SynerJet Virtual Rides Valkyrie to Historic First Flight

SynerJet Virtual, the virtual airline established by the Synergy ATC Academy (www.synergyatc.com) has recently become the first virtual airline to return the North American XB-70 Valkyrie to active service, utilizing the supersonic aircraft for its high-speed cargo and charter services division. The first flight for the SynerJet XB-70 originated from its home base at the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and terminated at the Princess Juliana International Airport on the Dutch side of the island of Saint Martin in the Caribbean some 1600 miles away. The flight, which operated at or above FL750 at over mach 3.2 took just a little over an hour to complete.

“We are very happy with the performance and capabilities the [XB-70] can offer to both our customer and our pilots,” said SynerJet Airline Manager James White, “this aircraft will hopefully bring a boost, not only to the airline’s profitability, but to pilot morale as well.” 

The North American XB-70 was conceived as an answer to the U.S. Strategic Air Command competition for a high-speed, deep-penetration, nuclear-capable delivery platform able to out-fly or outperform any known anti-aircraft weapons or aircraft of its day. Designed in the late 1950′s, the Valkyrie faced a multitude of obstacles from its inception and the program was eventually cancelled in favor of the cheaper intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program. Only two (2) XB-70′s were completed. Even after the bomber competition was cancelled, the fully-operational prototypes were used throughout the 60′s and 70′s to study high-speed aero- and thermodynamics and laid the groundwork for projects such as the Rockwell B-1 Lancer and Boeing SST.

The aircraft has a reported ceiling in excess of 77,000 feet at a cruising speed of more than 2,000 kias (mach 3+). Powered by six (6) General Electric YJ93-GE-3 engines, the Valkyrie’s engines were designed to use JP6 jet fuel; however, when the XB-70 program was cancelled, the JP6 standard was cancelled as well. Luckily, through the magic of VAFS, the aircraft now runs on standard ‘fuel’ significantly cutting its already high operating costs.

SynerJet Virtual is using the aircraft for high-speed, high-priority cargo, charging up to $1000.00 US per pound of cargo. “If we depart Singapore at 6:00 am local time,” explains SynerJet Airline Director Alex Garcia, “we can potentially deliver a package to Los Angeles at 6:00 pm- the previous day.” 

Pilots interested in flying the legendary aircraft should check out their website for more information.