Category Archives: Information

Boeing B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay”, 393rd BS, Heavy, 509th Composite Group with Atomic Bomb “Little Boy”

Boeing B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay”, 393rd BS, Heavy, 509th Composite Group 

TYPE: High-altitude strategic bomber

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of 12

POWER PLANT: Four Wright R-3350-57 Cyclone turbo-supercharged radials, rated at 2,200 hp each

PERFORMANCE: 339 mph

COMMENT: The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, the Superfortress was designed for high-altitude strategic bombing, but also excelled in low-altitude night incendiary bombing, and in dropping naval mines to blockade Japan. B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only aircraft ever to drop nuclear weapons in combat.

 

Preface of the following three posts

These three posts show pictures of  the most famous aircraft Boeing B-29 Superfortress (Model number B-29-45-MO, Serial number 44-86292, Victor number # 12, (squadron-assigned identification))  – later known as Enola Gay – that dropped the first atomic bomb Little Boy on Hiroshima on 6th August 1945.

Post I shows the B-29 when it arrived from Wendover Army Air Field, Utah, to North Field, Tinian, Marianas on June 1945. The aircraft was flown by aircraft commander Captain Robert A. Lewis and his crew B-9. At that time the tail marking was that of the 393rd BS, Heavy, 509th Composite Group, a circle outline (denoting the 313th Wing) around an arrowhead pointing forward. The aircrafts Victor number was # 12 and the ship lacked of any nose art.

Post II shows the same aircraft at the beginning of August 1945. The aircrafts tail markings were repainted with the tail markings of the 6th Bombardment Group (Circle R), XXI Bomber Command groups as a security measure. It was feared that Japanese survivors on Tinian were reporting the 509th’s activities to Tokyo by clandestine radio. The Victor (identification assigned by the squadron) numbers previously assigned the 393d aircraft were changed number # 82 to avoid confusion with B-29s of the groups from whom the tail identifiers were borrowed.
Although all of the B-29s involved in the Hiroshima- and Nagasaki-Mission were named, the only nose art applied to the aircraft before the atomic bomb missions was that of Enola Gay. With some exceptions, the others were applied some time in August 1945

Post III shows the Enola Gay after the Hiroshima strike. The circle R tail marking of the 6th Bombardment Group, 313th Bomb Wing tail marking was changed back to that of the 509th Composite Group, circle outline around an arrowhead pointing forward. The Victor # 82 and nose art at port side „Enola Gay“ remained unchanged, additional nose art at starboard side was „First Atomic Bomb Hiroshima – August 6/1945“

Boeing B-29A Superfortress “Rattle N’ Roll”, 6th Bomber Group, 313th Bomb Wing, XXth USAAF, (Academy Models)

TYPE: High-altitude strategic bomber

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of 11

POWER PLANT: Four Wright R-3350-23 Duplex-Cyclone air-cooled turbocharged radial piston engines, 2,200 hp each

