Feb 192009
Screenshots from an Air Force “Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion” film from ’55. The description is vague, but seems to indicate that this is based on Convair work. Given the cartoony nature, though, these could easily show nothing more than, well, a cartoon.
If nuclear powered aircraft are of interest to you, detailed drawings of several Convair nuclear seaplane concepts are available HERE.
2 Responses to “Nuclear aircraft project artwork ca. 1955”
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I’m pretty sure the next frame would show Duck Dodgers at the controls.
This is a fun article also: http://modelarchives.free.fr/archives_P/Aplane/index.html
I always got a kick out of the fact that Scott dug up the info on the flying-wing atomic airplane concept that my college physics professor worked on… and made a model of it too: http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/NorthropNuclear-PoweredFlyingWingCataloguePage.htm
I still miss the old Hawk one with the big red flame exhaust parts on it.
Didn’t realize you had issued the Passenger Swallow aircraft…you are going to do the bomber version also, aren’t you?
That was one of the sleekest looking things that was ever designed. It would be fun to figure out its RCS, because it looks like damn near zero unless you are looking straight down the throats of the four turbojets.