Doc was built, restored and lives in my hometown and is a bit of a local hero. It was rescued from the Mojave desert after being left there to rot and after having served as literal target practice. It’s been painstakingly restored and is a real beauty now.
If you want to see something to break your heart, there's a doco where a team went to restore a B-29 that crashed in the arctic, and after terrible hardship including the death of one of the key team members, the plane was ready to be flown out of the crash site, and as it was taxiing along, fuel spilt from the auxiliary power unit in the back of the plane and it caught fire destroying the entire thing. Luckily no-one was killed but I cried real tears at that one.
Yeah, Kee Bird. The worst part is that it was entirely preventable, the jury-rigging of the APU was- even for a still-in-training engineer like myself- really not the smartest thing to do, even given the conditions (much to the contrary even, it should've been more imperative to take precautions imho)
50 years ago I was stationed at SAC Hq, Offutt AFB. There was an old super-sized hanger on the base used for storage and office space. Years later I found out that 25 years earlier it was the B-29 plant that manufactured both the Enola Gay & Bockscar.
In the 1960s 70s and 80s, inside that hangar was a building called Building D. It was the Home of the Air Force’s main weather computing facility, Air Force Global Weather Central (AFGWC). In the 90s I think it was, the Air Weather Service and AFGWC was renamed the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA). I was a senior in high school in 1972 and went on a tour of AFGWC, and by 1979 I worked there until 1982. A dream come true. The history of the B 29‘s in that building was well known. The floor of the hanger had wooden bricks soaked with creosote. When it was time to leave for another assignment, you were presented with one of these bricks with an engraved metal plate.
Building D is still the name of the building, there was also Mod A & B buildings, they were used to update the planes before they moved on. Mod A was torn down and Mod B is now the bases Physical education center.
Supposedly the Tu-4 was such a direct copy of the B-29 that the early models actually had 'BOEING" imprinted on the rudder pedals as the soviets just made direct molds of many of the B-29 parts instead of machining parts to specification.
There is also some unverified claims that this may have been a sort of intentional criticism of the entire effort by the engineers working on the project, as they probably realized that all these funds being used to make an exact copy could have been used instead to develop serval homegrown designs. Since criticism in comunist countries is *less than advised*, it would make sense to willingly leave such obvious marks of copying to denouce how ridiculous the whole plan was from a strategic point of view. Allas it may aslo just have been an oversight or winlingess to match the original blueprints to the letter, which honestly seeing China's knockoffs having similar traces of blatant copy would also not surprise me
Also Stalin was one man you did not want to fuck with. A friend told me (and I have 0 way to confirm this) that he had the first five people at his inaugural ceremony executed for treason. Because they stopped clapping.
My dad started as a mechanic in the air force. He was 18 and worked on the B29 at the air base in Oklahoma. He is 81 now but still loves to reminisce about his days working on those amazing craft.
I got a ride in FiFi a few years ago as a birthday present. Absolutely incredible! I've long loved seeing these amazing planes on the ground. Words can't describe actually seeing one in flight, much less riding in one. If you get the chance, do it.
That's amazing, I bet that was just an unexplainable experience! I saw FiFi near my town (Johnston, PA). I wanted so badly to do the ride along, but the weather wasn't favoring well that day, but just seeing it and the couple other planes they had was a great sight.
@@onionhead5780 The Commemorative Air Force folks are wonderful and the whole experience will stay with me forever. My amazing fiancee got all my friends to chip in and bought me the best present ever.
Great video! My Grandfather flew in one of these during World War 2 as a radio operator, and after the first atomic bombs were dropped he was able to go inside and see the two planes that dropped them. His journal says that his proudest moment in the B-29 was the first drops they made after the war ended, when they dropped aid packages into POW camps. He was lucky too, because he nearly died on his way out of the Pacific. Planes going back to the States were assigned by rank and experience - he was one of the most experienced radio operators on the island where they were stationed, but got bumped off his plane when another operator with more time turned up. The plane, a B-29, crashed shortly after take-off with no survivors. He was that close to never getting home.
My Mother was a "Rosie the Riveter" working on B-17s in Seattle WA during WWII. As a result, I have been long interested in the Hx of B-17s and B-29s. I have watched many RUclips Videos on the B-29 and feel that yours is among the best! Your videos have been a God send for me during the COVID Pandemic.
Nice work, Simon! I recently found out ( via Mark Felton's channel, I think ) that their was a thought that the B-29 could not carry the nuclear weapons, which initially were unsuitable... the bomb bays couldn't contain the bombs. Although they could carry the the needed weight, the wing roots took up too much space in the fuselage. He told the story of a backup plan using British Lancasters. This was a very, very secret plan, only known by a very few. It apparently went so far as to create a special squadron, with unmarked black- painted aircraft with special top-rated crews, which began training. This ultimately proved unnecessary, as. Boeing was able to modify the B29s, and the backup plan was shelved; the program remained secret until recently. Thanks again.
but i hope you do not believe in Santa Claus and the easter bunny. It`s a story some britains enjoy to simply feel betterHave a look at Gregs airplanes and automotive he did a video about this claim without laughung !!
