Northrop N-34 Nuclear-Powered Research Study.

[martinletts]

Hello. I hope everyone is well.

I'm on the ear-'ole for some info about the above. Nothing appears when I search online (I am aware there may not be a great deal of info existing so my hopes were far from high) all I have to go on is what is on PP 87-88 of Tony Buttlers latest American Secret Projects (thanks to my mother in law for a great Xmas present!). A three-view would be ideal of course, but any info would be greatly welcome.

Thanks in advance and Happy New Year.

 

[Stargazer]

Hello. I hope everyone is well.

I'm on the ear-'ole for some info about the above. Nothing appears when I search online (I am aware there may not be a great deal of info existing so my hopes were far from high) all I have to go on is what is on PP 87-88 of Tony Buttlers latest American Secret Projects (thanks to my mother in law for a great Xmas present!). A three-view would be ideal of course, but any info would be greatly welcome.

Thanks in advance and Happy New Year.

NORTHROP N-34: USAF NEPA nuclear powered bomber project; renamed "Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion" (ANP) (model number places the project circa 1948-49).

I wasn't able to find anything on the N-34 either; the only project that I have that is identified as "Northrop ANP" is the one attached below, taken from 1957 magazines. However I can't say for sure whether this is or isn't the Model N-34.

 

[Stargazer]

And a great page on the NEPA/ANP program here, but unfortunately (for you) it's in French...

http://jpcolliat.free.fr/x6/x6-1.htm

 

[hesham]

Hi,

the Northrop N-34A was a six engined tailless bomber aircraft
with single tail fin and all the engines were mounted in the
wing,and fitted with 12,7 mm and 15,2 mm guns.

 

[Stargazer]

Must reading on NEPA and ANP:

- Giving Wings to the Atom

- Atomic audit: The Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons since 1940

the Northrop N-34A was a six engined tailless bomber aircraft with single tail fin and all the engines were mounted in the wing,and fitted with 12,7 mm and 15,2 mm guns.

Source, hesham? Anyway, there could have been several separate design studied under N-34. What you are describing here resembles the attachment below, one of Northrop's nuclear bomber studies.

 

[hesham]

My dear Stragazer,

I have a drawing to it,it looks like the last one,but it had no
wings in the tail fin and its wing was not completely a delta,
but swept back and the wing area was large.

 

[martinletts]

Thanks for all the info Stargazer, it's all starting to look a bit 'Thunderbirds are go!'. I think the N-34 referred to is not quite a delta but with a single tail fin which I think dates from 1948 as part of the NEPA program just after the war and I suspect this may have been little more than a Northrop sketch idea from that time. I suspect no three-views exist.

Thanks a lot for looking, you've shown me some very interesting alternatives.

Cheers everyone.

 

[Stargazer]

I suspect this may have been little more than a Northrop sketch idea from that time. I suspect no three-views exist.

Hesham says he has a drawing of it, so he must show it to us!!!

Anyway, in the Northrop Model numbers list, only the N-29 (nuclear propulsion system for NEPA) and the N-34 are described as related to nuclear-powered aircraft. So it is likely that several quite different designs might have hidden under the N-34 slot. Otherwise there's a possibility that N-108 and N-120, both unaccounted for circa 1952-53, might also have been reserved for classified nuclear-powered designs (I'm thinking of Project Opossum in particular, see attachments). Just a guess.

 

[OM]

NORTHROP N-34: USAF NEPA nuclear powered bomber project; renamed "Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion" (ANP) (model number places the project circa 1948-49).

...Anyone else see an inherent design flaw in the fact that the detachable crew compartment is still within the exhaust plume of a functioning nuclear propulsion unit, even if it probably is a closed-cycle job?

 

[hesham]

Re: Northrop N-34 Nuclear-Powered Research Study

Hi,

here is the Northrop N-34A from the book; 'Les Avions Northrop'
série DocAvia.

 

[martinletts]

Thanks for that, it is the same illustration that appears in Bill Rose's book too.

Thanks to all for your help.

 

[Vahe Demirjian]

I suspect this may have been little more than a Northrop sketch idea from that time. I suspect no three-views exist.

Hesham says he has a drawing of it, so he must show it to us!!!

Anyway, in the Northrop Model numbers list, only the N-29 (nuclear propulsion system for NEPA) and the N-34 are described as related to nuclear-powered aircraft. So it is likely that several quite different designs might have hidden under the N-34 slot. Otherwise there's a possibility that N-108 and N-120, both unaccounted for circa 1952-53, might also have been reserved for classified nuclear-powered designs (I'm thinking of Project Opossum in particular, see attachments). Just a guess.

Appendix A of Tony Chong's book Flying Wings and Radical Things describes N-108 as "Graviner Suppression Devices" on page 262.

 

[Vahe Demirjian]

Re: Northrop N-34 Nuclear-Powered Research Study

Hi,

here is the Northrop N-34A from the book; 'Les Avions Northrop'
série DocAvia.

Specifications for N-34 project:

• Length: 89 feet 9 inches
• Wingspan: 70 feet 8 inches
• Height: 28 feet
• Crew: ten
• Armament: one .60 caliber barrel turret in nose, one .60 caliber barrel turret in tail
• Dihedral: 0 degrees

Source:
Chong, Tony, 2016. Flying Wings & Radical Things: Northrop’s Secret Aerospace Projects & Concepts 1939-1994. Forest Lake, Minnesota: Specialty Press.