He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on. Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. Today the Enola Gay remains in the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC while Bockscar is in the collection of the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. So what is largely forgotten is that while Bock didn’t pilot Bockscar he was in fact present in the other B-29, The Great Artiste, which was used for scientific measures and photography of the effects caused by the release of Fat Man. The two weather planes were 'Enola Gay' and 'Laggin' Dragon'. When Sweeney and his crew were chosen to deliver the Fat Man while Bock and his crew were chosen to provide observation support the decision was made to swap the crews rather than to move the complex instrumentation equipment. The B-29 'The Great Artiste' was designated as the observation, instrumentation support plane for the mission, and another B-29, 'The Big Stink' as the photographic aircraft. Martin Company (later part of Lockheed Martin) at its bomber plant in Bellevue, Nebraska, located at Offutt Field, now Offutt Air Force Base. This made it thousands of pounds lighter than a typical B-29 and allowed. In order to carry the enormous weapon, the plane had been stripped of anything non-essential.
The plane is a B-29 Superfortress which had been named after pilot Paul Tibbets’ mother. Accurate, finely engraved cock pit interior. On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Sweeney had used Bockscar for more than ten training and practice missions even though he and his usual crew had piloted another aircraft named The Great Artiste. Bockscar, B-29-36-MO 44-27297, Victor number 77, was one of 15 Silverplate B-29s used by the 393d Bombardment Squadron of the 509th Composite Group. B-29A ENOLA GAY & BOCKSCAR 1:72 Scale This is the bomber that dropped the atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.