Excellent video. Accurate for the most part. My grandfather-built B-29's at the Wichita, Kansas factory during WWII. The B-29 called "Doc" is now in flying condition after a very extensive renovation. It was renovated many Boeing retiress who had built the original planes. here are only two flyig B-29's in the world today. "Doc" is located at the Wichita Kansas Eisenhower Airport when it is not going to airshows.
Hi Simon... NYC drinking water system might be a good side project. It comes, via underground aqueducts from up in the Catskills, over 100 miles away. Build 100 years ago...
In the summer of 2019, I had the pleasure of watching "FiFi" circling over my small town. Whatever else the B29 may be, it remains a beautiful airplane. Btw, I live in Canada, so perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they attend airshows all over North America rather than just the US.
Stalin ordered a exact copy instead of developing their own plane. So it might be a bit of malicious compliance from the engineers, who could not protest otherwise.
The Soviets actually couldn't really create an exact clone because all of the tooling they had were calibrated to metric units. But they got pretty close!
The Vietnam era PBR (Patrol Boat River) would make an interesting video. Legend has it that it went from an idea to a functional prototype in 2 weeks, and the production model differed very little from the prototype.
I knew a guy who was a crewman on one of the Vietnam patrol boats. As they were motoring down the rive they came upon a large canoe full of women and children. The commander ordered him to shoot the canoe with his 50 cal machinegun, which killed all the women and children. Ten years later he still had nightmares about that. The commander is probably still telling jokes about that incident.
In the 90's, FIFI was recovered from the deserts of China Lake NAWS, CA. It was a huge event in town. They towed it 30 miles through the desert to the original air field (Inyokern Airport, which was the original airfield for the Navy base), and had a big ol ceremony. Tibbets was there and gave a speech. After the war, the plane was sent to China Lake to being a target for modern weapons tests. FIFI is the phoenix. Left in the desert to die, she now rules the skies.
My dad worked on Doc, he rebuilt the fuel tanks and help with the tail re assembly, his name is even on the placard that shows all the people who worked on it
I had the privilege of hearing/seeing one come in for a landing. At first, all you heard is the low rumble which got loader and loader as it got close. Then you saw it and everyone stopped and looked up. It was gorgeous! It came in for a landing at the local airport. As you mentioned people could pay a good deal of money to ride around for about an hour and you could pay to go inside. School kids got to go in for free. The San Diego Union said it costs $500 an hour to fly (this was about 20 years ago.) Unfortunately, that B-29 did eventually crash and I never got to see one up close
Next up on the list of channels, a gaming channel, a scary videos channel, and unboxing channel and a fashion channel, Simon is going to have a youtube monopoly
I got to visit FIFI yesterday in Huntsville Alabama, along with the B24 Diamond Lil and the P51 Gunfighter. It was AMAZING. BTW, did you know that the CAF, Commemorative Air Force was once called the Confederate Air Force? It was unfortunately renamed in the late '90s. Side note, i enjoy your informative videos. They're both entertaining and educational. It has a good balance between the two. Keep it up. I look forward to more of your videos in the future.
My Grandfather served as a Central Fire Control Gunner (the guy in that little bubble on the very top who remote controls the turrets) on one of these from February to August 1945. He flew on a bunch of missions in support of the Okinawa campaign and LeMay's firebombing raids, and a couple leaflet drop missions after the A-bombs were dropped. According to his diary, every return flight was a nailbiter - even with its massive range it would still be on razor-thin fuel margins getting back to Saipan. One of the reasons taking Iwo Jima was such a big deal was so the bombers would have an emergency divert location on their return legs - his plane had to make an emergency landing there after one mission just a few days after the island was secured.
Dad was CFC, also. They dropped leaflets before the A-bombs (they were printed yen on one side and "surrender" propaganda on the other). Pop hated those missions - he didn't want to die delivering propaganda. He had a similar Iwo Jima story too - they would not have made it back to Saipan if it hadn't been taken. A crewmember had to guard the plane overnight, sitting on the nosewheel with a .45. Saipan wasn't quite fully secured either - gunfire most nights with "rock happy" Marines dragging bodies past their huts. Dad felt sorry for the Marines. I sat next to an Iwo Jima Marine combat vet on a plane yrs ago and he said, "You'd never get me in one of those damn B-29s. We watched them come in all day - "2 turnin' and 2 burnin'."
My favorite bomber of all time, and truly an impressive beast (over 330 mph at 30k plus ft is no joke for WWII)... Sad so many were lost due to engine problems...
People forget how in addition to winning the Pacific theater of World War II, this plane kicked the crap out of the Commie KPA in Korea. Those men had nerves of steel flying a prop bomber into enemy territory patrolled by MiGs! A truly incredible story that's often overlooked.
