| 词条 | Convair X-6 | |||||||||||||||||
| 释义 |
The Convair X-6 was a proposed experimental aircraft project to develop and evaluate a nuclear-powered jet aircraft. The project was to use a Convair B-36 bomber as a testbed aircraft, and though one NB-36H was modified during the early stages of the project, the program was canceled before the actual X-6 and its nuclear reactor engines were completed. The X-6 was part of a larger series of programs, costing US$7 billion in all, that ran from 1946 through 1961. Because such an aircraft's range would not have been limited by liquid jet fuel, it was theorized that nuclear-powered strategic bombers would be able to stay airborne for weeks at a time.[1] Development and designIn May 1946, the Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft (NEPA) project was started by the Air Force. Studies under this program were done until May 1951 when NEPA was replaced by the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP) program. The ANP program included plans for Convair to modify two B-36s under the MX-1589 project. One of the B-36s was used to study shielding requirements for an airborne reactor, while the other became the X-6. Nuclear Test AircraftThe first modified B-36 was called the Nuclear Test Aircraft (NTA), a B-36H-20-CF (Serial Number 51-5712) that had been damaged in a tornado at Carswell AFB on September 1, 1952. This plane was redesignated the XB-36H, then the NB-36H and was modified to carry a 3 megawatt, air-cooled nuclear reactor in its bomb bay. The reactor, named the Aircraft Shield Test Reactor (ASTR), was operational but did not power the plane. Water, acting as both moderator and coolant, was pumped through the reactor core and then to water-to-air heat exchangers to dissipate the heat to the atmosphere. Its sole purpose was to investigate the effect of radiation on aircraft systems. To shield the flight crew, the nose section of the aircraft was modified to include a 12-ton lead and rubber shield. The standard windshield was replaced with one made of {{convert|6|in|cm|adj=mid|-thick}} acrylic glass. The amount of lead and water shielding was variable. Measurements of the resulting radiation levels were then compared with calculated levels to enhance the ability to design optimal shielding with minimum weight for nuclear-powered bombers. The NTA completed 47 test flights and 215 hours of flight time (during 89 of which the reactor was operated) between September 17, 1955, and March 1957[1] over New Mexico and Texas.[2] This was the only known airborne reactor experiment by the U.S. with an operational nuclear reactor on board. The NB-36H was scrapped at Fort Worth in 1958 when the Nuclear Aircraft Program was abandoned. After the ASTR was removed from the NB-36H, it was moved to the National Aircraft Research Facility. Based on the results of the NTA, the X-6 and the entire nuclear aircraft program was abandoned in 1961. Development plansHad the program progressed, follow-on aircraft would have been based on the successor to the B-36, Convair's swept-wing B-60.[3] The X-6 would have been powered by General Electric X-39 engines (J47 engines modified to use nuclear energy as fuel), utilizing a P-1 reactor.[4] In a nuclear jet engine, the reactor core was used as a heat source for the turbine's air flow, instead of burning jet fuel. One disadvantage of the design was that, since the airflow through the engine was used to cool the reactor, this airflow had to be maintained even after the aircraft had landed and parked.[3] GE built two prototype engines, which can be seen outside the Experimental Breeder Reactor I in Arco, Idaho.[2] A large, {{convert|350|ft|m|abbr=on}} wide hangar was built at Test Area North, part of the National Reactor Testing Station (now part of the Idaho National Laboratory; Monteview) to house the X-6 project, but the project was cancelled before the planned {{convert |15000|ft|m| abbr = on|-2}} runway was built, necessitated by the expected weight of the nuclear-powered aircraft.[3] Soviet programIn the 1960s, the Soviet Union's Tupolev design bureau had its own design for an experimental nuclear-powered aircraft, the Tupolev Tu-119, which was a Tu-95 bomber with two of its conventional turboprops replaced by nuclear-powered turboprops. Specifications{{Aircraft specifications|plane or copter?=plane |jet or prop?=both |ref=[5] |crew=Five |capacity= |payload main= |payload alt= |length main= 162 ft |length alt= 49.38 m |span main= 230 ft |span alt= 70.1 m |height main= 46 ft 9 in |height alt= 14.26 m |area main= 4,770 ft² |area alt= 443.3 m² |airfoil= |empty weight main= |empty weight alt= |loaded weight main= |loaded weight alt= |useful load main= |useful load alt= |max takeoff weight main= 360,000 lb |max takeoff weight alt= 163,000 kg |more general= |thrust main=5,200 lb |thrust alt=23.1 kN |engine (jet)=General Electric J53 |type of jet=nuclear turbojets |number of jets=4 |thrust original= |afterburning thrust main= |afterburning thrust alt= |engine (prop)= Pratt & Whitney R-4360-53 |type of prop= |number of props=6 |power main= 3,800 hp |power alt= 2,830 kW |power original= |max speed main=390 mph |max speed alt= 628 km/h |cruise speed main= |cruise speed alt= |stall speed main= |stall speed alt= |never exceed speed main= |never exceed speed alt= |range main= |range alt= |ceiling main= 40,000 ft |ceiling alt= 12,200 m |climb rate main= |climb rate alt= |loading main= |loading alt= |thrust/weight= |power/mass main= |power/mass alt= |more performance= |armament= |avionics= }} See also{{Portal|United States Air Force}}{{aircontent||related=
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}} References1. ^{{cite book |title=Report to the Congress of the United States – Review of manned aircraft nuclear propulsion program | format = PDF | author=Atomic Energy Commission and Department of Defense |date=February 1963 |publisher= The Comptroller General of the United States | page = 141 |url= http://www.fas.org/nuke/space/anp-gao1963.pdf |accessdate= January 24, 2012}} 2. ^1 2 {{Citation | title = Radiation works | archivedate = March 2, 2006 | url = http://www.radiationworks.com/flyingreactor.htm | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060302180919/http://www.radiationworks.com/flyingreactor.htm | contribution = Nuclear Powered Aircraft | publisher = Brookings Institution}}. 3. ^1 2 {{Citation | publisher = Airfields Freeman | contribution-url = http://www.airfields-freeman.com/ID/Airfields_ID_N.htm | title = Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields | contribution = Test Area North, Monteview, ID}}. 4. ^{{Citation | publisher = DBS corp | url = http://users.dbscorp.net/jmustain/X6.htm | title = Convair X-6 | deadurl = yes | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120206072428/http://users.dbscorp.net/jmustain/X6.htm | archivedate = February 6, 2012 | df = mdy-all }}. 5. ^Miller, Jay (2001). The X-Planes: X-1 to X-45, 3rd edition. Hinckley, UK: Midland Publishing. {{ISBN|1-85780-109-1}}. External links{{commons category|Convair NB-36H}}
8 : Convair aircraft|Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United States|United States experimental aircraft 1950–1959|Nuclear-powered aircraft|Six-engined pusher aircraft|Aircraft with auxiliary jet engines|High-wing aircraft|Convair B-36 Peacemaker |
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