Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:46 am
After the war, the Enola Gay underwent some modification for tests in the Pacific to determine the effects of atomic weapons on naval ships but it never took part in the program
Wed Nov 09, 2005 12:53 pm
Wed Nov 09, 2005 1:07 pm
Wed Nov 09, 2005 1:54 pm
Fri Nov 11, 2005 11:18 am
wendovertom wrote:Of the original silverplate ships I understand that 5 of them were sent to China Lake never to be heard from again - perhaps they are still out there??
Tom P.
Fri Nov 11, 2005 11:35 am
Fri Nov 11, 2005 2:18 pm
Sat Nov 12, 2005 1:36 am
Mon Nov 14, 2005 9:01 am
jamesintucson wrote:I don't think Fifi can be a Silverplate B-29. Certainly not one of the original 17. They all came from Wichita and Fifi is Renton built according to the serial number. That's not to say it couldn't have been modified later, but its not a wartime Silverplate.
James
Mon Nov 14, 2005 10:01 am
originalboxcar wrote:The Enola Gay (model #B-29-45-MO) was accepted by the AAF aircraft on June 15, 1945 from Martin. I believe all silverplate B-29's were ordered and came from Martin. All Silverplate B-29 were just that B-29's and not B-29A's. FIFI (44-62070) was NOT included in this list as it was a B-29A
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/boeing_b29.htm
Late in 1944, AAF leaders selected the Martin assembly line to produce a batch of Superfortress atomic bombers codenamed "Silverplate" aircraft. Martin modified these special B-29s by deleting all gun turrets except for the tail position, removing armor plate, installing Curtiss electric propellers, and configuring the bomb bay to accommodate either the "Fat Man" or "Little Boy" versions of the atomic bomb. The AAF assigned 15 Silverplate ships to the 509th Composite Group commanded by Colonel Paul Tibbets and he named his personal B-29 "Enola Gay" after his mother.
http://cybermodeler.com/history/silverpl/silverpl.shtml
On 22 August, 24 SILVERPLATE-modified B-29s were ordered from the Glen L. Martin Modification Center at Omaha, Nebraska, with the first three aircraft to be delivered by 30 September, followed by 11 more by 31 December. These 14 aircraft would be used for test and training purposes. The remaining 10 were due "as soon as possible" in 1945; outfitted with the latest changes, they would be reserved for combat
After the war, the USAAF demobilized so rapidly that, within a year, it had become virtually ineffective as a fighting force. So debilitated had long-range bombing units become, in fact, that in early 1947 the Strategic Air Command found itself unable to identify the precise location and condition of all its SILVERPLATE airplanes. As a result, inspectors were sent out to track down and physically examine all of the aircraft remaining in the SILVERPLATE fleet. So many modifications and changes - some documented, others not - had been made that no two aircraft were identical. Drawings and paperwork had been discarded or misplaced, and new engineering materials would have to be drawn up from scratch before further improvements could be incorporated. Even the very name SILVERPLATE had become compromised through overuse and carelessness. To mark renewed emphasis on security, the USAAF's atomic weapon program ceased to be called SILVERPLATE on 12 May 1947; henceforth, a new codeword, SADDLETREE, would take its place.
Mon Nov 14, 2005 10:53 am
Tue Nov 15, 2005 6:51 pm