From: graywolf > Glad to know you know more about what I am talking about than I do. > > However, that should have been the B-70 not B-1. As I recall the B-70 > was originally designed for 8 turbojets, or 4 atomic engines. I think > the two actually flown had 6 turbojets. I believe a lot of the > technology developed for it was used in the Blackbird. The idea with > the nuclear engines was an aircraft that could remain on station in > the air for two weeks at a time, sort of like a flying nuclear > missile submarine. One of them showed up at an Air Base where I was > stationed once, but the security was such that you could not get > within a half mile of it unlike the B-1 I saw at an air show where > you could walk up and touch it. >
Early studies, what eventually became the B-70 program, had a nuclear powered bomber component, but that had already proved unfeasible, and been dropped, before the design program reached the point of choosing engine configurations. It was "back to the drawing board" several times, and several years, after the "atomic powered bomber" was dropped before the B-70 design began to emerge. I'm not sure how much of the B-70 ended up in the SR-71 "Blackbird" since they were near contemporary products of competitors - B-70 by North American Aviation and SR-71 by Lockheed. > BTW, how many operational B-36's have you seen? I will always > remember six of them passing over my dad's Studebaker at about 200 > feet when I was a kid. They were making a pass at an air show. Dad > was too cheap to buy a ticket so we were parked outside the fence at > Willow Run. Maybe a dozen (or more) at different fly-overs. And through the years B-50s, B-47s, B-52s, ... as well as various fighters & other Air Force aircraft. The Air Force used "show the flag" every Memorial Day back in the 50s and on into the early 60s. The Army and Marines used to do Memorial Day fly-overs with helicopters. Don't remember any Navy aircraft ... that may be because there were Air Force, Army and Marine bases near where I lived as a child, but not a nearby Naval Base. Only got close enough to touch a B-36 once - it was on static display during an open house - again back in the 50s. I was crazy about anything having to do with airplanes when I was a kid, and I *COULD* nag my dad into buying tickets. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
