IIRC in Feynman' Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman, some government folks surveyed the people working on the Manhattan Project for prospective usages of nuclear

IIRC in Feynman' Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman, some government folks surveyed the people working on the Manhattan Project for prospective usages of nuclear power to patent and a nuclear powered airplane was one of his first ideas, using the heat from the nuclear plant to heat air for a jet turbine.