The North American XB-70 Valkyrie Mach 3 bomber prototype had individual encapsulated seats. A 1966 mid-air collision proved the system only partially adequate, with one pilot killed when his seat did not retract into its capsule, and the second pilot injured when the capsule shell closed on his arm (delaying full closure) and the capsule's ...

The XB-70 Valkyrie Bomber by North American Aviation/Rockwell was equipped with an escape capsule for each of the two man crew. Al White, a NAA test pilot shown above, was saved by one of the capsules during the infamous mid-air collision mishap.

North American Chief Test Pilot Al White pictured with an XB-70A ejection seat. White made the most XB-70A flights, 67, including piloting AV-1 on its Mach 3 flight in October 1965.

The North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie is a retired prototype version of the planned B-70 nuclear -armed, deep-penetration supersonic strategic bomber for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command.

Another major system created by NAA/Rockwell was the XB-70 ejection capsule. This was an ejection seat with a two piece clamshell covering which came together to protect the aircrewman against the extremes of altitude and airspeed that the XB-70 Valkyrie could reach.

The encapsulated ejection seat of the B-70 weapon system provides both shirtsleeve occupancy of the air vehicle in normal flight and immediate abandonment in emergency.

Jun 7, 2020 · Don Mallick, who would later fly the XB-70 himself, had just returned from a weather check flight in F-104N NASA 812 when he noticed two columns of black smoke east of Edwards.

Dec 10, 2024 · The XB-70 was operated by a four-man crew comprised of a pilot (and aircraft commander), co-pilot, bomb and navigation officer, and defensive systems officer. Incredibly, the cabin was designed to provide each crew member with an “encapsulated ejection seat” that would enclose around them to provide pressurized oxygen for the descent from ...

It was designed specifically to protect a pilot against a supersonic, high altitude ejection which would have almost certainly been fatal using a conventional ejection seat. The system was used on both the B-58 and XB-70 aircraft.

In-flight accessibility to electronics equipment, a shirt-sleeve environment for the crew, and encapsulated seats for crew ejection at speeds up to Mach 3 and at altitudes above 70,000 feet.