PACKED with info! I’ll have to watch it again, later. Thanks to the team for collaborating with the CAF. A lot of B-29 facts I’d previously known were suddenly more significant when framed into their effect on the entire development and mission purpose.
My mother worked in the back office at Bell Bomber during WWII. They were all very proud of the B-29s they built and what those did to help end the war. One B-29A survivor, "Sweet Eloise", S/N 44-70113, is on display at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia. It doesn't seem that large now sitting on a pylon as you drive by, but they were huge planes for the time.
Fifi is based in Fort Worth, Texas and we have the pleasure of hearing those classic engines flying overhead when she comes home for repair. Truly an awesome sight!
During 20th Air Force bombing of Japan, from the Marianas, damaged B-29’s landed in the then neutral USSR. The crews were eventually allowed to return & the Soviets then copied the B-29 to build their version of the B-29...the Tupolev TU-4
In 1943 the only plane capable of even having a big enough bomb bay to carry the bombs was the British Avro Lancaster heavy bomber(A good topic for the channel as well) and until april or may of 1945 this plane was the one chosen to do the raids. 3 Lancasters were sent by the British to the far east to start training for the drops at the start of 1945. They were painted all black and had no identification markings of any kind because the raid was supposed to have occurred at least 1 months earlier and at night without anyone being able to identify the participating planes. The B-29 needed to undergo major structural changes if ever capable of doing the raids. Major-general Leslie Groves(in command of the Manhattan project) and general Hap Arnold(commander of US airforce in the far east) intervened and put a hold on the raids until the B-29's were ready to undertake them. The Lancasters also needed modifications to do the raids but only to include in air refueling as it lacked the range.
This isn't true and it doesn't make sense. Lancs were not considered after June 1943, when Boeing began delivering B-29s. And, the timing is way off. A "concept" test explosion -- not even a 'bomb' -- was tested July 16, 1945. They were working so fast that neither a-bomb was tested before their drop. Little Boy was delivered July 30 and Enola Gay dropped it 7 days later. From late 1943, it took over a year for the Silverplate B-29s and the bombs to be engineered to work together.
@@baker2niner Norman Ramsay submitted his proposal to use modified lancaster bombers in October 1944. B-29's did tests with inert bombs of same or at least similar size and weight in august 1944 but failed because the bombs released to early when the bomb bay was still closed. National politics stepped in when Ramsay made his proposal but the B-29's were still not ready. Ramsay did however also admit the B29 to be the only American plane capable of delivering the bombs to either Germany or Japan but needed heavy structural redesign. This he did in October 1943. The first of these Silverplates was delivered on the 20th of February 1944 after a frantic effort by Boeing. My memory of the exact date of cancellation for the lancasters was indeed a bit off but their existence was not. The RAF had made the black lancaster unit with 6 planes in inventory already back in 1943 with RAF Endstone as base and spent the next 18 months training to do the atomic drops in great secrecy. The refueling issue of the lancaster was solved in november 1944 meaning it was still at least being considered for the attack at this time. The speed of the Manhattan project wasn't the hampering factor as it was moving at the required pace. The b-29 conversion wasn't however and this nearly lead to the lancasters being chosen instead as i eluded in my admittedly poor explanation but nevertheless Groves and Arnold refused to let a lancaster even be considered for the raid using and American weapon and it is thus not beyond the scope of imagination that they would have halted the raids until the b-29 was ready.
@@skullboy1003 Wout, that makes sense, particularly early 1943 when Germany was still strong & a means to carry the bomb there was needed. Lanc could have done it and the Brits were willing to do what it took. But, US would never would accept that path after the B-29 was deployed and Germany was collapsing. USG spent $3B on B-29 & $2B on the bombs (=$50B today) - strategic programs with a future and all the massive political, budget, tech, & logistical momentum that carried. Despite genuine engine problems (and new web narratives - some guy says the "fatal flaw" of the plane was its cowl flaps?), 20th AF had 1,000 plane raids, some going 3800mi/6100kms. Dad's logs show he did 14-16 hour missions every 2 days. It worked.
@@baker2niner US DID not accept the Lanc to be chosen instead of the B29 and standard b-29 was performing above and beyond the call of duty once the major flaws were countered but the Silverplates had issues completely separate of the standard b-29. Cutting through the wing spar reduces the overal strength of the airframe significantly and it still needed to be able to carry 10000lb of ordinance. The only 2 options were thus to either wait until the Silverplate was ready if it could not be delivered on time or use the Lanc instead. In the end the Silverplate was ready on time so America made the attacks a completely American thing.
@@skullboy1003 Wout, There is no evidence that the Lanc was seriously considered after the release of the B-29 in 1943. Your story is based on the details of the failed "Thin Man" program, itself ended in March '44, more than a year before the A-bombs were ready. Thin Man begat the much shorter "Little Boy" and both Little Boy and "Fat Man" fit inside a standard-sized B-29 bay. (Silverplate bays were modified for the single point bomb releases -- 6 tons hung from a single(!) shackle.) The standard B-29 hauled 20000 lbs 3200 miles. The chronology is a bit confusing, but you can review the development of all 3 bombs, B-29 and Silverplate to confirm this.
