Comments on: Atomic Planes (Aug, 1955) http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/31/atomic-planes/ Yesterday's tomorrow, today. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:33:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.4 By: Firebrand38 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/31/atomic-planes/comment-page-1/#comment-1078724 Firebrand38 Fri, 04 Jun 2010 20:44:27 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/?p=4520#comment-1078724 jayessell: Excellent stuff! I was able to find a reference to the Army's planned <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=CsW34SciarAC&pg=PA122&dq=nuclear+powered+tank&ei=f2IJTPbAGpeuzQTUnqDeCw&cd=2#v=onepage&q=nuclear%20powered%20tank&f=false" rel="nofollow">nuclear powered tank</a> from the fifties. I think it was a combination of things. The Eisenhower Administration only had money for nuclear defense projects, the Navy Nuclear propulsion program had to be met by responses from the Air Force & Navy. Not to mention they just didn't know any better. I look at the Army reorganizing the Ground Forces around tactical nuclear weapons as the default for future wars. That's what always used to crack me up about Army manuals, they still used the phrase "applicable for nuclear and non-nuclear warfare" as in nuclear war is the norm! The Fifties were a lot more than Ozzie and Harriet. jayessell: Excellent stuff! I was able to find a reference to the Army’s planned nuclear powered tank from the fifties.

I think it was a combination of things. The Eisenhower Administration only had money for nuclear defense projects, the Navy Nuclear propulsion program had to be met by responses from the Air Force & Navy. Not to mention they just didn’t know any better. I look at the Army reorganizing the Ground Forces around tactical nuclear weapons as the default for future wars. That’s what always used to crack me up about Army manuals, they still used the phrase “applicable for nuclear and non-nuclear warfare” as in nuclear war is the norm!

The Fifties were a lot more than Ozzie and Harriet.

]]> By: jayessell http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/31/atomic-planes/comment-page-1/#comment-1078720 jayessell Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:26:07 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/?p=4520#comment-1078720 FB: Here's the Popular Science one I meant to post: http://books.google.com/books?id=2yUDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA116&lr=&rview=1&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=1#v=onepage&q&f=false And here's Chapter 5 of 'Atomic America'. (Sorry... somewhat redacted.) http://books.google.com/books?id=Dnes_zv-eF0C&pg=PA123&dq=atomic+plane&lr=&rview=1&cd=6#v=onepage&q=atomic%20plane&f=false Did the Rooskies trick the USoA into wasting millions on ANP? (Don't blame malice on what can be explained by stupidity.) [It probably would have worked if the plane were large enough. 1500' wingspan? 5 million pounds? 20 mile runway?] FB:
Here’s the Popular Science one I meant to post:

http://books.google.com/books?.....38;f=false

And here’s Chapter 5 of ‘Atomic America’. (Sorry… somewhat redacted.)

http://books.google.com/books?.....38;f=false

Did the Rooskies trick the USoA into wasting millions on ANP?
(Don’t blame malice on what can be explained by stupidity.)
[It probably would have worked if the plane were large enough.
1500' wingspan? 5 million pounds? 20 mile runway?]

]]> By: Firebrand38 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/31/atomic-planes/comment-page-1/#comment-1078717 Firebrand38 Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:40:02 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/?p=4520#comment-1078717 jayessell: Great! The announcement that Life magazine referred to is most likely the hoax published in the 1 December 1958 issue of Aviation Week magazine http://modelarchives.free.fr/archives_P/Aplane/Aplane_Bounder_S.html Turns out that it was a conventionally powered bomber http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/bomber/m-50.htm jayessell: Great! The announcement that Life magazine referred to is most likely the hoax published in the 1 December 1958 issue of Aviation Week magazine http://modelarchives.free.fr/a.....der_S.html

Turns out that it was a conventionally powered bomber http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/.....r/m-50.htm

]]> By: jayessell http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/31/atomic-planes/comment-page-1/#comment-1078713 jayessell Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:21:58 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/?p=4520#comment-1078713 I saw articles on the imagined lead the Russians had on Atomic Plane development in Life magazine. http://books.google.com/books?id=VFYEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=life+atomic+plane&source=bl&ots=c58RQYs07t&sig=4trID3hLIslaGm6HrGMfV1kzlAc&hl=en&ei=fucITOmRAcL48AaZ5YGmAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=life%20atomic%20plane&f=false I'll post a different link later. I saw articles on the imagined lead the Russians had on Atomic Plane development in Life magazine.

http://books.google.com/books?.....38;f=false

I’ll post a different link later.

