Enola Gay

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Some interesting details here.

DECLASSIFIED PHOTOS - "B-29  "Enola  Gay"
Forest Arden was the chief flight mechanic of  a B-29 stationed at Tinian Island.  His  aircraft was parked nearby to the Enola Gay and he  watched the loading procedure of the first Atomic  Bomb.  He said that security was strictly  enforced and no one was allowed to approach to  within 100 yards!  Few had any inkling of  what about to occur.  Everyone was astounded  at the sudden end of World War  II.


Pix from Tinian  Island as the B-29 "Enola Gay" was being  loaded.

Notice the "Top Secret" stamp on some of the  photos. In the last few pix notice the CRUDE sheet  metal work on the casing and fins of "Little Boy"  - the bomb that was dropped on  Hiroshima.

http://www.alternatewars.com/Bomb_Loading/Bomb_Guide.htm

[kerick]

Fascinating, thanks for posting.

[KJ_Lesnick]

Provided it's unclassified (odd considering it's so old and we have thousands of nukes these days that are more efficient but...)

1. I thought a plutonium gun was unworkable?

2. I count four "fat-man" casings: I'm kind of amazed that the casings were set up so quickly before the cores were avilable

[scooter]

2. I count four "fat-man" casings: I'm kind of amazed that the casings were set up so quickly before the cores were avilable

Casings are easy once the blueprints are drawn up.  Nothing so difficult that a decent machine shop can't put together

[Go4fun]

I think I have something like Fat Man in my closet.
Why does my dog glow at night? 
Fascinating photos. It amazes me that so many casings were built just to practice assembly and drops.

[sandiego89]

Provided it's unclassified (odd considering it's so old and we have thousands of nukes these days that are more efficient but...)

1. I thought a plutonium gun was unworkable?

2. I count four "fat-man" casings: I'm kind of amazed that the casings were set up so quickly before the cores were avilable

Note the pictures in the first link show a mix of photos from early testing, the "fat man" bomb from the Nagasaki Mission and the "little Boy" from the Hiroshima mission, mostly in that order.  

The first picture shows the original "thin man" designs for drop testing, and fat man shapes in the back ground.  Likely taken at Wendover, Utah.  Numerous test shapes were dropped at various ranges, including in Utah and near the Salton Sea in California. Thin man was the early front runner for a plutonium weapon, as it was initially deemed easiest to get a plutonium gun type device. Inability to get the right purification of plutonium, safety concerns, and the move/improvement in triggers and the like leading to shaped charges for an implosion device, led to thin man dropping out of favor for both the gun uranium device (little boy) and the spherical implosion plutonium (fat man) device.

Dozens of shapes of all types were machined and tested long before the physics packages were ready.  

Numerous test and combat drops over Japan were made with the fat man look alike dubbed "pumpkins".  Filled with high explosive, they replicated the size, shape and weight of the fat man weapons, and the 509th crews flew the same profile to prepare for the atomic strikes.  

[rickshaw]

Provided it's unclassified (odd considering it's so old and we have thousands of nukes these days that are more efficient but...)

1. I thought a plutonium gun was unworkable?

No, a plutonium gun is workable but it requires too much plutonium to make it work.  Implosion requires less and so is cheaper to do.

2. I count four "fat-man" casings: I'm kind of amazed that the casings were set up so quickly before the cores were avilable

Casings are easily made.  It's just steel fabrication.  Its what goes inside them that are the difficult bits.  Remember, they made quite a few to check the aerodynamics.

[Captain Canada]

Wow. Those are great photos ! Nice to see the convoy taking the bomb to the airfield, as well as the carts and pit etc.

Thanks for sharing this !

[kerick]

Diorama potential.

[jcf]

Provided it's unclassified (odd considering it's so old and we have thousands of nukes these days that are more efficient but...)

1. I thought a plutonium gun was unworkable?

No, a plutonium gun is workable but it requires too much plutonium to make it work.  Implosion requires less and so is cheaper to do.

2. I count four "fat-man" casings: I'm kind of amazed that the casings were set up so quickly before the cores were avilable

Casings are easily made.  It's just steel fabrication.  Its what goes inside them that are the difficult bits.  Remember, they made quite a few to check the aerodynamics.

We need a Kendra Facepalm emoticon. 

[KJ_Lesnick]

JCF,

What do you mean "a Kendra facepalm emoticon"?  I don't understand what your problem is as these were good questions to ask. 

1. If you read about the gun-type weapon, most say it is impossible

2. I did not know the dimensions were available until the weapon was built, and I was under the impression that the little man, fat-man were built after Gadget.