My brother is stationed there. He's a f35 mechanic. Its currently cold and snowy here in el reno. He ain't going to base tho cause the weather. OkNG is deployed tho to help motorists. Bout to take his dog out tho for a potty break and walk.
@@k0lds0up5 I think during the time I was there we did okay in sports? I know the wrestling team was pretty good, but only because I dated one and was friends with three other member of the team. Then again, this was in the early '80s, so....
Do not know with one it was, but Fifi or Dock had a factory worker looking at the plane when it returned to the sky. She know execly what she had done and could se her markes. A old lady seeing her work from when she was young, still getting lots of love to keep it running
The first planes to be listed for carrying and delivering the nuclear bombs were actually RAF Lancaster. A squadron if them were actually in training in England for quite some time before they were able to get the Silverplate planes modified
My father and my grandfather both had parts in all that was the B-29. My grandfather was part of the "Battle Of Kansas" that wasn't really mentioned in this video where he helped Boeing on the Kansas assembly line get the early planes built and/or modified. My father was a Lt. Col. under General LeMay both in India and China when those first B-29 bases came into being. Also my father's ground crews worked on Enola Gay for regular service about one month before it dropped Little Boy. The crews were curious why the plane had been stripped of a bunch of it's "normal" equipment but never knew until after the war. Also the USAAF didn't think the B-29 was going to be ready to drop the atomic bombs and a couple of British Lancaster were being acquired via the Canadians for the mission.
Guys get your facts right - the Silverplate was not the first plane to be able to carry the atomic bombs and the USAF were well aware of this and for good reasons. There as a question as to whether the Silverplate project would be ready in time (you also failed to mention the B29 had two bomb bays and one of the issues was combining them in to one without losing structural integrity). The fall back solution was a plane which was already known to be able to carry the bomb without modification, but did not have the range - the AVRO Lancaster. As result a new technology was developed to allow the Lancasters to reach and return in the event of the B29 Silverplate not being ready - air to air refuleing. This was completed and tested, but also considered risky so the USAF were relieved when the Silverplate modifications/project completed with time to spare.
Rideau Canal and river system for MEGA PROJECTS! Francis "Peggy" Pegahmagabow for Biographics! Who doesnt love a great war sniper and this guy is the best of the best! Vote Canada!
well, I have never heard of white death before your question... but it appears that he was beyond a talented sniper... there are many difficulties about comparing them, firstly they are in 2 different world wars... huge difference in sniper technology between the two wars, also Peggy was First Nations. The amount of proof they needed over a white sniper was considerable. that being said a badass Finnish sniper with 500 kills is a video I'd love to see as well. Also I'm Canadian so one must root for their countrymen.
@@nikolaaswright6028 and I'm Nordic, so let's just shake hands and agree they're both interesting enough for a video. I didn't understand what you meant by first nation and proof. The Sovjets weren't too keen on sharing the exact numbers of their military blunder either. And Finland had more skilled sniper than just Simo. Simo is called White Death because...well he hid in snow and killed a lot of people.
@@LarsaXL sorry here in Canada, the term Indian is not proper, we call them First Nations or Native Canadians. Like cowboys and Indians, here in Canada it's considered a racist slur. What do you mean Nordic?
@@nikolaaswright6028 makes sense. India is halfway around the globe and a completely different people. Nord or The Nordic Countries. Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and a couple island nations. We feel a kinskip.
I saw USAF B29s flying from Jackson Field, Port Moresby Papua New Guinea in September 1963. They were doing air photo mapping flights over Dutch New Guinea (West Papua) in preparation for transfer of the territory to Indonesia as part of a UN arrangement. If I recall correctly the aircraft and ground support equipment were painted a dark blue colour.
I have visited with FIFI at various airshows and even rode with the crew around Dallas. I even have pictures of the outside of it on a static display from an airshow at a section of Love Field. An older friend of my family was a WW2 Crewman in the B-29's front section. Thank Mr. Bill Busbee for your service then.
Watch The Memphis Belle. It's a great movie about the true story of a famous B-17. It's dramatic, funny, and has a perfect cast. Spoiler- A hobbit is a belly gunner, a Joker is a pilot, and Will Smiths friend got shot down by aliens.
Capt Robt Morgan, pilot of Memphis Belle, went back for more and became commander of the B-29 869th BS see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dauntless_Dotty LeMay wanted experienced squadron commanders and took many from the 8th AF.
Nothing quite like witnessing a B-29 fire up her engines. Monster radial engines spitting out smoke and belching fire. It's effing awesome! I was once lucky enough to be up close, when a B-25 fire up her engines. An incredible experience. The exhaust stacks were like giant blowtorches.
