In article ,
John Szalay wrote:
=
= AND in Chuck Yeager's opinion:
= an accident that should not have happened.
= the F-104 driver was NOT a good enough formation pilot to be
= in that formation.
=
= "Yeager"
= page 179

A reasonable description of the accident can be found he

http://www.thexhunters.com/xpeditions/xb-70a_accident.html

The wikipedia entry on the XB-70 gives some interesting additional
detail on possible reasons for the crash:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XB-70_Valkyrie

Though this was an experimental program managed by North American, the
United States Air Force conducted its own accident investigation. The
Air Force Summary Accident Report[17] found that, given the position of
the F-104 relative to the XB-70, the F-104 pilot would not have been
able to see the XB-70's wing, except via looking back over his left
shoulder. This position would not have been comfortable for extended
periods of time. The Accident Report concluded that Walker, piloting the
F-104, likely maintained his position by looking at the fuselage of the
XB-70, forward of his position. The Report estimated that the F-104 was
70 ft to the side of, and 10 feet below, the fuselage of the XB-70. In
addition, the Report found that from that position, there would be no
suitable alignment points to maintain a precise position relative to the
Valkyrie. Given this supporting evidence, the Report concluded that due
to the unavailability of appropriate sight cues, Walker was unable to
properly perceive his motion relative to the Valkyrie, leading to his
aircraft drifting into contact with the XB-70's wing.

Excellent summary of the entire XB-70 program he

http://www.afa.org/magazine/june2006/0606valkyrie.asp

There is now a huge amount of information about this aircraft on the
web and some of it presents more than just speculation or opinion.

OIV

--
Orlando Quattro -- oquattro at magma dot ca
The Starving Artist's Garratt