German Stealth bomber made up of wood
AVIATION
THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
François MAGUIN kindly allowed me to post his compact military aviation glossary for quick reference (click on the aircraft and/or the « passenger » below).
Mr Maguin is a highly experienced English teacher at the French air force school of management and administration, and at the EOAA (French Air Force Academy – Salon de Provence) as well. He brilliantly translated Hamlet into French – a best-seller among the bilingual books. He has been involved in many works, groups and projects. This military aviation glossary should regularly be updated, the sky being the limit indeed. This publication is deemed to become no less than a must.
All my gratitude, and heartfelt thanks for all his efforts in supporting me and this blog so many times. Click on the man riding the aircraft above in order to download this military aviation glossary « The sky’s the limit« .
Jim Zwayer and Bill Weaver took off that day – January 25th, 1966 !
SR71 Blackbird – USAF photo by Tech SGT Michael Haggerty – Source: www.af.mil
This unbelievable test flight happened in 1966, and remained top secret for decades given the constraints of the Cold war at that time. You can read this breath-taking story in browsing into Google. Type – SR-71 Blackbird breakup at Mach 3.18 – (or click on this link, then on the first webpage of the Google list proposed). Plant yourself firmly in an armchair, then you can start to read the most amazing aeronautical report I have ever read!
Effective TECHNICAL ENGLISH websites
I must have been pretty busy last months for I’ve just realized that I haven’t added the Philip SHAWCROSS’s sites so far !!! This must be corrected right now: Mister SHAWCROSS is the author and founder of « English for aircraft ».
His two books make up undoubtedly the cleverest way of teaching technical English, especially for ESOL students. His renowned software « Docwise » is a must for the engineers and mechanics desiring to be trained as far as technical English and aeronautics are concerned. Click on the logo on your left handside to visit « Bwise2 », his website dedicated to aviation English language training for mechanics and pilots. Bwise2 can provide everything you need to learn technical English within the scope of aeronautics.
Bwise2 is not his only asset. Philip SHAWCROSS is the president of the International Civil Aviation English Association – ICAEA – a non profit-making association created under the 1901 French law.
ICAEA’s aims:
To bring together people and organizations concerned by or interested in the use of English in the aviation and aeronautical world.
To promote the exchange of information as regards English, English training, standards, qualifications, translation, documents etc, between people working within aviation in different countries.
To centralise information useful to the Airlines, Authorities, Air Traffic Services, manufacturers, pilots, engineers, universities, research institutes, training centers and teachers.
To enhance the circulation of this information through a web site, a list serve, seminars and the publication of their proceedings.
Finally, to generate concern about the quality of English in the aviation world. Please click on the logo hereafter to visit the ICAEA website:
Why not fly NUCLEAR AIRCRAFT ?
I was reading a gripping blog in French called “Objets du ciel » (broken link) when I bumped into an amazing article written by Carl Conrad. I first thought that this post was unbelievable. I daresay that all the articles he writes are amazing. I am going to report hereafter what I have read about this topic – nuclear-powered aircraft – from different sources, but Carl Conrad’s article is the one that inspired me most.
© Photo: National museum of the USAF
As a major oil crisis is looming, airlines are cancelling some less financially viable air links of theirs. The future of aviation as we currently know it, seems to be in jeopardy. Nothing seems to be used as a substitute for any current kind of energy, not even electricity. What about nuclear-powered engines?
Nowadays, nobody would bear any nuclear-powered test flights. However those tests did occur within a USAF-carried-out weapons system (WS 125-A) nuclear-powered bomber aircraft programme. Those tests were performed with a 1,000-kilowatt-nuclear jet engine airborne on a Convair NB-36H. This aircraft named « The Crusader », took-off 47 times during the 50s. The engine was not used for propelling. It only worked at an altitude which was deemed sensible. Those tests allowed to assess the nuclear engine drive performance. Every flight would involve troops deployment in the area to prevent as soon as possible from any accident fallout spreading. The aircraft was modified in order to enhance the five crew member’s safety. The USAF considered the concept not realistic and gave the programme up in late 1956.
However, this technology might be coming back to fly some drones for long-lasting flights. People might be relunctant to see nuclear-powered drones taking-off and flying past over their heads. Who knows? Maybe some day.
Another project to mention: Project Orion should have become a 4,000-ton, long-range spacecraft powered by controlled nuclear pulses, or explosions. For this purpose, a small test vehicle was built. It was dubbed « Hot Rod », and was conventional-explosive-powered craft. Finally, Orion was cancelled in 1965 because it would not have been politically correct and because of technical challenges.
I have not found a piece of information about nuclear-powered craft after the year 2004. By the way, if someone knows further information about nuclear-powered aircraft, they will be welcome if they want to add some comments.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Span: 230 ft. 0 in.
Length: 162 ft. 1 in. (as B-36H, the NB-36H was slightly shorter)
Height: 46 ft. 8 in.
Weight: 357,500 lbs. (max. gross weight)
Armament: None
Engines: Six Pratt & Whitney R-4360-53 radials of 3,800 hp each (takeoff power) and four General Electric J47-GE-19 turbojets of 5,200 lbs. thrust each
Crew: Five ( pilot, copilot, flight engineer and two nuclear engineers)
PERFORMANCE:
Maximum speed: Approx. 420 mph at 47,000 ft.
Cruising speed: 235 mph
Service ceiling: Approx. 47,000 ft.
Sources:
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/
