Enola Gay photo(s) request

[APG85]

This is a great discussion thread. Is there any chance of getting the rear bomb-bay fuel tanks for the plane?

[sandiego89]

Thank you again Taigh for the photos, the profiles of the Enola Gay on various times in her career and answers. Great stuff.

One more ? if I may:

The photo from the bomb bay, the photo right after the one showing the NASM fabricated bomb bracing showing a green wooden box marked "no step" and a green wooden "bench". Were the box and the "bench" Silverplate mods? Perhaps the bench where the bomb was armed?

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I imagine the fat man/Pumpkin (with red for the atomic strikes, black for pumpkins) symbols, and some of the other nose art on the other 509 aircraft were added within a few days/weeks of the Nagaskai mission. I note especially that "Up and Atom" and the mushroom cloud on Bock's Car must have been hastily added nose art after the secret was out.

[Taigh Ramey]

The photo from the bomb bay, the photo right after the one showing the NASM fabricated bomb bracing showing a green wooden box marked "no step" and a green wooden "bench". Were the box and the "bench" Silverplate mods? Perhaps the bench where the bomb was armed?

The green wood box with the NO STEP I believe is the stock location for the SCR-718 radio altimeter. The wood box being important to protect the receiver/transmitter as this is a walkway for armorers loading the bombs or crew traversing the bomb bay.

The wood platform, if I recall correctly, was made by Bernie at NASM. The brackets were there but the platform was missing. Bernie made one to fit and found out later that the original was made of metal and was lower. This was used to load the gun inside of the Little Boy bomb which I believe was done after takeoff and a safe distance from the islands.

[Taigh Ramey]

This is a great discussion thread. Is there any chance of getting the rear bomb-bay fuel tanks for the plane?

I wish there was. i found that one set that was pretty tough but the owner did not want to part with them. I turned the information to that same NASM curator but I doubt he ever followed up.

There is one other possibility but it may be a long shot because it involves one government agency giving something up to another government agency. It's worth a shot anyway as the tanks are the only big items missing.

[AFWhite]

Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay at North Field, Tinian 1945

What I like about this series of photos, is that you can see what I believe to be "Bockscar" #77 off in the background. There is no red band painted around the mid fuselage section on this date? Was it added on the 7th or 8th of August??

Also, from a scale modelers perspective, the chromate yellow color of the nose landing gear is evident. I am planning on building a diorama of this scene.

[APG85]

Also, from a scale modelers perspective, the chromate yellow color of the nose landing gear is evident. I am planning on building a diorama of this scene.

Wonder why the NASM didn't paint the nose strut in the Zinc Chromate color...?

[APG85]

A few shots from my visits (and a friend of mine) to Garber and the NASM...

[APG85]

The temporary display at the downtown museum...

[AFWhite]

Thanks for posting those.

I assume this is the Little Boy bomb rack that the NASM manufactured? Great reference photo, I'll end up making one of these

[markboss]

Great Pics, and info..keep them coming!

[APG85]

I assume this is the Little Boy bomb rack that the NASM manufactured? Great reference photo, I'll end up making one of these

Yes, they made it in the restoration shop. The original bomb rack was removed from the plane by the military when the aircraft was sent to storage. It might have been removed even earlier as the plane was configured for the Plutonium bomb (different rack?) during the follow-on A-Bomb test...

[Ken]

Because I'm a rivet counter at heart, I was looking at how the painted letters of "Enola Gay" appear to have changed over the years. There's the original application, then it looks as if someone painted over them to make them look better, making the letters in "Gay" look thicker to me. As she appears today, I assume NASM gently sanded off the top layers to reveal the original brush strokes because the paint looks thinner and the letters are not as thick in width.

This is a great thread - any others it should be merged with to create a "sticky"? Great stuff!

Ken

[Ken]

Because I'm a rivet counter at heart, I was looking at how the painted letters of "Enola Gay" appear to have changed over the years. There's the original application, then it looks as if someone painted over them to make them look better, making the letters in "Gay" look thicker to me. As she appears today, I assume NASM gently sanded off the top layers to reveal the original brush strokes because the paint looks thinner and the letters are not as thick in width.

This is a great thread - any others it should be merged with to create a "sticky"? Great stuff!

Ken

[APG85]

Because I'm a rivet counter at heart, I was looking at how the painted letters of "Enola Gay" appear to have changed over the years. There's the original application, then it looks as if someone painted over them to make them look better, making the letters in "Gay" look thicker to me. As she appears today, I assume NASM gently sanded off the top layers to reveal the original brush strokes because the paint looks thinner and the letters are not as thick in width.

This is a great thread - any others it should be merged with to create a "sticky"? Great stuff!

Ken

If I remember correctly (from what I read), the NASM gently removed the top coats to reveal the original lettering. I always thought they should have touched up the spots that went all the way to bare metal since (I'm guessing) this was caused by the removal process.
I also read that they (the NASM) left the original Stars and Bars on the wings and fuselage, coated them with a sealer, and painted over them with new paint...

[AFWhite]

At what point did they paint the crew names and "first atomic bomb" on the nose? I picked this one up a few months ago and would like to try to figure out when it was taken.

Would anyone know why Lt Jacob Beser's (RADAR/ECM Operator) name is not included here? I'm currently reading a book about the two Atomic missions, he is the only crewman to have flown on both aircraft that dropped the bombs.