Put a lightweight nuclear reactor in a big transport helicopter. Recycle coolant; cool coolant with air (current reactors cool the coolant in a river after it has gone through the generator turbines). Then your helicopter can fly for a really long time! Yay! Do I hear first helicopter flight around the world without refueling???
-- sninctown, Nov 14 2005

(?) Nuclear Airplane http://www.aboutnuc...gi?fC=Space,History
Was mostly baked. [Worldgineer, Nov 15 2005]

More, for [wag] http://www.nuclear....lear_airplanes.html
[Worldgineer, Nov 15 2005]

An endless thumping sound glowed through the night skies...
-- normzone, Nov 15 2005


The helicopters in NYC keep crashing in the East River, and it's polluted enough already, thank you, without throwing plutonium into the mix.
-- DrCurry, Nov 15 2005


//lightweight nuclear reactor// bzzt WIBNI [marked–for-cold-fusion]
-- lurch, Nov 15 2005


Sp: nucular
-- wagster, Nov 15 2005


Sp: unclear
-- wagster, Nov 15 2005


Sp: fusebox
-- skinflaps, Nov 15 2005


[lurch] I disagree that this implies cold fusion.
-- bristolz, Nov 15 2005


Thanks for the link [world]. Once again I find that an idea that appears (to me) too dangerous and stupid even for the halfbakery has been developed in the real world.
-- wagster, Nov 15 2005


Dangerous doesn't factor in much when designing for a nuclear war, which I assume was the intent. You'd end up with an airplane that could circle the earth for a length of time only limited by food supply (or not even that if computer controlled (shiver)). Arm it with a few dozen nuclear bombs, and it may be an effective way of winning (ha) the second round of a nuclear war.
-- Worldgineer, Nov 15 2005



random, halfbakery