{"id":13274066,"date":"2026-08-17T16:57:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/xb-70-valkyrie-f-104-midair-collision-1966\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T16:58:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:58:02","slug":"xb-70-valkyrie-f-104-midair-collision-1966","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/xb-70-valkyrie-f-104-midair-collision-1966\/","title":{"rendered":"The Publicity Photo That Killed the Valkyrie"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<p>It was supposed to be a photograph. Five gleaming aircraft, all powered by the same company&rsquo;s engines, tucked into tight formation over the California desert for a publicity shot. Twenty minutes later, two of them were falling out of the sky, and two of America&rsquo;s finest pilots were dead.<\/p>\r\n<p>The centerpiece of that formation was the most magnificent aircraft the United States ever built and never used: the North American XB-70 Valkyrie.<\/p>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A bomber from the future<\/h2>\r\n<p>The Valkyrie was conceived in the 1950s as a Mach 3 nuclear bomber &mdash; a white, six-engined delta the size of an airliner that would streak across the Soviet Union faster than any interceptor could climb. By 1961 surface-to-air missiles and cheaper ICBMs had made the idea obsolete, and the bomber program was cancelled before a single Valkyrie flew. Two were finished anyway, as research aircraft. They remain among the most beautiful machines ever to leave the ground.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img data-opt-id=1672242540  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:z4Qs.cd2f\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/xb-70-valkyrie-mach-3.jpg\" alt=\"The North American XB-70 Valkyrie in flight\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The XB-70 Valkyrie could cruise at Mach 3. Two were built; both became research aircraft after the bomber program was cancelled. US Air Force photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<p>The first Valkyrie reached Mach 3 in October 1965. The second, on the morning of 8 June 1966, had just finished a series of test runs when it joined a formation for General Electric &mdash; which had built the engines of all five jets and wanted an advertisement.<\/p>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The formation<\/h2>\r\n<p>Alongside the Valkyrie flew a T-38 Talon, an <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/aerei\/f-4-phantom-ii\/\">F-4 Phantom II<\/a>, an F-5, and a NASA <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/aerei\/f-104-starfighter\/\">Caccia stellare F-104<\/a> flown by one of the greatest test pilots alive, Joe Walker. At the controls of the Valkyrie were North American&rsquo;s chief pilot Al White and Major Carl Cross, on his first flight in the type. What none of them fully understood was that the XB-70&rsquo;s drooped wingtips trailed an invisible tornado &mdash; a wake vortex &mdash; strong enough to swat another aircraft from the sky.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7NYPWip7H2g\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>Walker&rsquo;s F-104 drifted too close. The vortex flipped it up and over the top of the Valkyrie, where it struck the twin tails and exploded.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px;border-radius:8px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:18px\">Informazioni rapide<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px;line-height:1.8\"><li><strong>Aeromobili:<\/strong> North American XB-70A Valkyrie (second airframe), a Mach 3 research aircraft<\/li><li><strong>Data:<\/strong> 8 June 1966, over the Mojave Desert, California<\/li><li><strong>Causa:<\/strong> a NASA F-104 caught in the XB-70&rsquo;s wingtip wake vortex, collided with its tails<\/li><li><strong>Ucciso:<\/strong> F-104 pilot Joe Walker; XB-70 co-pilot Maj. Carl Cross<\/li><li><strong>Sopravvissuto:<\/strong> XB-70 pilot Al White, who ejected in the capsule with a crushed arm<\/li><li><strong>The photo:<\/strong> a General Electric engine-publicity shoot<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Al White&rsquo;s ten seconds<\/h2>\r\n<p>For a moment, White did not even know it was his aircraft in trouble. Then the Valkyrie began to roll, yawed violently, and fell into a flat spin. He fought to reach the ejection capsule as his arm jammed in its clamshell doors. When he finally fired out, the world went silent.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;Suddenly it was very quiet. Then there was a big whoosh as the airplane went by just below me in a spin. I thought the next time around it might get me, but my parachute opened, and the airplane dropped away.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Al White<\/strong> &mdash; XB-70 pilot, North American Aviation<\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>White survived, though his landing in the capsule felt, in his words, like &ldquo;a metal garbage can full of bricks landing on a concrete sidewalk.&rdquo; Carl Cross never got out. Only later did White piece together what had happened.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #d32f2f;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;The F-104 crashed into the Valkyrie&rsquo;s twin vertical tails and exploded. Walker was killed instantly. The XB-70 was left with no directional control or stability. For reasons unknown, Carl did not eject.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Al White<\/strong> &mdash; recalling the collision, NAA Retiree Bulletin, 1996<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EDze-NIz3Qs\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The invisible killer<\/h2>\r\n<p>In 1966 the danger of wake turbulence behind a large aircraft was barely appreciated. The collision helped change that; today, spacing behind &ldquo;heavy&rdquo; aircraft is a basic rule of the sky, taught to every airline pilot. The surviving Valkyrie flew research missions for a few more years and now rests, gleaming and enormous, in the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img data-opt-id=1378824838  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:z4Qs.cd2f\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/xb-70-valkyrie-formation.jpg\" alt=\"The XB-70 Valkyrie, one of only two built\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The surviving XB-70 flew on as a research aircraft and is now preserved at the National Museum of the US Air Force. US Air Force photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TV5AFRAq2tc\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>The Valkyrie never dropped a bomb, never fought an enemy, never entered service. It is remembered for a single terrible morning &mdash; and for being, right to the end, the most beautiful aircraft that never was.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:italic;color:#777;font-size:14px;margin-top:24px\">Sources: The Aviation Geek Club; Al White&rsquo;s account in the NAA Retiree Bulletin (1996); John Fredrickson, &ldquo;North American Aviation in the Jet Age&rdquo;; National Museum of the US Air Force.<\/p>\r\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Post correlati<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/xb-70-valkyrie-vs-sukhoi-t4-sotka-mach-3-bomber-comparison\/\">XB-70 Valkyrie vs Sukhoi T-4: The Mach 3 Bomber Duel That Never Was<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/xf-108-rapier-mach-3-interceptor-cancelled\/\">The XF-108 Rapier: The Mach 3 Interceptor That Never Was<\/a><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was supposed to be a photograph. Five gleaming aircraft, all powered by the same company&rsquo;s engines, tucked into tight formation over the California desert for a publicity shot. Twenty minutes later, two of them were falling out of the sky, and two of America&rsquo;s finest pilots were dead. The centerpiece of that formation was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":13273646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13274066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>XB-70 Valkyrie: The Photo Flight That Killed It<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On 8 June 1966 a NASA F-104 was caught in the XB-70 Valkyrieu2019s wake vortex and collided with the Mach 3 bomber. 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