A Neo-Atomic Tango Thru a World of Dreams

It is said that when inventor Robert Phillip Chambers first proposed the idea of the spiked bomb to General Eisenhower, the unflappable commander simply looked at him and responded: "well, why not?" The O-15 "Bomb, High Explosive, Mechanical" went into production in 1944. One-and-one-half times the size of an average man, the bomb was designed to be dropped out of airplanes, whereupon it would roll toward its targets with the aid of a gyroscope.

The drawing here is a post-war artists' impression of the Nivreville Incident, when several light bombers carrying the weapons discharged on top of the German 15th Infantry Division. The carnage was reportedly so great that when Eisenhower saw aerial photos of the battlefield, he turned white and ordered the bomb never be used in combat again.

The Douglas B-62 Superstratofortress is shown here during its first test flight in 1959. Developed in response to USAF requirement for an "airborne aircraft carrier" the design was technologically if not logistically viable.

The project was cancelled in 1964, but the seven existing prototypes were mothballed rather than scrapped, and moved to a secure hangar at Area 51 in Groom Lake, Nevada. According to recently leaked documents, the aircraft, which are kept in good repair, are meant to be "America's final defensive line" in the event that "POTUS is compromised and/or WADC [Washington, DC] goes dark.

I sincerely hope they never have to be used.

Oberleutenant Gerhard Lange, Hauptmann Wilhelm Schleicher, Leutenant Gerd van der Ostsee, and Oberleutenant Reinhold Waschmann pose in front of their Zeppelin-Staaken R, Maine 1918.

These four intrepid German aviators were the first to fly across the Atlantic-- and entirely by accident! Departing from Essen on a routine strategic bombing raid, the pilots got lost in heavy fog, and due to a compass malfunction ended up flying East for five days straight. A mix-up in the petrol requisition had left the aircraft bursting with fuel (normally two of seven tanks were left empty, to provide increased maneuvarability) and the bombs were jettsoned when it became clear the aircraft was over water and too far to turn back.

The accidental celebrities went on to claim the Daily Mail's £2000 prize, though there were reservations about awarding it to Germans. Two of the four pictured here (van der Ostsee became a Communist and Waschmann was a Jew) went on to become long-range bombing experts for the Luftwaffe, and Schleicher was the lead planner of Jagdgeschwader Hindenburg's 1941 raid on Boston.

This is the Northrop XYB-56, the USAF's first atomic-powered bomber.

Bolstered by the success of the nuclear subUSS Nautilus,the Pentagon established a 1955 contest for a long-range strategic bomber, to be powered by a miniature reactor of US government design.

The XYB-56 was actually the most successful of the designs, flying from Okinawa to London on the strength of just one fuel rod. But complications ensued-- namely, the entire area around the craft was a radiation hot zone, meaning the ground crew would have wear clumsy NBC (nuclear, biological, and chemical) suits, which are not ideal for handling live bombs.

As well, the cost was prohibitive: it would take three million dollars every year just to maintain one of the projected fleet of thirty. When an XYB-56 on a round-the-world goodwill tour was shot down over Russia, the project was scrapped for good.   

The Boeing B-17 was the most popular bomber of the interwar period (1919-1941). Equipped with four 220hp engines, eight machine guns, and vulcanized-rubber protected fuel tanks, over one hundred thousand were sold, including this example, no. 124545, to Nazi Germany.

What is interesting about this is that, while President Lindburgh had promised a hands-off approach to foreign policy, the USA still sold weapons and materiel to anyone who could pay. Lindburgh later defended his actions by claiming the USA was still financially insolvent (from the Great Depression).

Ironically, this B-17 (along with several German copies) went on to bomb New York City in the first-ever carrier-based strategic bombing raid.