PERFORMANCE:  357 mp

COMMENT: The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, the Superfortress was designed for high-altitude strategic bombing, but also excelled in low-altitude night incendiary bombing, and in dropping naval mines to blockade Japan. B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only aircraft ever to drop nuclear weapons in combat.
One of the largest aircraft of World War II, the B-29 was designed with state-of-the-art technology, which included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system that allowed one gunner and a fire-control officer to direct four remote machine gun turrets. The $3 billion cost of design and production, far exceeding the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project (development oft he atomic bomb), made the B-29 program the most expensive of the war. The B-29 remained in service in various roles throughout the 1950s, being retired in the early 1960s after 3,970 had been built.
Before World War II, the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) concluded that the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, which would be the Americans’ primary strategic bomber during the war, would be inadequate for the Pacific Theater, which required a bomber that could carry a larger payload more than 3,000 miles
In response, Boeing began work on pressurized long-range bombers in 1938. Boeing’s design study for the Model 334 was a pressurized derivative of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress with nosewheel undercarriage. Although the Air Corps lacked funds to pursue the design, Boeing continued development with its own funds as a private venture. In April 1939, Charles Lindberg convinced General Henry H. Arnold to produce a new bomber in large numbers to counter the Germans’ bomber production. In December 1939, the Air Corps issued a formal specification for a so-called “superbomber” that could deliver 20,000 lb of bombs to a target 2,667 mi away, and at a speed of 400 mph. Boeing’s previous private venture studies formed the starting point for its response to the Air Corps formal specification.
Boeing submitted its Model 345 on May 1940, in competition with designs from Consolidated Aircraft Model 33, which later became the Convair B-32 Dominator, Lockheed XB-30 and Douglas XB-31 Raidmaster. Douglas and Lockheed soon abandoned work on their projects, but Boeing received an order for two flying prototypes, which were given the designation XB-29, and an airframe for static testing on August 1940, with the order being revised to add a third flying aircraft on December. Consolidated continued to work on its Model 33, as it was seen by the Air Corps as a backup if there were problems with Boeing’s design. Boeing received an initial production order for 14 service test aircraft and 250 production bombers in May 1941, this being increased to 500 aircraft in January 1942. The B-29 featured a fuselage design with circular cross-section for strength. The need for pressurization in the cockpit area also led to the B-29 being one of very few American combat aircraft of World War II to have a stepless cockpit design, without a separate windscreen for the pilots.
Manufacturing the B-29 was a complex task that involved four main-assembly factories. Thousands of subcontractors were also involved in the project. The first prototype made its maiden flight on September 1942. The combined effects of the aircraft’s highly advanced design, challenging requirements, immense pressure for production, and hurried development caused setbacks. Unlike the unarmed first prototype, the second was fitted with a Sperry defensive armament system using remote-controlled gun turrets sighted by periscopes and first flew on December 1942, although the flight was terminated due to a serious engine fire.
On February 1943, the second prototype experienced an engine fire and crashed. Changes to the production craft came so often and so fast that, in early 1944, B-29s flew from the production lines directly to modification depots for extensive rebuilds to incorporate the latest changes. USAAF-contracted modification centers and its own air depot system struggled to handle the scope of the requirements. By the end of 1943, although almost 100 aircraft had been delivered, only 15 were airworthy. This prompted an intervention by General Hap Arnold to resolve the problem, with production personnel being sent from the factories to the modification centers to speed availability of sufficient aircraft to equip the first bomb groups in what became known as the “Battle of Kansas”. This resulted in 150 aircraft being modified in the five weeks, between March and April 1944.
The most common cause of maintenance headaches and catastrophic failures was the engines. Although the Wright R-3350 Duplex Cyclone radials later became a trustworthy workhorse in large piston-engined aircraft, early models were beset with dangerous reliability problems.
In wartime, the B-29 was capable of flight at altitudes up to 31,850 feet at speeds of up to 350 mph (true air speed)). This was its best defense because Japanese fighters could barely reach that altitude, and few could catch the B-29 even if they did attain that altitude.
