NOTE
1942 was the year that Enrico Fermi first proposed building a nuclear powered plane.
SOURCES:
http://fas.org/nuke/space/anp-gao1963.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnston_Atoll
The purpose of this blog is to document America's nuclear aero-space program being run out of AREA-51 using open sources. It has been said that 90% of intelligence analysis uses open sources. The preponderance of the evidence shows that the American Military runs part of their Black Space Program out of AREA-51 utilizing nuclear powered propulsion.
First flight 3
November 1955
General characteristics
·
Crew: 1 or 2
·
Length: 66 ft depending on variant (20.1 m)
·
Wingspan: 106
ft. 0 in. (32.3 m)
·
Height: 15 ft. 7 in. (4.7 m)
·
Max. takeoff weight: Approx. 59,000 lbs. (26,760 kg)
·
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney J57-P-9 turbojets,
10,000 lbs (44.5 kN) each
Performance
·
Maximum speed: 520 knots (600 mph) at 45,000 ft (966 km/h at 13700
m)
·
Cruise speed: 420 knots (480 mph) at 65,000 ft (780 km/h at
20,000 m)
·
Combat radius: Approx. 2,000 miles (3,200 km)
·
Service ceiling: Approx. 70,000 ft. (21,300 m)
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Weight 29.5 tons
The
power is 39,786.5600 watts. It is equivalent to:
53.3546
mechanical horsepowers.
54.0946
metric horsepowers.
53.3332
electrical horsepowers.
4.0559
boiler horsepowers.
“45,000 horsepower is required to drive a 25 ton plane 1500 miles an hour (MACH 2.27) at 70,000 feet. … The power requirement would jump to 200,000 horsepower at sea level because of greater air resistance.”
U.S. May Push Efforts to Make Atomic Engine
Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File); Sep 28, 1949;
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
pg. 12
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First flight 23 June
1963
General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 68 ft. 10 in. (20.98 m)
Wingspan: 122 ft 5 in (37.5 m)
Height: 14 ft 10 in (4.52 m)
Wing area: 1884 ft² (175 m²)
Useful load: 4,000 lbs (1,800 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 65,000 lbs
(29,500 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney
TF33-P-11A turbofans, 16,000 lbf (71 kN) each
Performance
Maximum speed: Mach 0.79 (546 mph /
475 knots) 878 km/h
Combat radius: 4,000 miles / 3475
nautical miles (6,400 km)
Service ceiling: 82,000 ft (25,000
m)
|
Weight 32.5
tons
142
Kilonewtons
The
power is 63,479.6800 watts. It is equivalent to:
85.1276
mechanical horsepowers.
86.3083
metric horsepowers.
85.0934
electrical horsepowers.
6.4712
boiler horsepowers.
“45,000 horsepower is required to drive a 25 ton plane 1500 miles an hour (MACH 1.97) at 70,000 feet. … The power requirement would jump to 200,000 horsepower at sea level because of greater air resistance.”
U.S. May Push Efforts to Make Atomic Engine
Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File); Sep 28, 1949;
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
pg. 12
|
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Two years after this article is published, the WADC begins research at Wright Paterson AFB to modify the Canberra to fly at high altitudes over 70,000 feet. The article itself was published a month after the first Soviet nuclear test. The USAF was clearly researching ways to sneak attack the USSR using high altitude bombers that could not be intercepted by the Soviets. |
In Deputy Defense Secretary Donald Quarles's office in the
Pentagon last week a group of high-level Navy and Air Force officers got
together to ponder a serious decision: whether the U.S. ought, in the age of
the missile, to speed up a nuclear-powered airplane project, and, if so, what
kind of plane, to perform what kind of mission, at what cost, and when. The
Navy argued hard for a subsonic nuclear turboprop seaplane for antisubmarine
warfare and long-range radar-warning patrol. The Air Force argued not quite so
hard for a more advanced supersonic nuclear jet bomber. All believed that the
Russians might soon have an atomic plane ready for testing.
The U.S.'s atomic-plane project has been slowed down three
times since 1946 because critics argued that it was too complex, too costly
(one flash estimate: $1 billion minimum), that new missiles would make the new
atomic plane obsolete before it could fly. In 1953 Defense Secretary
Wilson called the atomic plane "a shitepoke*—a great big bird that flies
over the marshes—you know—that doesn't have much body or speed to it, or
anything, but can fly."
Last week the argument revolved around whether the U.S.
ought to design and build an entirely new aircraft for nuclear power (time
estimate: four to six years) or install a reactor to power an existing-type
plane (time estimate: three years). The Navy said that it could adapt several
of its seaplanes, including the experimental Martin P-6M multijet Sea-master or
the old Mars, now up for sale, added that it would be safer to test a nuclear
plane over sea than over land areas, where a crash might expose civilians to
explosion and radiation. The Air Force said it could adapt its operational B-52
intercontinental jet bomber or its KC-135 jet tanker, but added that it was
much more interested in getting a supersonic nuclear jet that would provide a
new operational weapons system than it was in winning a round in psychological
warfare. In the end the meeting agreed only that 1) the atomic-plane project
needed more study, and that 2) the group would get together again to consider
the results of that study soonest—"but not next week."
General characteristics
·
Capacity: 273 passengers
·
Length: 273 ft 2 in (83.26 m)
·
Height: ()
·
Wing
area: 9,424 ft² (875
m²)
Performance
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Specifications
(SR-71A)[edit]
General characteristics
·
Crew: 2: Pilot and Reconnaissance Systems
Officer (RSO)
·
Length: 107 ft 5 in (32.74 m)
·
Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
·
Wing
area: 1,800 ft2 (170 m2)
·
Loaded
weight: 152,000 lb
(69,000 kg)
·
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney J58-1 continuous-bleed afterburning turbojets,
34,000 lbf (151 kN) each
·
Wheel
track: 16 ft
8 in (5.08 m)
·
Wheelbase: 37 ft 10 in (11.53 m)
Performance
·
Maximum speed: Mach 3.3[121][122][N 5] (2,200+ mph, 3,540+ km/h, 1,910+
knots) at 80,000 ft (24,000 m)
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