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Boeing 737-400 vs. North American XB-70 Valkyrie -...
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Boeing 737-400 vs North American XB-70 Valkyrie - Comparison

Boeing 737-400
North American XB-70 Valkyrie
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Boeing 737-400

Boeing 737-400

The Boeing 737 Classic are narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the original Boeing 737-100/-200. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in February 1984 and entered service in December of that year. The stretched 737-400 first flew in February 1988 and entered service later that year The shortest variant, the 737-500, first flew in June 1989 and entered service in 1990. It is re-engined with higher bypass ratio CFM56 turbofans for a better fuel economy and has upgraded avionics. With a 133,500–150,000 lb (60.6–68.



0 t) MTOW, it has a range of 2,060 to 2,375 nmi (3,815 to 4,398 km). At 102 ft (31 m), the -500 is similar in length to the original 737-200 and can fly 110 to 132 passengers. The 110 ft (33.4 m) long -300 can seat 126 to 149 passengers while the 120 ft (36.4 m) long -400 accommodates 147 to 168 seats. It competed with the MD-80 family, then with the Airbus A320 which prompted Boeing to update its offer with the 737 Next Generation, thus designating the -300/400/500 variants the 737 classic. In total, 1,988 aircraft were delivered until the year 2000: 1,113 -300s, 486 -400s and 389 -500s.

Source: Wikipedia
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North American XB-70 Valkyrie

North American XB-70 Valkyrie

The North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie was the prototype version of the planned B-70 nuclear-armed, deep-penetration supersonic strategic bomber for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command. Designed in the late 1950s by North American Aviation (NAA), the six-engined Valkyrie was capable of cruising for thousands of miles at Mach 3+ while flying at 70,000 feet (21,000 m). At these speeds, it was expected that the B-70 would be practically immune to interceptor aircraft, the only effective weapon against bomber aircraft at the time. The bomber would spend only a brief time over a particular radar station, flying out of its range before the controllers could position their fighters in a suitable location for an interception. High speed also made the aircraft difficult to see on radar displays and its high-altitude and high-speed capacity could not be matched by any contemporaneous Soviet interceptor or fighter aircraft. The introduction of the first Soviet surface-to-air missiles in the late 1950s put the near-invulnerability of the B-70 in doubt. In response, the United States Air Force (USAF) began flying its missions at low level, where the missile radar's line of sight was limited by terrain.



In this low-level penetration role, the B-70 offered little additional performance over the B-52 it was meant to replace, while being far more expensive with shorter range. Other alternate missions were proposed, but these were of limited scope. With the advent of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) during the late 1950s, manned bombers were increasingly seen as obsolete. The USAF eventually gave up fighting for its production and the B-70 program was canceled in 1961. Development was then turned over to a research program to study the effects of long-duration high-speed flight. As such, two prototype aircraft, designated XB-70A, were built; these aircraft were used for supersonic test-flights during 1964–69. In 1966, one prototype crashed after colliding with a smaller aircraft while flying in close formation; the remaining Valkyrie bomber is in the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio.

Source: Wikipedia

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