than a little sense, for everybody concerned.

Pacer, that "solo record," hit shelves in the fall of '95 and — compared to Last Splash, anyway — was fairly low-profile. But it's a killer album, and somewhat forgotten these days, I think? If Kim had just called it a Breeders record, people might be more aware, I don't know. Anyway! The Amps toured a bit in '95 (I saw 'em open for Sonic Youth that October), and here's a nice audience tape of the band at Maxwell's that summer, playing a bunch from their then-unreleased debut, alongside a rambunctious closing cover of the Tasties' "Like A Briar." Take a trip down to Tipp City ...

[captain-price-unofficially]

F-117s during their farewell ceremony at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, 22 April 2008

[aggravateddurian]

Guess who just got off the plane?

You might recognise Chet Reid from the Chorus AU. Now he (and his loud af tropical shirt) are in Brother's Shadow. Reid will be continuing his role as the best sniper in NC (reputation is arguable) and will be hanging out with Vicky and Trey.

A little bit about Chet:

Chet's parents were NUS Air Force, and he grew up primarily on Wright-Patterson ASFB (Aerospace Force Base), Ohio. As a kid, he and his friends would play hide and seek with the bored SFs on base (this practice was officially not endorsed by leadership, but it kept the kids occupied).

After finishing high school, he betrayed the family legacy and joined the Army. He served in the Unification War, but he quickly found himself having second thoughts about America. He developed a hatred of the NUSA as an institution and blamed Rosalind Myers for the death of his entire platoon (he left the Army as an E-7 Sergeant First Class), specifically, her policy of reunifying America, as a new form of imperialism that benefited nobody but Militech.

He's never really been able to return to civilian life. Rather than go to therapy for what is very likely PTSD, he became a mercenary. For a while, he worked with Vicky and Trey in Atlanta, but after that gig fell through, he took a gig overseas before returning to America. He flew to Night City and a reunion with Vicky and Trey.

[usafphantom2]

14 March 2018. Boeing B-17F-10-BO Flying Fortress 41-24485, “Memphis Belle,” at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

@ron_eisele via X

[petervintonjr]

Another MIT alum! Meet Carolyn Beatrice Parker, the first Black woman to earn a postgraduate degree in Physics. Born in 1917 Florida, Carolyn was one of six siblings who all attained some form of advanced science degree --to include mathematics and chemistry. Her father, Julius A. Parker, was himself a physician and was the second Black American to attain a Ph.D in business from Harvard. Encouraged by such an unusually dedicated family, Carolyn herself graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Fisk University in 1937, and then earned her Master's in mathematics from the University of Michigan in 1941. To fund her graduate studies, she taught physics and mathematics at a number of schools and universities in Florida and then in Virginia, but her career path would take an unusual detour once the United States entered World War II.

Between 1943 to 1947, Carolyn was recruited to the Dayton Project, one of the divisions of the Manhattan Project. Based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and spearheaded by the Monsanto Chemical Company, the Dayton Project is perhaps most famous for cracking the Enigma code, but the bulk of the project was primarily focused on extracting and developing polonium as the neutron initiator (detonator) for an atomic explosion. Parker's background in electronic testing and infrared spectroscopy made her an ideal fit despite the twin disadvantages of race and gender --while there were other women on the project, Carolyn was the only Black woman. According to her family the work was so top-secret that Parker couldn't discuss it with anyone --and in fact the details of her work remained classified until the late 1960's.

After the war Carolyn took a job as an Assistant Professor at her alma mater Fisk University, and then in 1952 she worked as a physicist attached to the geophysics research division at the Air Force Cambridge Research Center (Cambridge, Massachusetts). In 1953 Carolyn earned her second Master's in physics at MIT --the first Black woman to earn a postgraduate degree from that institution. [Abstract: Range distribution of 122 Mev (pi⁺) and (pi⁻) mesons in brass, Thesis (M.S.) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics, 1953]

Parker then completed and submitted her coursework for her Ph.D. --sadly she never got the opportunity to defend her doctoral dissertation as she was diagnosed with leukemia. Sustained exposure to polonium excretion during her time on the Dayton Project was almost certainly the root cause, and while workers on the Dayton Project had submitted to weekly tests for radiation exposure, the process was inexact --anecdotally one colleague wrote about Parker's "unruly hair," which may have become contaminated, as the head coverings at Dayton had been designed for the short, finer hair of white men. Parker died in 1966 at the age of 48 and her achievements were largely forgotten by history, until very recently.

In August of 2020, an elementary school in her hometown of Gainesville, Florida that had originally been named for a Confederate general, was formally (and unanimously) renamed by the Alachua County School Board as Beatrice Parker Elementary School.