The General Electric Central Fire Control system on the B-29 directed four remotely controlled turrets armed with two .50 Browning M2 machine guns each. All weapons were aimed optically, with targeting computed by analog electrical instrumentation. There were five interconnected sighting stations located in the nose and tail positions and three Plexiglas blisters in the central fuselage. Five General Electric analog computers (one dedicated to each sight) increased the weapons’ accuracy by compensating for factors such as airspeed, lead, gravity, temperature and humidity. The computers also allowed a single gunner to operate two or more turrets (including tail guns) simultaneously. The gunner in the upper position acted as fire control officer, managing the distribution of turrets among the other gunners during combat. The tail position initially had two .50 Browning machine guns and a single M2 20 mm cannon. Later aircraft had the 20 mm cannon removed, sometimes replaced by a third machine gun.
The crew would enjoy, for the first time in a bomber, full-pressurization comfort. This first-ever cabin pressure system for an Allied production bomber was developed for the B-29 by Garrett AiResearck and  a long tunnel joining the forward and rear crew compartments. Crews could use the tunnel if necessary to crawl from one pressurized compartment to the other.
In early 1945, Major General Curtiss LeMay, commander of XXI Bomber Command—the Marianas-based B-29-equipped bombing force—ordered most of the defensive armament and remote-controlled sighting equipment removed from the B-29s under his command. The affected aircraft had the same reduced defensive firepower as the nuclear weapons-delivery intended Silverplate B-29 airframes and could carry greater fuel and bomb loads as a result of the change. The lighter defensive armament was made possible by a change in mission from high-altitude, daylight bombing with high explosive bombs to low-altitude night raids using incendiary bombs. As a consequence of that requirement, Bell Atlanta (BA) produced a series of 311 B-29Bs that had turrets and sighting equipment omitted, except for the tail position, which was fitted with AN/APG-15 fire-control radar. That version could also have an improved APQ-7 “Eagle” bombing-through-overcast radar fitted in an airfoil-shaped radome under the fuselage. Most of those aircraft were assigned to the 315th Bomb Wing, Northwest Field, Guam.
In September 1941, the USAAF’ plans for war against Germany and Japan proposed basing the B-29 in Egypt for operations against Germany, as British airbases were likely to be overcrowded.  By the end of 1943, plans had changed, partly due to production delays, and the B-29 was dedicated to the Pacific Theater. A new plan implemented deployed the B-29 units to attack Japan from four forward bases in southern Cina, with five main bases in India, and to attack other targets in the region from China and India as needed. The XX Bomber Command, initially intended to be two combat wings of four groups each, was reduced to a single wing of four groups because of the lack of availability of aircraft, automatically limiting the effectiveness of any attacks from China.
This was an extremely costly scheme, as there was no overland connection available between India and China, and all supplies had to be flown over the Himalayas, either by transport aircraft or by B-29s themselves, with some aircraft being stripped of armor and guns and used to deliver fuel.
The solution to this problem was to capture the Mariana Islands, which would bring targets such as Tokyo, about 1,500 mi north of the Marianas within range of B-29 attacks. The Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed in December 1943 to seize the Marianas.
US forces invaded Saipan  on 15 June 1944 what was secured by 9 July. Operations followed against Guam and Tinian, with all three islands secured by August.
Naval construction battalions (Seabees) began at once to construct air bases suitable for the B-29, commencing even before the end of ground fighting. In all, five major airfields were built: two on the flat island of Tinian, one on Saipan, and two on Guam. Each was large enough to eventually accommodate a bomb wing consisting of four bomb groups, giving a total of 180 B-29s per airfield. These bases could be supplied by ship and, unlike the bases in China, were not vulnerable to attack by Japanese ground forces. The bases became the launch sites for the large B-29 raids against Japan in the final year of the warand  the first combat mission was launched from there on 28 October 1944, with 14 B-29s, the first attack on the Japanese capital since the Doolittle Raid in April 1942.
Boeing B-29A Superfortress “Rattle N’ Roll” showed here belonged to the 6th Bomber Group, 313th Bomb Wing, XXth USAAF, stationed at North Field, Tinian, Marianas
The most famous B-29s were the Silverplate series. These aircraft were extensively modified to carry nuclear weapons. Serious consideration was given to using the British Lancaster bomber, as this would require less modification. The most significant modification was the enlargement of the bomb bay enabling each aircraft to carry either the  “Little Boy”, an enriched uranium gun-type fission  weapon or “Fat Man”, a plutonium implosion-type nuclear weapon.
Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 by B-29 Enola Gay, flown by Colonel Paul W. Tibbets Jr and the Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945 by B-29 Bockscar, flown by Mayor Charles W. Sweeney.
Japan surrendered to the Allies on 15 August, six days after the bombing of Nagasaki and effectively ended World War II (Ref.: 24).

