Warbird Information Exchange

All that work restoring the bomb bays and they keep the doors shut!

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"Everyone wants to live here (New Jersey), evidenced by the fact that it has the highest population per capita in the U.S..."

"The Enola Gay has led a somewhat checkered life"

If you count helping to win the war checkered, I guess thats right.

I saw the Enola Gay at the Garber Center back in the late 80s and the front section was almost finished being restored. There were thousands of polaroid pictures on a table in front of it. The front seemed almost complete.

Is tehre further information available on why this was not completed?

There are almost none of her electrical systems in place, some avionics missing, stuff like that.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

I have been very fortunate to have been able to help out a little with the restoration of the Enola Gay over the years. Recently I was able to do surgery on the Norden M-9B bomb sight and replace some parts that were removed in 1946.

Having been inside her and seen her restoration progress as well as having been inside many other B-29's in museums I can say with confidence that the Enola Gay is one of the most complete, original and authentic B-29's surviving today. Her interior is mostly factory original including her upholstery, components and electrical system.

Many items were removed by souvenir hunter’s way back when she was stored under less than ideal conditions but all of these have been replaced during her restoration. The restoration is ongoing even though she is not very accessible at the Hazy facility. Bernie Poppert, who is the Deputy Director of Restoration, is the one who is dedicated to getting her back in to her August 6th condition. As more information or original parts are uncovered to make her more complete, Bernie makes sure they are incorporated in the restoration. Bernie is a true advocate for the Enola Gay and helps to improve her even when others think that no further work is needed.

She is a beautiful restoration and you all should be happy that your tax dollars were spent wisely. Instead of stripping her out, repainting and removing every trace of authenticity that is so common these days she has truly been restored to her original condition by preservation and careful restoration.

Mike Hanz has been working very hard over the years to make the Enola Gay more complete and original especially the radio, counter measures and radar equipment. He has a great web site with recent interior photos of the crew positions.

http://aafradio.org/NASM/Enola_avionics_narrative.htm

In these photos you can see just how beautiful the Enola Gay is thanks to Mike, Bernie and the awesome restoration staff at the National Air and Space Museum.

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To donate to the PV-2D project via PayPal click here http://www.twinbeech.com/84062restoration.htm

We brought her from: to this in 3 months: Help us get her all the way back

All donations are tax deductible as the Stockton Field Aviation Museum is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Tell a friend as the Harpoon needs all the help she can get.

Thank you!

Taigh Ramey
Vintage Aircraft, Stockton, California
http://www.twinbeech.com
'KEEP ‘EM FLYING…FOR HISTORY!'

Great post Taigh! The interior photos on the link sent a chill up my spine! Hats off to you and the EG restoration team!

Hey Taigh,
I was told that her electrial systems such as all of the wiring and alot of her plumbing were not there. Can you shed any light? It looks better than I thought it was going to in there form your pics.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

Well, that assessment you were given comes somewhat as a surprise to me, but then I've only been working on her for five years or so. I'm still sorting out interphone jack connections and the like, but as you can see from my photos, essentially all the wiring is there. There are no missing pieces of avionics as far as I know, but I'll caveat that with the proviso that we are still researching some of the pieces of equipment carried on 6 August 1945, and we occasionally get a surprise from unexpected quarters.

Taigh gave an excellent summary of where we are on the restoration, and I always jump at the chance to work with him when he comes to town. I don't mean to minimize the amount of work left to do - it's even a source of puzzlement for the aircraft's Curators that we keep coming back to them for permission to get up in her, but we continue to discover more tiny things to correct/add. For example, power cable fabrication for the countermeasures gear that I donated in the radar compartment still remains as one of my major "to dos". We are [i]still[\i] constantly discovering small mounting holes in places we never noticed before, and have to figure out what went there despite the lack of detailed plans or pictures from that date in August. Most recently we fond some small mounting holes on the radio operator's and navigator's tables that had puzzled me for some time. Bernie brought a sheaf of photos from Bockscar that were taken in about July 1945 that showed a pair of ash trays there. Just having to have a couple of 1936 Ford ash trays in zinc chromate from my personal collection, I brought them down to Udvar-Hazy on one of our finishing touch visits and they fit the holes perfectly! I need to update the photos on my website with some of the latest views, because we are still adding little details like that. For those with an interest in weird details, there are some other views of the aircraft in odd places on my website, like those at http://aafradio.org/flightdeck/Peripherals.html (ash trays and the plywood floor on the radar compartment are under the "miscellaneous" link, for example.)

I could go on for hours, but I'll follow Taigh's outstanding example of brevity and stop while I'm ahead.

Best wishes,
Mike Hanz

I am a big enough of a man to admit when I am wrong about a project. It looks like I was wrong about yours. You guys are doing a good job. THe way I was told, from a person that was in there made me think it was not nearly as complete as it is. Great work

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager