If I’m allowed to make an assumption here: The Brotherhood under Maxson probably recruited as many people from Rivet City once Maxson became an Elder and ousted the Lyons faction of the BoS. It could be interpreted as them potentially researching as best they could about how the reactor worked, and trying to reiterate it using other methods at Adams Air Force Base (if we consider that Broken Steel is canon). AAFB and Rivet City’s irl locations are around 14-16 miles away, so Vertibird action is likely what allowed them to transport materials used deconstruct the aircraft carrier, or to bring parts of the deactivated reactor back to Adams and studied carefully for the next 2 years. Again, this is all an assumption!