As many of you have probably heard Brig. Gen. Paul W. Tibbets crossed over this week at the age of 92. Brig. Gen Tibbets was the pilot of the Enola Gay and dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945.
As an intersting point of interest his grandson Lt. Col Paul W. Tibbets IV was the commanding officer of the 509th Bomb Group as of 2006. The current 509th Bomb Group are the folks that fly the B-2 Spirit :-)
More on Brig Gen Tibbets at this Freeper Foxhole post from 10 May 2004. (Press Here)
So in memory of Brig. Gen. Tibbets I have a few B-29 pics lined up.
Of course we have a head on pic.
Next a pic of the Enola Gay on 6 August 1945!
Another pic from the period of B-29s in formation.
To close out the B-29 pics I have a nice shot of 'FIFI" the only flying B-29 in the world.
I mentioned two vets in the intro. David Tallichet also crossed over this week. Mr Tallichet was a B-17 pilot with 22 missions in WW-II. In 1958 he started with George Millay, the SeaWorld Founder, the Specialty Resturant Corporation. Dave Tallichet was also an avid Warbird collector. In the early 1970s he helped to start Yesterdays Air Force. One of the first Warbird recoveries was a B-24 from the Indian Air Force. The B-24 that Mr. Tallichet brought back to the States is now flying with the Collins Foundation. So in honor of David Tallichet I have a few pics of the B-24.
First up this has to be the coolest B-24 pic that I have.
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Next up the B-24 in the "All American" paint job with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.
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And to close out the Flyby here is the B-24 in what has to be the most elaborate nose, or rather fuselage, art ever seen.
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As an added bonus here is a wallpaper sized high resolution version of the above picture. (Breathe Here)
Hope y'all have a great weekend, we will be back tomorrow night with the Saturday Sortie if all goes well.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}