[section9]

And now for our feature presentation!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Star of our Show-the One, the Only....

Miss ENOLA GAY!

This is a post-Hiroshima picture of the Enola Gay. Notice that the "Circle R" tail marking from the Hiroshima mission has been removed and the 509th Composite Group's "Circle Strike Arrow" has been painted back onto the tail.

Enola Gay was the most advanced bomber of its time, and of the Silverplate Bombers of the 509th, it was considered to be the best of the 15 Silverplate Models (so designated because they were modified to carry atomic weapons). It's only possible rival was Chuck Sweeney's The Great Artiste (actually piloted by Charles D. Albury), seen here on the Tinian hardstand in 1945.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[MamaB]

Thanks for posting this.

[tanknetter]

Enola Gay was the most advanced bomber of its time, and of the Silverplate Bombers of the 509th, it was considered to be the best of the 15 Silverplate Models

You forgot to tell everyone why Enola Gay was the "best" of the Silverplate Superfortresses ...

Tibbits got to pick out the plane, personally, at the factory. He goes up to the Martin plant and starts looking over B-29s. He finds one he likes, and the shift supervisor tells him that the aircraft was largely assembled by guys working the first shift back after a holiday weekend and were probably all hung over. The shift supervisor then suggests Tibbits pick the third or fourth Superfort down the line, since it was assembled by a mid-week crew that was on top of their game. That B-29 became Enola Gay.

[Mr. Silverback]

The noseart on "The Great artiste" is one of my all-time favorites.