TERROR IN THE SKIES!

Actually Not
But nearly.  Remember I threatened to tell you all about nuclear-powered aircraft before terrifying you with Pluto, the flying crowbar?  Well it's time to put up, so let us look at what was triggered by a programme entitled "Planes That Never Flew", for which the Sinisters may be truly grateful, as well as anyone living in Utah.
     WS125 was the code for a proposed South Canadian bomber that used nuclear-powered engines, meaning that it had no practical limit to either it's range or endurance thanks to no worries about running out of fuel.

Looks straight out of Gerry Anderson

     That was the idea.  First problem was designing a power plant that would fit into an aircraft, then making it light enough for the plane to actually take off.  The aircraft in question had to be a bomber, as you can't fit a multi-ton reactor and shielding in a Piper Cub.
     There were two competing engine designs, one a "direct" version where air flowed into and out of the reactor, and an "indirect" version where heat was transmitted via liquid metal transfer from reactor to engine.

The direct version

     The direct version had the advantage of being much simpler, and lighter, but had the admittedly major drawback of spewing out radioactive fallout in the exhaust.  The very pertinent question of "Where the ******* hell do you flight test it!" helped to stop further development past 1961.

The indirect version

     Here's the indirect version.  Much safer, yet a lot more complicated and therefore heavier.  Again, put to bed in 1961.
     Another factor was protecting the aircrew from radiation.  This means shielding, which in a normal terrestrial reactor is no great problem - tons of lead, followed by hundreds of tons of reinforced concrete.  Not so simple in an aircraft, because you have to have a live aircrew to man your bomber, and you have to have the lightest possible shielding.  Another reason why this $1 billion dollar project got wound up.  
     The good news is that, given modern technology and materials, you could probably build a nuclear-engined bomber right now.  However, once again, where the ***** are you going to test the thing?
     Oh, and the Sinisters did get a working direct-cycle nuclear-engineered Tu95 bomber into operation in the early Sixties.

There is a catch -

     They simply didn't bother with proper shielding for the crew, most of whom subsequently died.  The maximum permissible flight time was 48 hours, which they clearly exceeded.
     Having already mentioned Gerry Anderson, I now recall "Thunderbirds" and the Fireflash, a civilian passenger aircraft that was powered by nuclear engines, and which could only stay aloft for 90 minutes.  Art?

Beautiful.  And deadly.

     Because othewise the passengers and crew would begin to suffer from radiation exposure.  I laughed at Fireflash first time round, thinking "Nobody would be so stupid!" and now stand partially corrected.

The Balance Of Power At 625
I'm certainly not going to give you any more of where exactly the Mansion is located, as the last thing I want is having to supply tea and cake to the legions scores people who would make the pilgrimage here to lay eyes upon your humble scribe and ask how his creative process works*.  Anyway, Jenny beat Edna to pole position earlier today:

Edna, usurped

     Fortunately for Edna, your modest artisan has to get up every now and then to go and refill his teacup, or to gnaw on a gherkin or two.  So, the natural order of things was re-established later on.  Art?

Edna on top again.  Not literally.

     The cat's bottom is just visible at the edge of Edna's bed in the upper right.
     Whilst we're talking of the domestics, here's evidence of Edna's early walk today, just as it began to spit a bit.

     I shall gloss over what she'd just been doing, just be advised it was not at all photogenic.

Proof Of People's Perversity
Once again I am glad to link to and display a picture from "Jim'll Paint It", as evidence that, however odd you may think Conrad to be, there is always another weirdo out there who can trump him.  Art?

Well there you are

     Herein the link:

http://jimllpaintit.tumblr.com/

     Which will, hopefully, prevent Jim from taking legal action.  Which, if I may point out, Jim, would be horribly conventional.  Horribly.

Once again, more material than I have time to post, so I shall leave you with a funny photograph of my lunch earlier this week.

Pip pip!



*  I make it all up. Simple.