Forum: Technology

I watched a show on the XB-70 and was interested in how compression lift was used on the plane. My question is why did no other plane attempt to use the same principle?

Was it because of:

1. Cost
2. Complex design
3. Only good at Mach 3
4. Non-stealthy
5. Not as efficient as simpler designs (delta wing)

I thought it was going to flip over on its back when I watched the film of it taking off at Edwards.

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"North American engineers pored through every aerodynamic study they could find, looking for anything that could be applied to a large, triplesonic bomber. They came across a forgotten NACA (now NASA) research paper about "Compression Lift." This paper described how a conical body underneath the center of a wing would push the air to the side, increasing pressure under the wing section (thereby increasing lift!) "
http://www.labiker.org/xb70.html

Stealth was not an issue because there was nothing that could catch this monster at the time. She had the most unique bomb bay door system I have ever seen. The door slide back like a garage door on tracks. The bomb bay was huge, looks like an open cavern when standing underneath. The only one I have ever seen larger than the XB-70 was the B-36, but even the B-36 was not as wide only taller.
Anyone who has the chance to visit the AF Museum at Wright Patterson should take the opportunity to see this amazing bird.

Elite 1K Joined: Aug 19, 2004 - 09:19 AM Posts: 1092

Do a search on google for "waverider" in the context of aircraft/aerodynamics. That may shed some more light on the subject.