@@j.sebring6136 this can be said about most things produced during that time. It was mostly due to ironing out all the production problems, and staffing problems involved with wartime production. A great read is The Arsenal of Democracy, I forget the author, but it gives a very real and in depth account of all that needed to and all that actually took place in this country. It pretty well outlines the logistical problems that all industries faced to honor the contracts with the government. I highly recommend this book, it's very well written, and does devote an in depth narrative on the Willow Run plant.
@@j.sebring6136 Actually, that had to do with the fact that Consolidated did not have adequate production drawings and Ford had to make all of the production drawings and develop a complete method to manufacture the airplane. Consolidated's method was to hand make every plane making each plane a one-off. Ford's method allowed mass manufacturing after they developed all of the processes to make the plane. Ford had fewer defects per plane than any manufacturer once the complete Ford manufacturing process was developed. Also, the airplane production employees never made Ford automobiles so your statement "made like crappy cars" is a pure projection on your part.
Others have mentioned this as well, but Mark Felton does an excellent job on the Lancaster and its suitability to carry the Bomb without major modifications and had the B29 not been modified in time the job would have fallen to the British plane. Check out Mark Felton's video.
Hello Simon and company I would like to suggest a topic for your Mega Project or Side Project channel. It is a story about one of the largest non nuclear explosions, shipwrecks, mining underneath the ocean and it all being broadcast live, for the first time ever, across Canada. If you look up The Ripple Rock explosion, you can learn a little about some of my local history. Thanks for your time and if you are ever back in the Pacific Northwest, your welcome to stop by for a pint. Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦
I've had the pleasure of meeting some of the Commemerative Air Force when they flew up to Canada one year in their B-17 Flying Fortress, and the following year with their B-25 Mitchel. Great group of people, and definitely throw them a dime if you want to keep these treasures maintained. It's hard for them to keep them flying, and they *barely* make enough. With the pandemic, it's terrifying to think how they're doing financially - and not in a good way.
Not so much problems with the B-29 as the design of the weapons bay. The initial version of the B-29 had two weapons bays, neither of which was large enough to fit the atomic bombs. A quick modification couldn't be done, because vital structural elements were in between the two bays. What ended up happening was that Boeing built a different version of the B-29 which was redesigned to have a single weapons bay that could fit the bombs, and thus the Lancasters weren't needed.
With it's slow speed, low altitude (no pressurization) and canvas construction how could a Lancaster have ever dropped the atom bombs and survived the shock waves. Even if a Lancaster had the required range this would have been a suicide mission for the crew.
The tightly-cowled R3350 engines were a huge source of problems. The prototype that crashed on top of the Frye Packing plant in Seattle while on final approach to Boeing Field is a good example. Many of the key engineers on the project died in that crash. I have a small piece of that plane atop my bookcase. I bought it at an auction about 35 years ago. It had a small card taped inside that described where it came from.
The tu4 was such an exacting copy of the b-29 they duplicated the engine fire problem. You see the planes they got with the early ones that had a real big problem still. Part of the reason that a lot of losses was due to mechanical problems was a great distances over water with no safe place to land. That's why Iwo Jima was taken. In spite of the great cost to take the island, it being an emergency landing strip for b-29s and their crews, it also provided fighter escorts for the b-29s. The actual balance sheet of live's loss versus live saved, Iwo Jima was successful.
@@Sh_rib I was reading about the Ford and the problems its been having and wondering if there would be a "Essex" class we could do today to make CVs affordable again.
@@AndrewTubbiolo i read somewhere (I've forgotten so please forgive me on that one) that the US Navy were looking back into the concept of the light carrier concept again, I've no idea if they'd go with it, however it's quite an interesting subject on its own, along with the sloop of war concept the Royal Navy were looking in to at one point.
@@Sh_rib We'll use large CVN's as long as the Navy thinks it needs a platform that can move with nuclear power, and needs 4 catapults to get a strike package in the air fast enough. Look up "lightning carriers". That's the Navy's experiment going with the old Escort Carrier concept from WWII. Maybe it will be a worthy addition to naval aviation. Only time will really tell. I don't think there's a real answer to this, except if there could be a cheaper way to make something like a Nimitz Class CVN.
There were just a couple small mistakes in the history of this video, but all in all I think I enjoyed this one almost the most of any other Mega project video. I'd like to take an opportunity to take Simon, his staff writers, and all the other people that produced and made this video possible! You guys do such a wonderful job, I always look forward to seeing your videos in my queue
As a child I was obsessed with all things that flew, especially military planes. Off the top of my head my favorites in no particular order is the B17, Folke Wolf 190 high altitude variant, Douglas A-1 Skyraider, and the very iconic and soviet copied B29.
That's very interesting! I'm currently writing my PhD in History on LeMay during the Second World War. I wonder if your father has any sources, documents, or recollections from his time in northern China as LeMay's communications officer. Message back if you'd like to chat!
