Photos and info from NASM

[Mark Nankivil]

Simply put, WOW! Thanks so very much for posting these and don't feel hesitant to post more

Enjoy the Day! Mark

[corsair166b]

Dude-

Seriously....to have access like that....to some of the most historic planes...and be able to poke around through them.....is basically the pinnacle of everything that anyone on here could hope to achieve (besides restoring or flying in them)....great stuff and nice to be able to see what we have to look forward to from the NASM in future years....it is an impressive facility, having been there in 2005, and now I want to go back because they've added quite a few since I was last there!

Mark

[clangjr]

I visited the Garber facility about 6 or 7 years ago, right about the time that digital cameras were becoming more accesible. I have all of my digital images somewhere if anyone is interested I can try to dig them up. One of the highlights that I clearly remember is being able to touch the wings of the then under restoration Enola Gay.

If there is interest I can try to find them.

[Django]

Bravo for the bttt.

Man, the Enola Gay looks good polished.

And the National Insiginas on Flak Bait make me feel all funny inside.

[Cripes A Mighty]

Good Lord. Wonderful shots. I need to get up there asap. Love the pics of the Uhu and the 410 as well as the interior pics of the Enola Gay....and, well heck love them all!!!!!

More Please

[Second Air Force]

Thanks for pulling this thread back on the front page, Gary!

Taigh,
Now that I have plenty of time for it, I've started searching for more of those elusive tanks here in the middle part of the U.S. I have a couple of leads to follow up on, maybe we can get the aft bomb bay on the Enola Gay equipped in the next few years.

Scott

[Taigh Ramey]

Thanks for the nice comments. This post is a few years old but the aircraft will be in the same condition or better. The folks at NASM sure do beautiful work.

Scott,

It would sure be great to get the bomb bay tanks back into the Enola Gay. It is one of the few big items still needed to make her complete.

I guess I do not understand why the director of your museum would rather let those tanks rot away instead of helping to put them back into one of the most significant and most historic aircraft in the world. There is no real need for any other B-29 to use them and sitting all by themselves seems a real shame when they could be restored and put back into the Enola Gay.

As I mentioned before; if it a matter of money or a trade I will gladly put something together to make him happy. Is there anything that will convince him to let those bomb bay tanks be hung in the aft bomb bay of the Enola Gay?

Thanks Scott,
Taigh

[Second Air Force]

Taigh,

You know I'm as interested as you are about getting a set of tanks in that bomb bay. Our leader is just VERY set in his ways (eccentric) when it comes to anything associated with the Base. Since I have lots of free time now, I expect that we'll be going up there several times this year to shingle the hangar roofs. I promise I won't give up on trying to work something out, but I am pretty sure money or other trade stuff isn't going to change the situation. I will have to use the power of gentle persuasion and diplomacy. At least there's hope, and I'll keep looking around for more of them.

Scott

[mustangdriver]

Great pictures man. THe NASM is a great collection, and is only going to get better.

[Taigh Ramey]

Sorry for the whining Scott. I really appreciate your help with this.

[Second Air Force]

Taigh,

I don't consider it "whining" in any way. I know how it feels to be able to actually see an opportunity so rare but not be able to achieve it. At least in this case there is some possibility that we can get the tanks (if I can wear down our leader). The man is extremely dedicated to his organization, and I don't fault him for that. It stinks to have to tell you to "be patient" but I don't know any quick way to win him over.

Scott

[Second Air Force]

Taigh,

I was sitting here thinking about ways we could get those tanks. Do you have enough pieces to build a reasonable mock-up of another B-29 turret? My thinking is this: If I could build a turret training mock-up similar to what the Base had originally (and Midland has sitting there) I might just talk our man out of those bomb bay tanks. A 250CE, Emerson or MPC turret would also be good stuff to propose to him (dreaming now). The Gunnery Training building is still standing at our field, and if I was able to start collecting turret stuff to put in there, it might just win him over. I'm not proposing a complete set of equipment, but if we could have a basic turret it might make him "see the light". Just a thought. I've wanted to build a turret trainer anyway, and Ellen has been bugging me for a project. A scrap Norden would help, too!

Still thinking,
Scott

[gregv]

Note the lighter white on the bar ends compared to the star, the darker shade to the brush painted red-surround cover-up, the slightly cocked inspection cover to the right, the bare metal inspection cover above it...it goes on and on; great details.

Excellent shots, it is amazing to see the richness of the preserved details; time capsules indeed. And to think that these aircraft could just as easily been "restored" in some goopy thick gloss coat of inaccurate colors, or even worse scrapped; the foresite to amass and preserve this collection is to be heartily commended, to say the least. An amazing resource for now and future generations.

Someone above was wondering why the He219's new paint was done in lighter shades than the original; I would guess that the NASM staff did a proper job of color matching, and any apparent discrepancy is due to age related conditions of the original paint.

Again, excellent shots. I'd love to get down there someday.

greg v.

[Django]

The best thing about that pic of the wings, is that even at a young age building models, I now know that my crappy little hand painted artwork and insignias would set me on a path toward total authenticity in modern day warbird restorations...

[Taigh Ramey]

I am guessing but I think Flak Bait came from the factory with the star in the circle. In the field she received the red bordered and the bars hence the different color between the star and bars. Then a few months later she had the red border over painted with the blue. Some was sprayed but most seem to be hand brushed.

In this shot of one of the insignia on the wing you can see the factory sharp line of the blue star which was over painted when they added the white bars. The white looks to have been sprayed but the red under the blue looks hand painted just like the blue border on top of it.



In the next two shots it looks like the blue border and the field around the star was painted at the same time. Once again you can see what looks like the factory outline of the circle and the star. It looks like the red was painted with a brush and the strokes can be seen through the blue. The patch was painted white over the brushed zinc but on the wings they were left in zinc. Three of the national insignias that I saw had flak repairs in them.





Interesting how the squadron code was applied and there are names scratched into them.



There is always the possibility that the paint may have been touched up post war but it sure looks original to me. What a treasure.