Comments by "Big Blue" (@bigblue6917) on "Death of a Valkyrie: The 1966 XB-70 Midair Collision" video.

  1. The Soviet Union, Russia, knowing about the Valkyrie decided they needed an aircraft to intercept it and came up with the MiG 25. It started coming into service in 1965 while the XB 70 never went into service. So it was designed for a role which was no longer there. Like the XB 70. US Airforce intelligence found out about the MiG 25 but could find little information. They thought it was fast, they think one approached Israeli airspace doing Mach 3.2. and assumed it was manoeuvrable. When they finally got there hands on one, a Soviet pilot defected with one and landed in Japan, it did not live up to its billing. Turns out it was restricted to Mach 2.8 as any faster and it destroyed its own engines, which must been what made the one which approached Israel turn back and it had all the manoeuvrability of a brick. Because of the requirements for speed and the high temperatures it would reach the Soviets had to make most of it out of steel which made it very heavy and drank fuel like a drunk locked in a distillery.
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