WIX Archives

Radiation

Posted by bdk on Wed Feb 04, 2004 12:52:34 PM

In reply top Re: DH 103 HORNET's posted by Ryan Harris on Wed Feb 04, 2004 09:24:33 AM

I think that most of the radiation issue has to do with radioactive fallout (i.e. dust) that gets trapped in the airplane, not the radioactivity of the airplane itself.

I'm no expert on radioactivity though... Does anyone know someone who is?

: I guess that the affects of radiation on aluminum aren't t
: hat bad after 50-60 years. I know that "Nine-O-Nine" was u
: sed in Operation Snapper in 1952 at the Nevada Test Site o
: n Yucca Flats. Final Cut says that she was used in three b
: lasts to test the "Vulnerability of Parked Aircraft to Ato
: mic Bombs". The first blast she was parked 10,000 ft from
: a 1 kiloton explosion, the second she was 10,000 ft from a
: 30 kiloton explosion, and the last she was 8,000 ft from
: a 19 kiloton explosion. After all this, it was determined
: she would need 5274 man hours to repair the damage. From t
: here, she was allowed to cool off until 1964 when the USAF
: determined that all subjects were "cooled" off and offere
: d for sale. Valley Scrap who bought 800 tons of the scrap
: from the site, purchased the B-17 for a net cost of $269!!
: ! 14 May 1965 is when she took to the air again. So she on
: ly sat for 12 years before she was considered safe which i
: s much shorter than I would've figured.
:
: I would think that wood is a little more likely to hang on
: to the stuff for quite a while seeing as how it is a laye
: red type material in a sense. It would seem that the radia
: tion can be trapped and absorbed much like say water does
: in wood. Not sure though after 60 years.

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