B 70a News Today

Initially, the XB-70 designers employed what was known as the “brute force concept,” which conceived of carrying as much fuel as possible for long-range subsonic flights – and of using an aerodynamic shape that was crafted for high-performance sprints.

The first XB-70A – which is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force – first flew in from Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, to Edwards Air Force Base in September 1964, with Chief Test Pilot Alvin S. White and Colonel Joseph F. Cotton, U.S. Air Force, at the controls.

The XB-70 was built for a war with Russia. The plane, however, had too many problems ever to join the U.S. Air Force.