Aeronautics: Flight of the Sea Serpent

The long, subtly curving fuselage, the strange little canard wing tacked on near the nose, the great, boxlike maw of the engine air intakes have all combined to earn North American’s XB-70A the mildly derisive nickname, “Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent.” But as it taxied out onto the runway at Palmdale, Calif., last week, Cecil seemed to come alive with new dignity. That single plane designed to cruise at three times the speed of sound may be all that is left of the Air Force dream of big supersonic manned bombers, but all by itself it is a triumph of technology. It marks a significant advance in the construction of swift and heavy aircraft.

Smooth Landing. Five chase planes circled overhead and two helicopters hovered solicitously, as the B70 began the take-off roll for its first cautious flight. Just 33 seconds after Chief Test Pilot Al White released the brakes, Cecil was airborne, climbing steeply. The stiltlike forward landing gear retracted properly, but the main wheel gear jammed, halfway up. Pilot White put the wheels down again and switched to an alternate flight plan. There was no hope now of passing the speed of sound on the first try; supersonic flight is not for airplanes with wheels dangling.

White turned north toward the vast dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base at 375 m.p.h. and circled cautiously. He climbed to 16,000 ft. and his strange craft handled well at unnaturally slow speeds. Then an indicator showed that one of the six engines was overspeeding; White had no choice but to shut that engine off. He flew through a simulated landing while still aloft, then curved into the landing pattern and touched down smoothly.

Locked Wheels. Suddenly, the thin trail of purple smoke that billows behind the tires of swift-landing jets turned to a dense cloud pierced by a long tongue of flame. Fire engines screamed to the rescue, but the flame died out harmlessly. A brake had locked the left rear wheels; friction against the runway had rasped the tires down to the rims and ignited the rubber.

Such troubles are almost expected on a radically new ship, and this was the first flight of the heaviest and most complex plane ever built. “I am delighted with the way it went,” said White. “We had some malfunctions, but that’s why I’ve got a job. If you don’t have malfunctions, you don’t need test pilots.”

Now there will be many other cautious flights before the B70 starts its lifework: exploring the swarming problems of a Mach 3 airliner. And if such a passenger plane ever goes into service, much of the credit will goto the technological innovations that were first tested by Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent.