One of the engine fuel pumps wouldn't work, correct? Seems like I recall they were literally landing on Okinawa on fumes. And almost plowed into a row of B-24s....

Not to mention flying around looking for a target not obscured and the rumor is out there that they dropped not seeing the target. Bunch of crew personality business too.

Where was that Enola Gay photo taken?

It looks like Udvar-Hazy, but with all the other planes removed.

Wasn't the propeller in the A&M wind tunnel off of the Enola Gay? Seems like I recall hearing that many moons ago.

JR_83 said:

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Wasn't the propeller in the A&M wind tunnel off of the Enola Gay? Seems like I recall hearing that many moons ago.

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That was a common Aggie Urban Legend. Enola Gay was never scrapped, so false

I think it is possible that the prop was from a B-29, and possibly from a Silverplate B-29, but I don't know if anything was ever proven.

CanyonAg77 said:

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Where was that Enola Gay photo taken?

It looks like Udvar-Hazy, but with all the other planes removed.

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I have no idea but I suspect your supposition in correct. Looks like it.

CanyonAg77 said:

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JR_83 said:

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Wasn't the propeller in the A&M wind tunnel off of the Enola Gay? Seems like I recall hearing that many moons ago.

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That was a common Aggie Urban Legend. Enola Gay was never scrapped, so false

I think it is possible that the prop was from a B-29, and possibly from a Silverplate B-29, but I don't know if anything was ever proven.

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ummm I don't think so... It made the newspaper.


October 21, 1950

"All of the World War II veterans at the A&M College Easterwood Airport wind tunnel aren't the two-legged human variety. One of the is a big hunk of precision built metal. The propeller used to drive the giant tunnel is one of the four which were on the Enola Gay, the B-29 which dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese. The four-bladed prop was given to the college by the U.S. Air Force. It came from the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base museum. These four props were especially built to power the atom bomb carrier. The whereabouts of the other three is not known. When the Air Force found out what sort of prop the wind tunnel people were looking for, they discovered the Enola Gay museum piece fit the requirements perfectly. So now, a piece of aviation equipment which helped mark the end of one deadly, but fast moving, era of air progress, is helping pioneer the aviation industry's future growth. The big closed circuit wind tunnel was completed late in 1958. Employees of the Engineering Extension Service and the Aggie Aero Department spent almost a year and a half calibrating the facility before they were ready to begin testing. Only two series of tests have been run thus far in the half-million dollar unit, one for Howard Aero of San Antonio and one for Temco. Temco made a $180,000 grant to help build the tunnel. Before the construction of the big closed circuit tunnel, the lab had an open circuit tunnel built in 1945-46. The present lab employs a permanent staff of six, including two engineers. Head of the overall operation is A. D. Cronk, head of the aero department. Cronk supervises the lab for the Engineering Extension Service."

Link to official A&M webpage.

Also discussed in 2011 by CanyonAg77

B-29 Prop

Article dated 1950, references wind tunnel completed 1958?

I can believe it might be a Silverplate prop. Still don't believe it's from Ebola Gay.

If that article is from the "Battalion", then even less reason to believe. They've been useless for generations

CanyonAg77 said:

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Article dated 1950, references wind tunnel completed 1958?

I can believe it might be a Silverplate prop. Still don't believe it's from Ebola Gay.

If that article is from the "Battalion", then even less reason to believe. They've been useless for generations

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I agree. Why would they strip a prop off of one of their most "famous" planes when they probably had dozens just sitting around both new and used?

There were probably enough Aggies in high places in the Army and new Air Force to grab a prize like a souvenir from Enola Gay. But if they did, it'd be displayed in the MSC or Corps HQ or something.

I have a hard time believing they'd chop it down and use it in a hidden lab.

It's be like someone offers you Secretariat and instead of putting him out to stud, you gelded him and pulled a plow.

Is it a B-29 prop? Probably. Is it from a Silverplate? Maybe, though I haven't seen evidence that Silverplate props were anything special. Is it from Enola Gay?

As the saying goes, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Most likely, it was a spare, never flown on any plane.

I don't recall the specifics of the Silver plate program - thinking perhaps it was for the A-Bomb carriers but stand to be corrected - but regarding the lack of turrets, a couple of things do come to mind. Streamlining the airframe for potentially smoother flying while on such an uncertain bombing mission. And also to cut the weight in light of lack of Japanese fighter attacks by that time in the war. Just some spit-balling here.

Regarding the supposed B-29 prop at A&M, while this is the first I have heard of this, I have to doubt that it was a poop from the Enola Gay. The photo is of an "uncuffed" prop, but both museum examples definitely are sporting "cuffed" props. I am not sure what kind of prop the Enola Gay and Bockscar were fitted with on their historic flights beyond a Curtiss Electric prop.

And maybe a little known fact - when the Bockcar unloaded Fat Man on Nagasaki, she did not have that wonderful nose art painted on her fuselage. That was added after the fact.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverplate

CanyonAg77 said:

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverplate

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Thanks. This thread actually prompted toward that site.

Well if it is indeed the Enola Gay prop, you can see it over the bar at the Gate 12 restaurant at Easterwood Field. Saw it there a couple of years ago.

https://gate12barandgrill.com/our-story-2/

Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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CanyonAg77 said:

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverplate

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Thanks. This thread actually prompted toward that site.

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Just think if they would have had to use the Lancaster... We would STILL be hearing about it.

Rabid Cougar said:

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Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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CanyonAg77 said:

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverplate

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Thanks. This thread actually prompted toward that site.

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Just think if they would have had to use the Lancaster... We would STILL be hearing about it.

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Yeah, that is most certainly a true statement.