This video, while being in somewhat poor condition, having a giant watermark splashed on it and having what seems to be added sounded effects, is just plain interesting, showing the effects upon two QF-80 drones flying not far above a 1955 nuclear test. Both drones were equipped with film cameras in the cockpits that looked aft, so you can see how the horizontal stabilizers fared; the first shows the mushroom cloud rapidly rising behind the aircraft. This is a somewhat impressive shot.
High speed films of the initial nuclear fireball from the Operation Teapot – Turk nuclear test, March 7, 1955, 43 kilotons, atop a 508-foot-tall tower.
Are you a small nation with big ambitions? Do you want to have your own nuclear weapons, but don’t have the industrial or scientific wherewithal to develop the reactor technology to produce plutonium? Well, good news! There’s an easier way!
Just stake out motels in high-crime neighborhoods and wait for idjits from the Department of Energy to park overnight and leave nuclear materials in the back seat of their rental car. Spoiler: smashy, smashy.
Lawrence Livermore National Lab has added about another 250 vids to YouTube from the Atmospheric Nuclear Testing archive.
If you want to know what it will look like when Putin launches World War V (WWIII having been the Cold War, WWIV the Surt worshippers vs. civilization), it’ll look kinda like this, just more so (things get sporty around 2:06):
I look forward to the day when the US fields new boomers, SLBMs, nukes and RVs. They are desperately needed.
In just under the wire for June, 2018 are the rewards for APR Patreon patrons. Included this month:
If you are interested in helping to preserve (and get copies of) this sort of thing, consider signing up for the APR Patreon.
So I looked up the season 3 BluRay of The Expanse on Amazon to see when it’s coming out (July 17), and saw some interesting titles that may be of interest to those who are interested in this sort of thing, available or soon to come out on BluRay. As always, if you are interested in buying these, please click on the links here… if you buy through these links, I’ll get a pittance!
Anyway, first up there’s The Day After, the all-kinds-of-fun TV movie from the 80’s that showed the US getting the bejeebers nuked out of it by the Soviets. Due out August 8.
Also available is the somewhat similar “Threads,” a British TV movie from about the same time that shows Britain getting the bejeebers nuked out of it by the Soviets… and carries that forward another generation or so showing just how thrilling a Mad Max version of Britain would be. Came out in February.
Then there’s Lifeforce. This one has been out on BluRay for a while, but this one is a “limited edition” which seems like it’s longer, or maybe has more extras. It’s… it’s about space vampires. It’s not what you’d probably really call “good,” but as an aerospace engineer there are two designs shown in the movie that have always appealed to me: there’s the UK/US modified Space Shuttle “Churchill,” which features vast solar panels and a NERVA engine distressingly close to the crew. The other design that’s really quite remarkably well done is the chassis of Mathilda May. Yeah, you know what I mean. Out August 14.
Then there’s “The Martian Chronicles.” A TV miniseries from the 80’s which at the time I loved. Then I saw it again a couple years ago and, wow, does it not hold up. Still, might be of interest. Due out June 26.
There’s “Deep Rising,” another one that has been available on BluRay before. I’m not sure if they’ve extended or otherwise tinkered with the movie itself, but it looks like there are a lot of extras. This is a goofy sea monster movie that is *way* more entertaining than it has any right to be. Due out August 21.
And two Lovecraftian flicks:
John Carpenters criminally underrated “In The Mouth of Madness,” which doesn’t feature the “Lovecraftian monster” so much as the “welp, it’s Lovecraft, so I’m’a gonna go nuts now” that most Lovecraftian movies tend to get wrong. Due out July 24.
The Spanish-made, English-language, relatively low-budget movie “Dagon,” which despite its title is actually more of a “Shadow Over Innsmouth.” Been a decade+ since I’ve seen it, but I seem to recall that it was fairly good. Also out July 24.
Have you recently committed a violent crime? Are you looking at jail time? Are you looking for an innovative way of weaseling out of facing the consequences of your actions? Britain may have the answer!
Artwork was created for USBP 21 by Rob Parthoens depicting the Convair Submersible Nuclear Ramjet launching vertically from the ocean. This is approximately the craziest design for a manned aircraft I’ve seen from the post-war period.
Be sure to check out US Bomber Projects issue 21 to read more about this design.
Artwork was created for USBP 21 by Rob Parthoens depicting the Convair Submersible Nuclear Ramjet paying a visit to 1970’s-era Moscow. If you think that this looks like Project Pluto, you’re not far off; this was also a Mach 4, treetop-level nuclear ramjet powered bomber. But there were a few minor differences. Notice that little bump above the nose? That’s the cockpit, a necessary addition because this design was manned. It was also designed to operate as a submarine, cruising the oceans of the world faster than 100 knots before launching upwards and taking flight. Because the 1950’s were rather more optimistic when it came to technological advancement.
Be sure to check out US Bomber Projects issue 21 to read more about this design.