Why is it everything else I've seen/read regarding the atomic bombs referred to them as "Fat Man" and "Little Boy"‽ No one else has referred to the smaller one as the "Thin Man"
From Wikipedia, the Thin Man design was a gun type using plutonium. The reactor-bred plutonium that was ultimately provided for the weapon had too much plutonium-240 vs plutonium-239. The Pu-240 has a higher spontaneous fission rate and would have caused the weapon to detonate prematurely. It was decide that gun type research would be focused on the enriched uranium Little Boy instead of Thin Man. The plutonium weapon was the Fat Man implosion type.
That's because they ARE called 'fat man’ and 'little boy.' He gets it wrong when he mentions the bombs, but gets it right when he talks about the bombings. Poor editing on the part of the script writer.
"Silverplate" was term that was used to order or obtain items needed to support getting aircraft to the pacific for the nuclear missions over Japan, with no questions asked or answered. The B-29's given to the group commanded by Paul Tibbets, the 509th composite group, were as you noted highly modified B-29's. These fell under the "Silverplate" umbrella and this explains their designation as such. These planes were picked up by members of the 509th and flown to the Marianas.
Great video! Back in 2013, I was asked to design a calendar for the Commemorative Air Force, to celebrate the history of the B-29 and raise money for FiFi, the only flyable B-29 at that time. The Boeing B-29s were riddled with engine and oil pump problems. Many dozens of young flight crews lost their lives, often shortly after takeoff due to engine fires and explosions. I actually had access to hundreds of original B&W flight crew photos for use in the calendar and in my research, I was horribly saddened to learn the grisly fates of most of those crews. The pressurized cockpits were always problematic at best, so most sorties over Japan kept to lower altitudes, dropping mostly incendiary bombs. Bocscar and Enola Gay, the two B-29s used for the atomic bomb missions were specially modified 'Silverplate' models, made specifically for the missions.
USAAC started war with all planes camouflaged/painted. Paint is expensive, time consuming in production and added weight (50kg?), so they deleted it in most aircraft in '43-'44. The generals sold the idea by saying, "they wanted the enemy to see them coming." Several German aces said that they could spot US fighters and bombers easily from great distances and line them up for a kill. US strategy was to simply overwhelm.
@@baker2niner oh i know. But I have never seen a painted B-29 before. All the pictures I have seen were the bare aluminum ones. The closest I have seen was a WB-50 from the SAC era on static display that was painted white. Every display -29 is bare metal with just the tail markings. The image of the painted one in the video is actually the first I have seen.
My father was the radar operatoron the B-29 named "The "Georgia Peach". He was part of the 468th Bomb Group, 793rd Bomb Squadron. They flew the first combat missions using the B-29's from their base in Chengdu China. These were the first combat missions to hit mainland Japan since the Doolittle Raid in 1942, by hitting the Yawata Steel Works.
My maternal grandfather built the nose section of the B-29 at the Seattle plant. My paternal grandfather what is a belly gun operator as well as loading the munitions for the B-29s. Bonus fact, both Fifi and Doc were once targets for target practice out in the desert of the western United States before being rescued and restored. There are two more still there being used as target practice and there are rumors that they might be saved and restored as well.
It was an idea during the Manhatten project that was eventually cancelled. It was closer to the "Little Boy", gun type design, firing a small nuclear slug down a barrel to hit a larger target of nuclear material, thus creating a critical mass and nuclear fission explosion. The difference is that the "Thin Man" was going to use Plutonium-238 instead of the Uranium-235 that Little Boy used. Somewhere along the way it was discovered that Plutonium breaks apart too fast for that to work properly, if at all. The only way to get Plutonium to start and SUSTAIN a chain reaction before breaking apart is to use a much more difficult design. Implosion. Using high explosives around a sub-critical mass and crush it in on itself at exactly the same time from all sides. That design is what came to be called the "Fat Man".
@@snapdragon6601 Also Uranium is from ore and there is only a finite amount of it available. Plutonium is manufactured from uranium and in greater quantities. The Hiroshima bomb was a proof of concept and the designers had a high expectation of success. The Plutonium implosion weapon was the production weapon, and they were less certain about its potential success or yield even after the Trinity test. But they knew they could mass produce them if necessary.
Got to see Fifi today and had to come back and watch this. Such a magnificent piece of machinery. Theres nothing like seeing one of these beasts alive on the tarmac.
My great uncle was a tail gunner on a B-29. During the Korean War, his air crew did a bunch of winter wilderness survival training. Turns out their training was in case they were ordered to Nuke China, and had to hike back across enemy territory after they ran out of fuel. I contacted the CAF, and they let him go up into Fifi, he actually ran ahead of the pilot and pulled the ladder out himself! I crawled into the tail gunner's position to take photos, since he couldn't make it back there anymore..He passed away a few months later, in 2016. I'm so thankful that the CAF has kept one airworthy.
@@bobcosgrove3235 He really beat the odds. Dad was always grateful he was in the B-29 and felt sorry for his high school buddies who went to Europe in B-17s or B-24s. I did the math on his squadron and found the casualty rate was the same as the "Bloody 100th" (8th AF). 50% in 9 months of combat (Nov'44-Aug '45).
