Truman's military advisers warned that hundreds of thousands of American lives could be lost if an invasion of Japan were not forestalled, others believe that Japan would have capitulated soon under the onslaught of conventional bombs raining down from the Enola Gay's sister ships. Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan.
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Harwit said he viewed the Enola Gay as an educational tool to teach the public about the issues that went into President Harry S. The restoration will cost about $1 million in all, he said.ĭr. The museum is negotiating with a couple of private groups for contributions that could speed the project. Martin Harwit, an astrophysicist who became director of the Air and Space Museum last year, said that at the present pace, restoration of the Enola Gay, which began four years ago, would probably not be complete until 1994. It will probably be trucked in pieces to an extension of the National Air and Space Museum that is planned for either Dulles International Airport in Virginia or Baltimore-Washington International Airport in Maryland and reassembled for display along with the space shuttle Enterprise and other air and space craft too large for the main museum on Washington's Mall.ĭr. But the Enola Gay is not intended to fly again. Horigan said, only the age of the plane's parts will prevent it from flying. Other bombers had nose art that was intimidating to enemies, on planes such as Surprise Attack and Axis Nightmare.''There is always controversy when you talk about nuclear weapons.'' Use as Educational Tool Names of wives of the crew, sweethearts, girlfriends, and mascots were frequent topics. Hometowns and states were also frequently used, on Miami Clipper, Memphis Belle, Carolina Moo, Arkansas Traveler and others. Aircraft names like Lady Eve, Forbidden Fruit, Heavenly Body, Our Gal Sa, Miss Behavin, Double Exposure and Picadilly Lilly were based on pinup girl art.īut other subjects were also popular, such as cartoon characters, on aircraft such as Super Wabbit, Ruptured Duck, and Thumper. Artists often mimicked Vargas-style "fantasy girl" pinup art on the military aircraft they painted. Pin-ups represented a dominant theme on the noses of WWII bombers and fighters. The art on the plane unified the crew, and identified it, and made it unique from all of the aircraft in their unit or on their base.
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Facing the prospect of death on every flight, the crew deserved all of the encouragement, and smiles, available to them. Nose art was a morale booster, and those in daily combat needed that boost. WWII would become the golden age of aircraft artistry.Īrtwork was typically painted on the nose of the plane, and the term " nose art" was coined. However, regulations were put in place after the war to stymie the practice.Īs the United States entered World War II, nose art regulations were relaxed, or in many cases totally ignored. The inscription of art work on military planes dates to World War I, when paintings were usually extravagant company or unit insignia. The Superfortress was a popular plane for nose art during World War II, as seen in the examples below. Designed as a high-altitude daytime bomber, the B-29 flew more low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing missions.Īs part of the World War II military buildup, 3,970 B-29s were built during production at four assembly plants across the United States. In wartime, the B-29 was capable of flight up to 31,850 feet at speeds of 350 mph. It was one of the most advanced bombers of the time, with innovations such as a pressurized cabin, a central fire-control system, and remote-controlled machine gun turrets. The winner of the competition was Boeing, and its B-29 Superfortress.
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Nose art on B-29 Superfortress "Sheer Madness"