B-29 "Great Artiste"
san...@gte.net
About 15-20 years ago at the main gate of Pease AFB in New Hampshire was
a B-29 with nose art identifying it as Great Artiste. I always figured
this was the plane that flew photo support on the Hiroshima mission. Am
I correct? Also, now that Pease is closed, does anyone know what
happened to this aircraft?
Please respond to my email, as I've been having trouble reading the
newsgroup lately. Thanks in advance,
Bob
ACFT1JOHNK
>Also, now that Pease is closed, does anyone know what
>happened to this aircraft?
Aircraft in ? is B-29A 44-61669. It was trucked to Whiteman AFB,
MO. and is now on display there. Markings unknow.
Mark Natola
The B-29 painted up to represent the Great Artiste was actually the very
first of 16 SB-29 Super Dumbos converted for air sea rescue in 1946. Each
SB was modified to carry the A-3 motorized airborne life boat. The boat,
filled with survival gear, was suspended below the fuselage and could be
parachuted to waiting crews below. It's last flight was from Hanscom Field,
MA to the Army's Aberdeen proving grounds in 1956. It remained there until
1977 when it was disassembled and driven to Pease AFB. After more than a
year, it was reassembled and put on display at the main gate. Since Pease
was then the home of the 509th BW, descendants of Paul Tibbets 509th
Composite Group, it was decided to paint it up to represent one of the 509th
CG AC. The Great Artiste was the instrument carrying plane that accompanied
both Enola Gay and later Bockscar on their atomic mission to Japan.
When Pease was closed in 1990, all of the aircraft at the main gate
(including a B-52D, KC-97 and the B-29) were disassembled and trucked off to
Whiteman AFB, MO, the current home of the 509th BW, and the B-2. All of the
AC have been reassembled, painted and look great! I do not believe that the
Great Artiste nose art was reapplied to the 29, but the distinctive tail
code (circle and arrow) are back.
Mark
san...@gte.net wrote:
> About 15-20 years ago at the main gate of Pease AFB in New Hampshire was
> a B-29 with nose art identifying it as Great Artiste. I always figured
> this was the plane that flew photo support on the Hiroshima mission. Am
> I correct? Also, now that Pease is closed, does anyone know what
> happened to this aircraft?
>
SoBernardo
Supposedly, the "Great Artiste" was named after Kermit Beahan, the Nagasaki
mission bombardier, because of his mastery of his craft.
A Liptak
To the best of my knowledge there was also a B-47 and a C-97. These aircraft
were
dismantled and were trucked to some AFB in one of the mid-western parts of
the country.
Scott Kilbourne
On PBS there was a documentary in which it was mentioned that none of the
photos shot from Great Artiste turned out, and that the only photos of the
Hiroshima blast were shot from Enola Gay and the third airplane. What
went wrong in Great Artiste? I'm sure that they had many independent
photography systems there, did they all fail simulaneously?
-scott
--
Scott Kilbourne
KIMANDJIML
I have a National Geographic, January 1948, with a nice shot of the Great
Artiste. You want to add to your confusion this article states twice that this
is the bomber that dropped on Nagasaki, not Bockscar. Wonder how they got that
wrong....twice.
Jim
BenL 10
>Supposedly, the "Great Artiste" was named after Kermit Beahan, the Nagasaki
>mission bombardier, because of his mastery of his craft.
It was a double entendre as Beahan was also an artiste with the ladies.
This was Sweeney's B-29. He flew Bock's Car on the mission to Nagasaki because
The Great Artiste was loaded with the special instruments.
ben...@aol.com (Ben Levario)
Mark Natola
Scott Kilbourne wrote:
> In article <34A6C050...@shore.net>, A Liptak <m...@shore.net> wrote:
>
> > To the best of my knowledge there was also a B-47 and a C-97. These aircraft
> > were
> > dismantled and were trucked to some AFB in one of the mid-western parts of
> > the country.
> >
With the exception of the B-47 that went to Ellsworth, all of the AC formerly at
Pease were disassembled and trucked off to Whiteman AFB where they have been
reassembled.
> > san...@gte.net wrote:
> >
> > > About 15-20 years ago at the main gate of Pease AFB in New Hampshire was
> > > a B-29 with nose art identifying it as Great Artiste. I always figured
> > > this was the plane that flew photo support on the Hiroshima mission. Am
> > > I correct? Also, now that Pease is closed, does anyone know what
> > > happened to this aircraft?
> > >
> > > Please respond to my email, as I've been having trouble reading the
> > > newsgroup lately. Thanks in advance,
> > >
> > > Bob
>
> On PBS there was a documentary in which it was mentioned that none of the
> photos shot from Great Artiste turned out, and that the only photos of the
> Hiroshima blast were shot from Enola Gay and the third airplane. What
> went wrong in Great Artiste? I'm sure that they had many independent
> photography systems there, did they all fail simulaneously?
Don't believe everything you see on PBS. The Great Artiste was an INSTRUMENT
carring AC, and it was not there to photograph the mission. The photographic
plane on the Hiroshima mission was flown by George Marquardt, and it's bomb bay
cameras did not capture the explosion (technical problems). The famous photo of
the Hiroshima cloud was taken by Tibbets tail gunner George Carron.
On the Nagasaki mission, the Great Artiste was once again deployed as the
INSTRUMENT carrying plane. No OFFICIAL photos were to be taken from it. The
actual photographic plane became lost en route to the target, and was not on site
to photograph the second bomb. They did however see the cloud and flew toward the
target.
The only film of the explosions was shot from a hand held camera, owned by the
Manhattan Project folks. Upon the return of both AC to Tinian, the film was taken
away by the MP people and processed later.
Mark