Whatever happened to the thunderbolt prototypes?

[Brendan W]

Update: they emailed me some info about the thunderbolt series, but it was just 4 PDFs of manuals for the different thunderbolt series'. I'm gonna try to find someone who worked there at that time or who might know.

Honestly guy, if you want to do that, be prepared to sit in a candle-lit pentagram but not before brushing up on how to channel spirits to communicate with you. I honestly have a feeling that if one still exists, it would have surfaced by now given the mounds of knowledge out there on these things as we speak.

[OnlineRecords0]

If someone at federal who remembers the first thunderbolt still worked there they'd be nearly 90. People can point to other people. Paperwork tracks everything. That siren probably had a build receipt, an insurance policy being a demo unit, waybills tracking where it went and at least an asset tag.

Yea, I think most who were alive at that time are likely in a coffin underground.

[Gil]

If someone at federal who remembers the first thunderbolt still worked there they'd be nearly 90. People can point to other people. Paperwork tracks everything. That siren probably had a build receipt, an insurance policy being a demo unit, waybills tracking where it went and at least an asset tag.

Any “paperwork” is probably long gone. Companies don’t keep records like that forever.

[Tboltguy]

UPDATE: I found an old newspaper clipping about the first test of a thunderbolt prototype in Minneapolis, MN on January 11th, 1952. The article details how it worked and the people that were testing it, and a description of it being tested.

I've attached a screenshot of the page below, you can see a picture of the prototype being tested in the upper right hand corner.

[Ohio_Man]

Well done lad! Don't forget local libraries and universities have microfilm archives and similar data. When I was at UC they had some interesting articles when I had the time and energy to look.

[JasonC]

Very cool! Research like this will yield much more information than emailing the suits at Federal. Search the forum, there are pictures of the prototypes that have been posted before.

[Tboltguy]

I've emailed the Minneapolis city clerk to see if he has any info on it since the city clerk is in charge of archives and record keeping.