The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" sparked more controversy than any weapon system ever built until the ill-fated Star Wars system of the late 1980s. Extensive research has uncovered new details about the B-36 and its derivatives. This new volume includes a detailed serial number list that covers each airplane and its final disposition. An entire chapter covers the efforts to reclaim and scrap the aircraft as they were taken out of service. For aviation enthusiasts and modelers.

In 1962, a unique transport aircraft was built from the parts of 27 Boeing B-377 airliners to provide NASA a means of transporting rocket boosters. With an interior the size of a gymnasium, "The Pregnant Guppy" was the first of six enormous cargo planes built by Aero Spacelines and two built by Union de Transport Aeriens. More than half a century later, the last Super Guppy is still in active service with NASA and the design concept has been applied to next-generation transports. This comprehensive history of expanded fuselage aircraft begins in the 1940s with the military's need for a long-range transport. The author examines the development of competing designs by Boeing, Convair and Douglas, and the many challenges and catastrophic failures. Behind-the-scenes maneuvers of financiers, corporate raiders, mobsters and other nefarious characters provide an inside look at aviation development from the drawing board to the scrap yard.

Extensive research at various archives around the country have uncovered new and previously unpublished details about the B-36 and its derivatives. Includes coverage of the YB-60 all-jet version, details about Convair's fly-boat version, and technical info of the stillborn Variable Discharge Turbin B-36C variant. Includes photos from the 1952 Texas tornado that severely damaged and grounded a good portion of the B-36 fleet. 350 b/w photos.

Full coverage of materials and mechanical design in engineering Mechanical Engineers' Handbook, Fourth Edition provides a quick guide to specialized areas you may encounter in your work, giving you access to the basics of each and pointing you toward trusted resources for further reading, if needed. The accessible information inside offers discussions, examples, and analyses of the topics covered. This first volume covers materials and mechanical design, giving you accessible and in-depth access to the most common topics you'll encounter in the discipline: carbon and alloy steels, stainless steels, aluminum alloys, copper and copper alloys, titanium alloys for design, nickel and its alloys, magnesium and its alloys, superalloys for design, composite materials, smart materials, electronic materials, viscosity measurement, and much more. Presents comprehensive coverage of materials and mechanical design Offers the option of being purchased as a four-book set or as single books, depending on your needs Comes in a subscription format through the Wiley Online Library and in electronic and custom formats Engineers at all levels of industry, government, or private consulting practice will find Mechanical Engineers' Handbook, Volume 1 a great resource they'll turn to repeatedly as a reference on the basics of materials and mechanical design.

Packed with startling revelations, this inside look at the secret side of the Cold War exposes just how close America came to total annihilation During the Cold War, a flight crew had 15 minutes to get their nuke-laden plane in the air from the moment Soviet bombers were detected—15 minutes between the earliest warning of an incoming nuclear strike and the first flash of an enemy warhead. This is the chilling true story of the incredibly risky steps our military took to protect us from that scenario, including: • Over two thousand loaded bombers that crossed American skies. They sometimes crashed and at least nine times resulted in nuclear weapons being accidentally dropped • A system that would use timers and rockets to launch missiles even after everyone was dead • Disastrous atmospheric nuclear testing including the horrific runaway bomb—that fooled scientists and put thousands of men in uniform in the center of a cloud of hot fallout • A plan to use dry lake beds to rebuild and launch a fighting force in the aftermath of nuclear war Based on formerly classified documents, military records, press accounts, interviews and over 10 years of research, 15 Minutes is one of the most important works on the atom bomb ever written.