]]> By: Julie http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/31/atomic-planes/comment-page-1/#comment-1056332 Julie Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:03:35 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/?p=4520#comment-1056332 The modified jet engines, Heat Transfer Reactor Experiments (HTREs), are on display in the EBR I parking lot in the high desert of southeastern Idaho. Last fall, the lead shielded locomotive (top speed 4mph) that hauled the engines from test facility to hot shop was transported 35 miles south from the 1950s Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP). Parts of the ANP project were located in 10 states across the nation and the Idaho display, located between Idaho Falls and Sun Valley is well worth seeing. The modified jet engines, Heat Transfer Reactor Experiments (HTREs), are on display in the EBR I parking lot in the high desert of southeastern Idaho. Last fall, the lead shielded locomotive (top speed 4mph) that hauled the engines from test facility to hot shop was transported 35 miles south from the 1950s Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP). Parts of the ANP project were located in 10 states across the nation and the Idaho display, located between Idaho Falls and Sun Valley is well worth seeing.

]]> By: JMyint http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/31/atomic-planes/comment-page-1/#comment-1056279 JMyint Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:29:11 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/?p=4520#comment-1056279 Project Pluto was a Dooms Day weapon pure and simple. Project Orion was planned around small nuclear warheads. There was also the NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application) which was suppose to be the engine for the third stage of the proposed Saturn V replacements. In 1972 a NERVA engine went through 203 cycles for a total of 21 hours of operating time. This was the end of 13 years of testing and proved the technology would work as expected. Project Pluto was a Dooms Day weapon pure and simple. Project Orion was planned around small nuclear warheads.

There was also the NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application) which was suppose to be the engine for the third stage of the proposed Saturn V replacements. In 1972 a NERVA engine went through 203 cycles for a total of 21 hours of operating time. This was the end of 13 years of testing and proved the technology would work as expected.

]]> By: jayessell http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/31/atomic-planes/comment-page-1/#comment-1056274 jayessell Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:33:19 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/?p=4520#comment-1056274 Wiki PROJECT PLUTO An atomic ramjet engine meant for a supersonic cruise missile. Not applicable for manned aircraft. (Or inhabited planets) Wiki PROJECT PLUTO
An atomic ramjet engine meant for a
supersonic cruise missile.

Not applicable for manned aircraft.
(Or inhabited planets)

]]> By: Charlie http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/31/atomic-planes/comment-page-1/#comment-1056258 Charlie Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:10:46 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/?p=4520#comment-1056258 Steve: I thought Project Orion used nuclear bombs, not a reactor. Steve: I thought Project Orion used nuclear bombs, not a reactor.

]]> By: Steve http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/31/atomic-planes/comment-page-1/#comment-1056247 Steve Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:20:20 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/?p=4520#comment-1056247 Also, there was almost an atomic powered, manned rocket. Check out the book "Project Orion" by George Dyson. Its fascinating. Also, there was almost an atomic powered, manned rocket. Check out the book “Project Orion” by George Dyson. Its fascinating.

]]> By: Marc B. http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/31/atomic-planes/comment-page-1/#comment-1056234 Marc B. Sun, 01 Jun 2008 07:55:47 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/?p=4520#comment-1056234 Well, the miniaturization of the cooling systems didn't work out, and the development was halted in 1961 by Kennedy. Two prototypes are on public display, but unfortunately in the middle of nowhere: At the Experimental Breeding Reactor-I, at the Idaho National Laboratories near Arco, Idaho. If one gets there for whatever reason, it's worth visiting. The EBR-I was the first nuclear reactor ever to produce electricity (in December 1951) and the first reactor where actual "breeding" of nuclear fuel was achieved. It's a National Historic Landmark and (stripped of all radioactive parts) open to the public. The prototypes of the nuclear airplane engines are standing on the parking lot of EBR-I. Well, the miniaturization of the cooling systems didn’t work out, and the development was halted in 1961 by Kennedy. Two prototypes are on public display, but unfortunately in the middle of nowhere: At the Experimental Breeding Reactor-I, at the Idaho National Laboratories near Arco, Idaho. If one gets there for whatever reason, it’s worth visiting. The EBR-I was the first nuclear reactor ever to produce electricity (in December 1951) and the first reactor where actual “breeding” of nuclear fuel was achieved. It’s a National Historic Landmark and (stripped of all radioactive parts) open to the public. The prototypes of the nuclear airplane engines are standing on the parking lot of EBR-I.

]]> By: Toronto http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/05/31/atomic-planes/comment-page-1/#comment-1056226 Toronto Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:06:57 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/?p=4520#comment-1056226 "The buckaroos of science"? Why can't I get a job title like that? “The buckaroos of science”?

Why can’t I get a job title like that?

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