1964 ... Coded Radio Monitor!


... among the many legends surrounding the 1964 Cold War black comedy "Dr. Strangelove" is the amazing detail in the scenes of the interior of the B-52 strategic bomber. The technical realism was due to production designer Ken Adam's WWII service with the RAF. Adams remained in contact with pilot friends who continued in the service and presumably helped him 'imagine' the workings of the airborne electronics needed to arm and deliver hydrogen bombs. Britain having it's own fleet of nuclear 'V-Bombers'.

Kubrick is reported to have been worried about Adam's degree of accuracy leading to all of them being rounded up by the CIA or MI6. Of particular interest is the device on-board Major Kong's 'Stratofortress' which is responsible for receiving the 'go-code' for a nuclear attack. The 'CRM-114' even has it's own Wikipedia page. If you look closely it has an ID plate with the 'Endix' corp. as the manufacturer. Bendix was a major producer of advanced electronics for the USAF


all images- Right click- open in New Window= super colossal size!

1 comment:

senormedia said...

Yeah, that "B" is pretty obviously covered up (painted?).