1. Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: South hangar panorama,
including Vought OS2U-3 Kingfisher seaplane, B-29 Enola
Gay
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Vought
OS2U-3 Kingfisher:
The Kingfisher was the U.S. Navy’s primary ship-based, scout and observation aircraft during
World War II. Revolutionary spot welding techniques gave it a smooth, non-buckling fuselage
structure. Deflector plate flaps that hung from the wing’s trailing edge and spoiler-augmented
ailerons functioned like extra flaps to allow slower landing speeds. Most OS2Us operated in the
Pacific, where they rescued many downed airmen, including World War I ace Eddie
Rickenbacker and the crew of his B-17 Flying Fortress.
In March 1942, this airplane was assigned to the battleship USS Indiana. It later underwent a
six-month overhaul in California, returned to Pearl Harbor, and rejoined the Indiana in March
1944. Lt. j.g. Rollin M. Batten Jr. was awarded the Navy Cross for making a daring rescue in this
airplane under heavy enemy fire on July 4, 1944.
Transferred from the United States Navy.
Manufacturer:
Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division
Date:
1937
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2. Country of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 15ft 1 1/8in. x 33ft 9 1/2in., 4122.6lb., 36ft 1 1/16in. (460 x 1030cm, 1870kg, 1100cm)
Materials:
Wings covered with fabric aft of the main spar
Physical Description:
Two-seat monoplane, deflector plate flaps hung from the trailing edge of the wing, ailerons
drooped at low airspeeds to function like extra flaps, spoilers.
•••••
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay":
Boeing’s B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated propeller-driven bomber of World War
II and the first bomber to house its crew in pressurized compartments. Although designed to
fight in the European theater, the B-29 found its niche on the other side of the globe. In the
Pacific, B-29s delivered a variety of aerial weapons: conventional bombs, incendiary bombs,
mines, and two nuclear weapons.
On August 6, 1945, this Martin-built B-29-45-MO dropped the first atomic weapon used in
combat on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, Bockscar (on display at the U.S. Air Force
Museum near Dayton, Ohio) dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Enola Gay
flew as the advance weather reconnaissance aircraft that day. A third B-29, The Great Artiste,
flew as an observation aircraft on both missions.
Transferred from the United States Air Force.
Manufacturer:
Boeing Aircraft Co.
Martin Co., Omaha, Nebr.
Date:
1945
Country of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 900 x 3020cm, 32580kg, 4300cm (29ft 6 5/16in. x 99ft 1in., 71825.9lb., 141ft 15/16in.)
Materials:
Polished overall aluminum finish
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3. Physical Description:
Four-engine heavy bomber with semi-monoqoque fuselage and high-aspect ratio wings.
Polished aluminum finish overall, standard late-World War II Army Air Forces insignia on wings
and aft fuselage and serial number on vertical fin; 509th Composite Group markings painted in
black; "Enola Gay" in black, block letters on lower left nose.
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