Fieseler Fi 256 Super-Storch (Huma Models)

TYPE: Liaison aircraft

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot plus four passengers

POWER PLANT: One Argus As 10P liquid-cooled engine, rated at 237 hp

PERFORMANCE: 136 mph

COMMENT: The Fieseler Fi 256 was a multipurpose aircraft designed for the German Luftwaffe to replace the extraordinary successfull Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork).
Aerodynamically cleaner, with automatic slats and a more spacious cabin for four passengers, the Fi 256 was supposed to enter the Luftwaffe, replacing its previous sibling. Although the new Super-Storch repeated the layout of the previous model, it was a completely new aircraft with non-interchangeable components in its design.
The first flight of the prototype took place on July 9, 1941, but one of its next flights ended in an accident, which forced the developers to make significant changes in the aircraft design. After the alteration, a pre-production batch of 13 aircraft was ordered, of which six were to be produced by Fieseler, and the rest by Schwade in Erfurt (in France, not a single aircraft was built at Morane-Saulnier). Serial production was planned for 1943, however, only two prototypes and at least 14 aircraft were completed. Production was ceased due to the high priority of the Jägernotprogramm (Ref.: 24).

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3, 34 IAP (Italeri)

TYPE: Fighter and interceptor aircraft

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Mikulin AM-35A liquid-cooled engine, rated at 1,332 hp

PERFORMANCE: 314 mph at 25,590 ft

COMMENT: The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 was a Soviet fighter and interceptor aircraft used during World War II. It was a development of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1 by the Experimental Design Department of Factory No. 1 to remedy problems found during the MiG-1’s development and operations. It replaced the MiG-1 on the production line at Factory No. 1 on December 1940 and was built in large numbers during 1941 before Factory No. 1 was converted to build the Ilyushin Il-2.
The large number of defects noted during flight testing of the MiG-1 forced Mikoyan and Gurevich to make a number of modifications to the design. Testing was done on a full-size aircraft in the T-1 wind tunnel belonging to the Central Aero and Hydrodynamics Institute (TsAGI) to evaluate the problems and their proposed solutions. The first aircraft to see all of these changes applied was the fourth prototype of the I-200. It first flew on 29 October 1940 and was approved for production after passing its State acceptance trials. The first MiG-3, as the improved aircraft was named on December 1940, was completed same month and another 20 were delivered by the end of the year.
Changes included: the engine was moved forward, outer wing panel dihedral was increased by one degree to increase lateral stability, the back of the pilot’s seat was armored with an 8 mm plate (increased to 9 mm in later models, the supercharger intakes were streamlined, the main landing gear was strengthened and the size of the main wheels was increased and the canopy glazing was extended aft to improve the view to the rear which allowed for the installation of a shelf behind the pilot for an RSI-1 radio (later upgraded to an RSI-4)
Despite the teething problems with the MiG-3, a number of reports had been received about poor quality aircraft received by the regiments which pointed directly at the NII VVS (Naoochno-Issledovatel’skiy Institoot Voyenno-Vozdooshnykh Seel—Air Force Scientific Test Institute) as it was responsible for monitoring the quality of the aircraft delivered to the VVS (Soviet Air Force). After elimination of most problems the production started and 3,422 aircraft were built in different factories spread over the eastern parts of Soviet Union.
The MiG-3’s top speed of 398 mph at 23,622 ft was faster than the 382 mph of the German Messerschmitt Bf 109F-2 in service at the beginning of 1941 and the British Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V’s 375 mph. At lower altitudes the MiG-3’s speed advantage disappeared as its maximum speed at sea level was only 314 mph while the Bf 109F-2 could do 320 mph. Unfortunately for the MiG-3 and its pilots, aerial combat over the Eastern front generally took place at low and medium altitudes where it had no speed advantage.
MiG-3s were delivered to frontline fighter regiments beginning in the spring of 1941 and were a handful for pilots accustomed to the lower-performance and docile Polikarpov I-152 and I-153 biplanes and the Polikarpov I-16 monoplane. It remained tricky and demanding to fly even after the extensive improvements made over the MiG-1 Many fighter regiments had not kept pace in training pilots to handle the MiG and the rapid pace of deliveries resulted in many units having more MiGs than trained pilots during the German invasion. By June 1941, 1,029 MIG-3s were on strength, but there were only 494 trained pilots. However high-altitude combat of this sort was to prove to be uncommon on the Eastern Front where most air-to-air engagements were at altitudes well below 16,000 ft. At these altitudes the MiG-3 was outclassed by the Bf 109 in all respects, and even by other new Soviet fighters such as the Yakovlev Yak-1. Furthermore, the shortage of ground-attack aircraft in 1941 forced it into that role as well, for which it was totally unsuited.
Over the winter of 1941–42 the Soviets transferred all of the remaining MiG-3s to the Soviet Naval Aviation and Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO) so that on 1 May 1942 none were left on strength with the VVS. By May 1942, Naval Aviation had 37 MiGs on strength, while the PVO had 323 on hand on May. By June 1944, the Navy had transferred all its aircraft to the PVO, which reported only 17 on its own strength, and all of those were gone by January 1945. Undoubtedly more remained in training units and the like, but none were assigned to combat units by then (Ref.: 24).

