Mar 062009
Screenshots from a mid-fifties USAF Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion film show three conceptual designs for nuclear powered bombers. Sadly, this is the best that can be had from the resolution at hand. Not known who designed these, whether a contractor, the USAF or the Atomic Energy Commission.
The first seems to show a nuclear variant of the B-52 (it’s known that Fairchild worked on a design like this).
The second seems to show a nuclear turboprop. A number of these subsonic, long-duration designs were created back then, as shown here and here.
What appears to be a supersonic aircraft.
2 Responses to “ANP scribbles”
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Scott, did you notice that the Smithsonian archive sports the final Fairchild NEPA report ?
Yeah, I saw it. Didn’t have anything on the nuclear B-52 (not that I could find, anyway). That was a much earlier study. I was going to have something from that in the last issue of APR< but it got removed as the issue was just too big... so it'll be in the next issue.