Enola Gay | AirSpace

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay is one of the National Air and Space Museum’s most heralded artifacts, but a new addition to the National Air and Space Museum Archives Division’s collections provides a glimpse into the lives of the crew before they became worldwide names. In May, the Archives accepted an accession of three State of Utah individual liquor permits for 1944 to 1945 (Acc. No. 2012-0027). Two of these permits were issued to future members of the crew of the Enola Gay—Colonel Paul Tibbets, commanding officer of the 509^th Composite Group, and Major Thomas Ferebee, the bombardier on the flight to Hiroshima.

Front view of Major Thomas Ferebee’s Utah liquor ration card. NASM 9A08342

Before shipping out to Tinian, the island in the Marianas from which the Enola Gay launched its flight to Japan, Tibbets and the 509^th Composite Group were stationed at Wendover Army Air Field on the western edge of Utah. The population of the town of Wendover was just over 100 people. Surrounded by miles of salt flats, there so little to do in Wendover, Bob Hope reportedly called it “Leftover” Field. This isolation was ideal for Tibbets, since he was especially concerned with operational security for his top secret B-29 program. Tibbets hoped to keep his men out of the bars, where they could potentially talk about their lives and jobs.

Reverse view of Major Thomas Ferebee’s Utah liquor ration card. NASM 9A08342-A

Just because they were isolated in Utah, famous for its strict liquor laws even before wartime rationing, didn’t mean that alcohol was unavailable to the men of the 509th. During their stay at Wendover, Tibbets and Ferebee were issued new 1944 to 1945 individual liquor permits. According to the Salt Lake Telegram, the new 1944 to 1945 liquor permits were supposed to be a new “foolproof” design to curb rampant counterfeiting. Before, purchasing liquor in Utah required a liquor permit and a ration card, which were both easily forged. The new design was enclosed in cellophane and included a year’s supply of liquor. In order to receive a permit, an applicant needed to produce a ration book and at least three other forms of identification, including a service identification card if a member of the military.

Reverse view of Colonel Paul Tibbets’ Utah liquor ration card. NASM 9A08343-A

From rations notices posted in the Telegram, we can roughly determine how much liquor was purchased by the two crew members between July 1944 and July 1945. The first set of numbers 1 through 12 could be used to purchase one-fifth or a pint, if the store was out of fifths, of liquor per month. The set of numbers 13 through 18 represented bonus rations, allotted throughout the year. The letters along the bottom represented two fifths or one-half gallon of wine in monthly installments, plus bonus rations. Though he was constantly shuttling between Utah; Los Alamos, New Mexico; Washington, DC; and, later, Tinian from July 1944 through July 1945, Tibbets usually used his rations, often taking advantage of the bonus rations. Ferebee was not transferred to Wendover until September 1944 and may not have obtained his card immediately, since he did not begin using the card to buy liquor until February 1945. While these liquor permits don’t provide new, groundbreaking insight into the crew of the Enola Gay, they do provide a quick look at a small aspect of their life in Utah.

Elizabeth C. Borja is a reference services archivist in the National Air and Space Museum’s Archives Division.

This post was originally published on the Smithsonian Collections Blog in October 2012.

Many visitors express the wish to see the interiors of aircraft and spacecraft on display in the Museum. But to protect these historic treasures, they must be displayed behind barriers, which makes it impossible to see inside. But there are several cockpits you can see in the Museum, a day devoted to getting up close with aircraft, some cool electronic views, and a couple of great books that give those who are curious some excellent interior views.

In the National Mall building visitors can see an authentic reproduction of an Airbus A320 “glass cockpit.” Here, you can experience a take-off and landing at Washington Reagan National Airport as if you were a commercial airline pilot. The simulator is on view in the America by Air gallery.

In a "glass cockpit," digital electronic displays replace conventional analog instruments. This technology provides flight crews with far better instrumentation and information than ever before.

In the same exhibition are two more cockpits on view. One is the first Boeing 747-151 ever flown by Northwest Airlines. Accessible from a walkway on the second floor, you can enter the forward section and see the cockpit and its over 600 buttons, switches, and knobs. The second is a 1950s-era American Airlines Douglas DC-7 on the main floor, which offers a view of the cabin as well as the cockpit. The contrast between these two aircraft is striking!

This nose section is from a Northwest Airlines Boeing 747-151. First flown in 1970, this 747 was the first built for Northwest and the first 747 to open service across the Pacific. It was retired in 1999. Gift of Northwest Airlines, Inc.

At the Udvar-Hazy Center, there is a view of the nose and cockpit of the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb in combat on Hiroshima, Japan during World War II, a Cessna airplane that kids can sit in, and a space shuttle simulator.

The historic Boeing B-29 Enola Gay is shown here just after being restored and re-assembled in 2003. The airplane, which received the most extensive restoration in the museum's history, is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

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.

Most space capsules on display allow great up-close views inside. For instance, you can get nose-to-nose with the cockpits of three capsules in the National Mall building’s Milestones of Flight gallery: Apollo 11, Mercury Friendship 7, and Gemini IV. In Apollo to the Moon is a full-size simulator of the Apollo lunar module cockpit where you can experience the minute-by-minute thrill of landing on the Moon.

The control panels and triangular windows inside Lunar Module 2

Another chance to see cockpits is at the annual Become a Pilot Family Day and Aviation Display at the Udvar-Hazy Center, held this year on June 19. Over 50 aircraft fly in for the occasion, and you can walk right up to view, and sometimes sit in, the cockpits.

Several cockpits that can’t be viewed in person are available on the Museum’s web site in Quick Time Virtual Reality format. These include the Concorde and the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. Check them out here. And next time you’re at the Udvar-Hazy Center, look for the computer kiosks throughout the Center that offer 360 degree views of many airplane interiors and cockpits.

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird in a storage hangar at Dulles International Airport before transport to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

The Blackbird's cockpit was a tight fit for the crew, who wore bulky pressure suits during each mission.

Finally, you can look at an incredible array of striking cockpit photos in two books written and photographed by Museum staffers. In the Cockpit: Inside 50 History-Making Aircraft, and In the Cockpit II: Inside History-Making Aircraft of World War II, provide close-up access to the instrument panels and controls of aircraft in the Museum’s impressive collection. Both books are available at the smithsonianstore.com, in person at the Museum Stores, or by calling 202-357-1387 to have one mailed. Maybe if you buy one for your Dad for Father’s Day he would let you read it!

Kathleen Hanser is a writer-editor in the National Air and Space Museum’s Office of Communications.

AirSpace

Tag Archives: Enola Gay

Life and Liquor at “Leftover” Field

Take a Look at These Cockpits