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David T Phung ☢️⚡️🚀
@davidtphung
my high school history teacher was obsessed /with declassified military tech and love diggin up stuff like this on saturdays. that’s how i found nuclear-powered flight (this film covers 1956–1958): a bomber powered by a reactor, meant to fly for months. it almost worked! declassified video: https://x.com/whatisnuclear/status/1886397754143867189 as kelly johnson (skunk works) once said “you don’t get to pick your problems. reality does.” the 1950s engineers weren't wrong. they were just early. some takeaways ⚛️ nuclear-powered flight (1956–1958) why it almost worked. why it failed. why now is the time to build again. 🛫 beginning — vision phase first principle: eliminate refueling + foreign bases with infinite-range flight. top 3 factors: cold war urgency → nuclear bomber concept multi-agency alignment: aec, air force, ge, oak ridge big budget → fast prototyping 🌀 flywheel: big vision → funding → parallel r&d acceleration continued ⤵
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David T Phung ☢️⚡️🚀
@davidtphung
🔧 middle — engineering phase first principle: turn nuclear heat into jet thrust safely + compactly. top 3 factors: ge direct cycle: htre-1, 2, 3 (air-cooled reactor) p&w indirect cycle: lithium-7 coolant + niobium alloys safety breakthroughs: split shield + auto shutdown 🌀 flywheel: materials + reactor tests → performance proof → tech momentum 🛑 end — collapse phase first principle: working systems must fly, not just react. top 3 factors: shielding weight killed flight viability 46% avionics failure in radiation fields sputnik + icbms shifted strategy + politics 🌀 flywheel (in reverse): no flight → no data → no trust → program dead ⚡️ now — time to rebuild first principle: new tools remove old constraints. top 3 factors: ai + digital twins → faster iteration new materials → lighter, radiation-safe systems wright’s law → cost drops as knowledge compounds 🌀 flywheel: better tools → rapid design → viable flight → renewed mission continued⤵
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David T Phung ☢️⚡️🚀
@davidtphung
🧠 wisdom “you don’t get to pick your problems. reality does.” kelly johnson the 1950s engineers weren’t wrong. they were early. we have the tools. let’s build what they started.
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