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"Enola Gay is probably flyable"

Saw her a couple of times at Silver Hill when they were putting her back together. Fantastic!

She is at the Edgar Hazy (sic) section of Air and Space out at Dulles Airport in Virginia.

She is beautiful and looks as though all you need is an ignition key to get her going.

As an aside, watching the Japanese Tourists faces when they see her is interesting. (I'm so ashamed! ;^))

As an aside, watching the Japanese Tourists faces when they see her is interesting. (I'm so ashamed! ;^))

There's a great story that the Docents and Curators at NASM like to tell. At the time of the atomic bombings the Japanese I-400 subs and their gaggle of Seirans were on their way to launch a suicide attack on the US carrier fleet at Ulithi. Halfway there the bombs were dropped, Japan surrendered and the war was over. They got to live.

Several decades later NASM's Seiran, the last surviving example in the world, is being restored out at Garber in Suitland Maryland. At the time they were running a couple reservation-only tours every Saturday. One Saturday this elderly Japanese man shows up with a younger one (son or grandson who acts as a translator). The elderly Japanese man has a LOT of questions, very particular questions, about the restoration of the Seiran.

Turns out he was the CO of the Seiran squadron.

At that point the museum staff puts him up into the cockpit partially-restored plane. The Seiran CO had even brought his old leather flying helmet and goggles with him, and puts them on. The museum staff scrambles for cameras ...

When Udvar-Hazy opens the museum staff, which has kept up correspondence with the CO and his family, invite them out to see the plane fully restored, assembled and on display.

During the course of his visit (during which he's again allowed to climb inside the plane's cockpit), someone asks him what he thinks of "his" plane being positioned almost directly underneath Enola Gay.

He recounts how he and his squadron were aboard their subs, getting ready to go kamikaze the US carriers. He looked up at Enola Gay and said "that plane didn't just save my life, it also saved my country".