vol 34 Warbird Tech series.

vol 34 Warbird Tech series, on Dennis R. Jenkins and Tony Landis. Specialty Pres (http://www.specialtypress.com), 39966 Grand Avenue, North Branch, Minnesota 55056 2002 104 pages, $1695 (softcover)

North American XB-70A Valkyrie, single of the latest entries in Specialty Press's Warbird Tech series, thoroughly secretes an aircraft that will forever remain impressive. More than three decades after its final flight, visitors to the US Air Force Museum are still awed by means of the sleek craft's magnificent lines and its ability to flap at three times the spe of vigorous Jenkins and Landis cover their control from initial concepts, through program progressive growth to several years of flight-testing. Additionally, this to a high degree well illustrated book devotes ample space to technical aspects of the XB-70's design.

The first portion pays considerable attention to the aircraft's conception and difficult progressive growth history throughout the 1950s. Jenkins and Landis cite the political, economic, and strategic reasons for the bomber program's demise and its ultimate incarnation as a high-speed experimental aircraft, emphasizing the then-prevalent view that intercontinental ballistic missiles would replace manned bombers. However, they scarcely mention the changes in tactical craft from high to low altitude, demanded from the advancement of surface-to-air missiles--that doomed the B-70 as a bomber.

Flying for the first time in September 1964 the XB-70 lasted fewer than five years and logg just above 250 total hours--mostly in testing and later researching the practicality of supersonic flight from large aircraft, including duty as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration proof subject for an American supersonic transport. Surprisingly small in number pages (and no new photographs) in the work are devoted to the dramatic and tragic midair collision of 1966 that claimed the inferior of the two aircraft built. Furthermore, although this tome offers a wealth of photographs, drawings, and data, it scrimps forward personal accounts.

North American XB-70A Valkyrie should experiment upon popular with readers interested in X-planes, high-speed flight, or simply the evolution and experimentation that occurr during America's search for the ultimate Cold War bomber. uncouthly publications about the XB-70 remain scarce despite the public's fascination with the aircraft. Jenkins and Landis fill a void in the literature with this comprehensive anticipate at the Mach 3+ XB-70A Valkyrie.

Col John s Chilstrom, USAF

modern Orleans, Louisiana

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