On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:36:02 GMT, "HEMI-Powered" wrote:

Greg Farr added these comments in the current discussion du jour
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Attachment decoded: Great Egret landing 2.jpg
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Attachment decoded: XB-70.jpg

I see your point, Greg, but the XB-70 is just a tad bigger! grin
I remember looking at the one then outside of the Wright-Patterson
AFB USAF Museum, circa 1986 or so. What a huge but beautiful bird!
Not being a military aircraft guru at all, I never learned why the
XB-70 was never developed or even tested beyond (I think) only 2
prototypes, but then, a lot of aircraft and other weapons never get
developed or have a very short life.

Hello,
By the time she was ready to fly, her speed and altitude capabilities
were insufficient to protect her from the, by then, improved Soviet
surface-to-air missile capabilities. Additionally, the costs of
production and operation were deemed excessive. Yes, only two were
built, but the second crashed during testing, taking with her co-pilot
Carl Cross and chase pilot Joe Walker.