@@michaelmerrell8540 I concede there was a "thin man" design, but it was cancelled as it was a gun type weapon using plutonium, but that design was not feasible due to the high spontaneous fission rate of Pu240. Little Boy was also a gun type weapon but it utilized U235 with a lower rate of spontaneous fission.
@@thomasdupont1346 Unless I missed an additional reference, the video only mentioned the Thin Man when it talked about the bomber selection process, which happened before the Thin Man was determined to be unworkable. The Little Boy was mentioned by name when they talked about the bombs being dropped. So you're right about the name of the bombs that were dropped, I'm just saying that the video was not in error when it said that the B-29 was selected with the Thin Man in mind.
Dad, Buzz Barban, was a cameraman with the B29s. He brought home a bunch of pictures of the nose art, aerial shots of Japan, and various pictures taken around Guam and Tinian. The only story I remember him telling, and I tend to relay this every time I see a B29 video, has to do with the primitive latrine system. Whoever used it first had to clean and empty it after the flight, many hours later, so for a while there would be a lot of crossed legs, etc, and then, when someone finally gave up, there would be a rush for the back of the plane that would force the nose up, toughest for those in the front cabin who had to scramble through the tunnel over the bomb bay.
I had the distinct pleasure to climb aboard Fifi a few years ago when they were visiting my home town. It's *very* clear that the crew love their plane, and were the very image of proud parents in showing her off to the gathered crowd.
My father was a USAAF B-29 navigator in the Pacific 1944-1945. He died in 2016 age 94. I have his original flight jacket with squadron insignia. My family are Friends of Doc since 2015. My (then 16 year old) son and I toured FIFI when she visited Boire Field in Nashua NH in 2018.
Seattle’s Air and Space Museum at Boeing Field also has a B29 and a B17 fully restored by Boeing sitting right next to each other. As well as an F14, a Concorde, a retired Air Force One, and a B52, and a P51 Mustang that saw action off Japan and many many other planes and super spook drones, Huey H1. Also hundreds more, I have been there four times and still have not made it through the entire museum.
The main driver behind the Silverplate project was that the stock B-29 was incapable of carrying the huge and long Thin Man bombs. The problem? The wing support structure bisected the bomb bay, resulting in two smaller bomb bays, none of which could hold the long A-bombs! Look at any old film of a B-29 in flight and you will see two bomb bay doors separated by the width of the wings. This presented a major design challenge to Boeing for correct. The only other plane that came close to being able to do the job was the British Lancaster, with its proven ability to deliver their 6 ton Tall Boy bombs. The UK was eager to do it, too. They created "Black Lancasters" for this purpose and began training for this mission. But General Groves would have none of it, demanding an American plane MUST deliver an American bomb, and told Boeing they had to get the job done. That was what Silverplate was all about. Dr. Mark Felton made an excellent video about this very subject: ruclips.net/video/5XX9ptCNpik/видео.html
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Doc was built, restored and lives in my hometown and is a bit of a local hero. It was rescued from the Mojave desert after being left there to rot and after having served as literal target practice. It’s been painstakingly restored and is a real beauty now.
I live right down the road from Doc! I'm lucky enough to get to see it a few times a year. You can always hear Doc roaring overhead.
@@jasondinger9984 I saw FiFi and Doc at EAA a few years ago, talked to one of the guys that works on maintaining it, was fascinating.
I live up by Salina. I want to go down to Wichita sometime and check out Doc. Darn covid... someday soon.
I saw Doc back in September. :) I got a shirt :p
If you ever get a chance to get inside, do it, it's awesome
If you want to see something to break your heart, there's a doco where a team went to restore a B-29 that crashed in the arctic, and after terrible hardship including the death of one of the key team members, the plane was ready to be flown out of the crash site, and as it was taxiing along, fuel spilt from the auxiliary power unit in the back of the plane and it caught fire destroying the entire thing. Luckily no-one was killed but I cried real tears at that one.
Yeah, Kee Bird.
The worst part is that it was entirely preventable, the jury-rigging of the APU was- even for a still-in-training engineer like myself- really not the smartest thing to do, even given the conditions (much to the contrary even, it should've been more imperative to take precautions imho)
There's apparently a couple still at China Lake (according to wiki's list of survivors)
I refuse to read or watch anything about Kee Bird because I know how it ends. The ONLY good thing is that no one was killed.
@@24934637 I know how u feel, I just couldn’t believe it
@@adder3597 yup, they should have dis assembled kee bird, then thr world will have 3 flying B29's.
50 years ago I was stationed at SAC Hq, Offutt AFB. There was an old super-sized hanger on the base used for storage and office space. Years later I found out that 25 years earlier it was the B-29 plant that manufactured both the Enola Gay & Bockscar.