Über ModelPlanes.de

Kurzbeschreibung: Diese Bildergalerie beinhaltet Flugmodelle aus dem Zweiten Weltkrieg im Maßstab 1:72 als Spritzguss, Resin- und Vacu-formed Bausätze sowie selbst angefertigte Umbauten (Conversions) .

Liebe Besucherin, lieber Besucher,

Sie finden hier Fotos von Flugzeugmodellen aus dem II. Weltkrieg im Maßstab 1:72, Flugzeuge also der United States Army Air Force (USAAF), der United States Navy (US Navy) der Royal Air Force (RAF), der Royal Navy (RN), der Imperial Army Air Force (IAAF), der Imperial Navy Air Force (IANF, beide Japan), der Deutschen Luftwaffe (GAF), den Marinefliegern und der Luftwaffe der Sovietunion.  Innerhalb der jeweiligen Luftstreitkräfte können Sie wieder auswählen können zwischen Jägern, Jagdbombern, Bombern , Trainern usw, aber auch Projekten, die nie geflogen sind, sowie Nachkriegsentwicklungen, deren Anfänge in die Zeit des WW II zurückreichen.

Ich habe diese Modelle aus reiner Freude für mich selbst gebaut, nicht etwa, um sie irgend jemandem zu zeigen oder gar auf einer Ausstellung vorzuführen.
Im Laufe von vier Jahrzehnten sind dabei mehr als 1.500 Modelle fertig gestellt worden und viele harren noch – teils schon seit Jahren – des Baues, der endgültigen Vollendung oder nur des letzten Finish.
Die Verfügbarkeit des Internets und der Digitaltechnik hat mich nun aber doch verleitet, meine Modelle einem größeren Kreis sichtbar zu machen, was ich hiermit anbiete.

Continue reading Über ModelPlanes.de

About ModelPlanes.de

Brief description: This picture gallery contains aircraft models of World War II on a scale 1:72 as injection moulded, resin- and vacu- formed kits as well as home-made conversions.

Dear Visitor,

Here, you will find photos of aircraft models of World War II on a scale 1:72. e.g. those of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF), the United States Navy (USN), the Royal Air Force (RAF), the Royal Navy (RN) , the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF), the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force (IJNAF), the German Air Force (Luftwaffe, GAF) and the Air Force of the Soviet Union. Within these branches of the services you can select between fighters, fighter-bombers, bombers, trainers etc. Also you can select projects, designed on the drawing board as well as post-war developments, whose origin dated back into the time of WW II.

Important notice: Among the aircraft models shown here there are many aircraft from the former German Air Force (Deutsche Luftwaffe). They all show the swastika as a national symbol of that time. I would like to point out that this is not a political statement, but rather a source of historical information on the types of aircraft flown by the German Luftwaffe before and during the Second World War. It is to be taken as a reference for all aviation enthusiasts, and not taken as an expression of any sympathy for the Nazi regime or any  Neo-Nazi or Right wing hate Groups.

I have built all these models just for fun and never, it has been my intention to show them anybody or to present them at a show. Over the years more then 1.500 models have emerged, and many more kits have not been completed yet, or are still waiting for the finish or the last little detail.

Continue reading About ModelPlanes.de