A Pilot's Summary of XB-70 Flight Test Experience

The XB-70, the most advanced manned airplane being flown today, weighs over 500,000 lb at takeoff and is capable of speeds up to 2000 mph at 70,000 ft. Innovations of folding wing tips, a variable geometry air inlet duct, and elevons have been incorporated into the design for the control of an air vehicle of this size, weight, and speed/altitude envelope. These innovations have made flying this air vehicle a new experience.

This paper summarizes this experience in actual flight testing, and includes information gained in the low-speed regimes as well as in high Mach number flights.