Insignia on a B-29 based at Tinian

Hey Keyworth,

If and when you're able to dig something up, I'd love to see some of that stuff of your Dad's that you have, especially the unit history. Looking forward to seeing any info you may post!

Also, what did your Dad do in the 8th AF & the 497th BG? And what unit was he with while in the 8th?


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Hey Dan,

Actually, I'm not really that knowledgable about the Atom-Bombers. (Well, I am now... ) I just did a bit of research after I saw your post 'cuz that's what I like to do! Before this I had almost nada info in my head on the subject, but now it's turned into a small quest! This is really interesting stuff, I must say...

Anyhoo, yeah the 509th B-29's were highly modified and the only armament retained were the tail guns. The fuselage turrets as well as the sighting domes were removed and capped. Here's a photo of Straight Flush and a relative closeup of the port dome cap:

(I'm sure you know this already, but you may be able to click on these photos to get a larger image. The auto-resize on this forum doesn't always work... Anyhoo, this first one is a rather nice shot!)





Alotta stuff was removed from these B-29's to lighten them up as there was a buncha atom-bomb related equipment on board some, if not all, of the aircraft; not to mention the bombs themselves. (When not carried, I believe they used ballast in place of the bombs for training purposes.)

There was also a general desire to make them lighter and a bit faster because of the nature of their mission and the relative unkowns involved.

I guess there were probably alotta factors involved in the removal of much of the standard internal equipment, but these are the ones that seem to be repeated most often wherever I look.

The engines were different as well, as were the props. They were cuffed Curtiss Electrics, if I'm not mistaken. I'll have to dig that info up. I think it may be on that website somewhere...

One more word about markings, I came across a bit of info that I found to be interesting:

Even though the spurious tail markings were adopted to mask the true identities of the aircraft, the 509th's ships apparently could be discerned, at a distance, from B-29's of the actual units that used these markings because the markings applied to the 509th ships were not applied as precisely as those of the other units' ships. I guess there were differences in shape & size of the geometric symbols and of the letters used. This would make sense, the other units would undoubtedly have some sort of template systems in use because of the large number of aircraft to be marked, but the 509th likely wouldn't bother with such templates for these temporary markings. Some may find this to be boring, but I LOVE it!!!


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D-fens, I'll see what I can dig up. It'll be later this week. I'll stay in touch. Watch this thread.

Hey Keyworth. The B-29 model I'm working on is a gift for the son of the captain of Laggin' Dragon and I wanted to do it right. He's given me some color photos of the noseart that he has in his possession.

I originally wanted to make a small(ish) diorama perhaps with some support vehicles in the background, but my lack of reference photos made me move towards making a static model instead. If you have any photos that show activity around the a/c (refueling, repairing, etc) , I would love to see them.

I must say that I've learned quite a lot researching this part of history and even though my old man was a submariner in the Pacific during WWII, I've also come to appreciate what was done above the waterline.

Dan

Wow. I owe you more than I can repay, blackwolfscd. That tail insignia is exactly what I was looking for. Since you are very learned on this topic, I have one more question: I've read that the B-29s in the 509th at Tinian had no armament save the tail gun, do you know if the waist turrets were simply unmanned or were they removed and covered up entirely?

Thanks again,

Dan

Nice stuff, Blackwolf. My dad served in the 497th late in the war after being transferred from the 8th AF. I have some of his personal stuff related to his stay on Tinian, including the unit history, which has very few photos of the a/c. I do have a large number of photos of the control towers, runways and hardstands taken from a hill overlooking the airstrip, if anyone needs fodder for diorama ideas. - Ed

Haven't found any photos of Laggin' Dragon showing the entire aircraft, but did come across a couple that you may find useful as well as mention of the tail markings used by the fifteen 393rd BS B-29's in Squadron's book Superfortress.

a/c 71, 72, 73 and 84: 497th BG



a/c 77, 85, 86 and 88: 444th BG



a/c 82, 89, 90 and 91: 6th BG



a/c 83, 94, 95: 39th BG



Laggin' Dragon being a/c 95, would have carried this last marking. The 39th BG was part of the 314th BW, the other groups attached being 19th BG, 29th BG & 330th BG. Late in the war many aircraft of all four groups are said to have carried yellow letters within the black squares. This example is the 330th BG:



Here's some shots of the Dragon, the only ones I've yet come across:









If you're interested in the 509th in general as well as the Manhattan Project itself, check this site out. All the above images (except the tail markings) can be found on this site, but I included them here because some are tough to find on the site itself.


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