In 1976 this Hellcat was loaned to the USS Yorktown Museum at Charleston, South Carolina. It was assigned to the National Air Museum on November 3, 1948, and remained at Norfolk until October 4, 1960, when it was moved by barge to Washington and placed in storage. Records indicate that exposure of this aircraft to the radioactive cloud was minimal and residual radiation is negligible.į6F-3K 41834 was transferred to NAS Norfolk and logged its last flight on March 25, 1947, with a total of 430.2 flying hours. Three more manned flights preceded the final unmanned flight on July 25, 1946, which evaluated the first underwater explosion. Instrumentation on board and photographic plates taped to the control stick obtained data on radioactivity. It flew on June 24, 1946, with a pilot, on a practice flight and was launched, unmanned, soon after the first bomb test. Its mission was to be used in Operation Crossroads - the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. It was painted red with a pink tail that carried the number 14. After numerous transfers 41834 was converted to an F6F-3K target drone with the installation of sophisticated radio-control equipment. After repair, it was assigned to VF-83 where it was used in a training role until February 21, 1945. On arrival, it was assigned to VF-3 where it sustained damage in a wheels-up landing at NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii. It was assigned to Fighter Squadron 15 (VF-15) on USS Hornet (CV12) bound for Hawaii. It was delivered to the Navy on February 7, and arrived in San Diego, California, on the 18th. 41834, was built at Grumman's Bethpage, New York, factory in February 1944 under contract NOA-(S)846. The National Air and Space Museum's F6F-3 Hellcat, BuNo. The Wildcat's intended replacement, the Vought F4U Corsair (see NASM collection), first flown in 1940, was showing great promise, but development was slowed by problems, including the crash of the prototype.
Navy's then current front-line fighter, the F4F Wildcat (see NASM collection). The Grumman F6F Hellcat was originally conceived as an advanced version of the U.S. Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat:
Polished aluminum finish overall, standard late-World War II Army Air Forces insignia on wings and aft fuselage and serial number on vertical fin 509th Composite Group markings painted in black "Enola Gay" in black, block letters on lower left nose. x 99ft 1in., 71825.9lb., 141ft 15/16in.)įour-engine heavy bomber with semi-monoqoque fuselage and high-aspect ratio wings. Transferred from the United States Air Force. A third B-29, The Great Artiste, flew as an observation aircraft on both missions.
Enola Gay flew as the advance weather reconnaissance aircraft that day. Air Force Museum near Dayton, Ohio) dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Three days later, Bockscar (on display at the U.S. On August 6, 1945, this Martin-built B-29-45-MO dropped the first atomic weapon used in combat on Hiroshima, Japan. In the Pacific, B-29s delivered a variety of aerial weapons: conventional bombs, incendiary bombs, mines, and two nuclear weapons. Although designed to fight in the European theater, the B-29 found its niche on the other side of the globe. Udvar-Hazy | Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay":īoeing's B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated propeller-driven bomber of World War II and the first bomber to house its crew in pressurized compartments. See more photos of this, and the Wikipedia article.ĭetails, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay" (front starboard view), with Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat at back-right, among others