North American XB-70A Trading Card by themindseye

Last crawled date: 3 years, 1 month ago

North American XB-70A Trading Card
A Supersonic Bomber That Ruled the World’s Skies for a Couple of Years
In mid 1964, the entire aviation industry gasped in total disbelief. Rolling out of a gigantic hanger at the North American Aviation’s Los Angeles Division (Palmdale, CA) was a gigantic gloss white delta winged airplane. Disbelief turned to astonishment when North American declared that this aircraft was a United States Air Force strategic bomber. Even more incredible, this was no ordinary bomber, this was a supersonic bomber. This was the XB-70A Valkyrie. And North American built two of them.
The appropriately censored technical specifications for the XB-70A released by North American offered a tantalizing glimpse into the possible future of aircraft design. Sporting a delta-shaped wingspan of 105-feet, the XB-70A with its six General Electric YJ-93 engines had a speed of Mach 3+ (i.e., that’s three times faster than the speed of sound) at an altitude of 70,000 – 80,000 feet! In spite of having a gross weight exceeding 500,000 pounds, the XB-70A boasted a range of “intercontinental” distance. In other words, leave the KC-135A aerial refueling tankers at home. Somewhere in Strategic Air Command Headquarters at Offutt AFB, a combat aviator stated that ‘… this was the bomber pilot’s dream aircraft… enemy antiaircraft artillery (AAA) couldn’t touch it, enemy interceptors couldn’t catch it, in fact, even the proverbial ‘Golden BB’ couldn’t harm this bomber.’
In June 1966, one of the two XB-70As crashed and was destroyed following a midair collision with an F-104. Only the pilot of the XB-70 survived the accident. The second XB-70 was decommissioned from it flight test program and donated to the National Museum of the United States Air Force located as Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, OH. This strategic supersonic survivor is currently on display at this museum.
Make your own single-print trading card featuring the monstrous XB-70A. Collect ‘em; trade ‘em; print, insert (in an envelope), and mail ‘em to any aviation fan; or, print a small aerial fleet of ‘em for ruling the skies over your keyboard.
The Model
This model has been designed to print on any 3D printer with a 6-x 6-inch build bed. If you elect to build this model, rather than collect and trade it, the recommended cement for construction is Testors Cement for Plastic Models (#3501). Maybe include a small tube of this cement with your collectible trading card when giving it to a friend?
The included decals sheet is printed and affixed to the upper side of the delta wing. A glue stick can be used for attaching the decals. Furthermore, you may wish to use the glue stick for attaching the fuselage and rudders to the paper decal. Otherwise, plastic cement can ooze and stain the paper decals.
Once all of the parts have been snipped free of the card’s framing/holding sprue, assembly is very straightforward. The large delta wing holds the engine bay slung underneath, while the twin rudders straddle the elongated two-piece fuselage. The scale for this model is roughly 1:516.
There is a small stand for displaying your bomber flying across your desktop. If you discover that your XB-70 model is nose heavy, add the ID plate to the front of the lower engine intake. This addition will prop the aircraft up and make a nice display set.
Enjoy.
A Request
Oh, and if you’d like to help support my 3D projects, you should consider purchasing a copy of my newest book, “Something’s Funny in the Air.” This is a satirical romp through history that is intended for mature audiences.
You can purchase your very own paperback copy of “Something’s Funny in the Air” on Amazon.com:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0875F7WS3
And you can purchase a digital copy of “Something’s Funny in the Air” for your Kindle (both device and App): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0872HHWQH
The retail price = $5.95 for paperback.
The retail price = $5.95 for Kindle version.
Finally, you can read all about me on my author page: amazon.com/author/daveprochnow
Thank you.