I worked in that building in 83, GWXHQ
In the 1960s 70s and 80s, inside that hangar was a building called Building D. It was the Home of the Air Force’s main weather computing facility, Air Force Global Weather Central (AFGWC). In the 90s I think it was, the Air Weather Service and AFGWC was renamed the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA). I was a senior in high school in 1972 and went on a tour of AFGWC, and by 1979 I worked there until 1982. A dream come true. The history of the B 29‘s in that building was well known. The floor of the hanger had wooden bricks soaked with creosote. When it was time to leave for another assignment, you were presented with one of these bricks with an engraved metal plate.
@@davidhoman3807 I was at GWXHQ for my last 6 month in the AF. I have one of those bricks.
Building D is still the name of the building, there was also Mod A & B buildings, they were used to update the planes before they moved on. Mod A was torn down and Mod B is now the bases Physical education center.
I worked in Civil Engineering 87 thru 95, we were tasked to remove many of those bricks before construction projects took place
Simon Whistler is himself, a Megaproject.
thats what his wife says
Allegedly
Forgot to mention his beard
😂
Big facts
Supposedly the Tu-4 was such a direct copy of the B-29 that the early models actually had 'BOEING" imprinted on the rudder pedals as the soviets just made direct molds of many of the B-29 parts instead of machining parts to specification.
There is also some unverified claims that this may have been a sort of intentional criticism of the entire effort by the engineers working on the project, as they probably realized that all these funds being used to make an exact copy could have been used instead to develop serval homegrown designs. Since criticism in comunist countries is *less than advised*, it would make sense to willingly leave such obvious marks of copying to denouce how ridiculous the whole plan was from a strategic point of view. Allas it may aslo just have been an oversight or winlingess to match the original blueprints to the letter, which honestly seeing China's knockoffs having similar traces of blatant copy would also not surprise me
Also Stalin was one man you did not want to fuck with. A friend told me (and I have 0 way to confirm this) that he had the first five people at his inaugural ceremony executed for treason. Because they stopped clapping.
Yes, copying this plane delayed the Soviet bomber programs and consumed massive resources of engineers and materials.
@@coreyandnathanielchartier3749 true, but using an already tested template saves time and time is money.
My dad started as a mechanic in the air force. He was 18 and worked on the B29 at the air base in Oklahoma.
He is 81 now but still loves to reminisce about his days working on those amazing craft.
I got a ride in FiFi a few years ago as a birthday present. Absolutely incredible! I've long loved seeing these amazing planes on the ground. Words can't describe actually seeing one in flight, much less riding in one. If you get the chance, do it.
That's amazing, I bet that was just an unexplainable experience! I saw FiFi near my town (Johnston, PA). I wanted so badly to do the ride along, but the weather wasn't favoring well that day, but just seeing it and the couple other planes they had was a great sight.
Congrats on receiving such a unique and once in a lifetime present. I'd give my right (pick a body part) to take a ride on Fifi or Doc.
I’m jelly! You lucky bastard. Congrats brother. I’m sure it was an unforgettable experience. 👍
@@onionhead5780 The Commemorative Air Force folks are wonderful and the whole experience will stay with me forever. My amazing fiancee got all my friends to chip in and bought me the best present ever.
I got to walk around in fi-fi when I was 12. was awesome talking to the vets.
Checklist before getting on a new plane:
Do the wings stay attached in flight?
Do the engines NOT catch fire?
I'll pass this onto my contacts at Lockheed.
Then the tail/tailplane ruins their entire career
Don't forget:
Did we make sure we built a plane SO expensive and SO secret, we don't want to fly it in case we lose it?
Looking at you B2...
Was it initially built on a massive time crunch?
If you're the F-15 that first requirement is optional. They only need one wing to fly since the engines are so powerful it can behave like a missile.
Great video! My Grandfather flew in one of these during World War 2 as a radio operator, and after the first atomic bombs were dropped he was able to go inside and see the two planes that dropped them. His journal says that his proudest moment in the B-29 was the first drops they made after the war ended, when they dropped aid packages into POW camps.
He was lucky too, because he nearly died on his way out of the Pacific. Planes going back to the States were assigned by rank and experience - he was one of the most experienced radio operators on the island where they were stationed, but got bumped off his plane when another operator with more time turned up. The plane, a B-29, crashed shortly after take-off with no survivors. He was that close to never getting home.
My Mother was a "Rosie the Riveter" working on B-17s in Seattle WA during WWII. As a result, I have been long interested in the Hx of B-17s and B-29s. I have watched many RUclips Videos on the B-29 and feel that yours is among the best! Your videos have been a God send for me during the COVID Pandemic.
The Millennium Falcon's cockpit was based on the B-29 cockpit.
Now I realized it, WOW!
Huh, you’re right.
Axis Powers about to be bombed: I've got a bad feeling about this
@@jordansenna752 "that's no moon..."
@@justsomemustachewithoutaguy- that’s no sun
The Commemorative Airforce is amazing. Because of them I got to fly in a B-25 and a P51D Mustang
Badass!!!
Never been in the B-25 but p51's are fun aren't they!
Thanks! We are grateful for the accolade!
Confederate Airforce
@@ziggy2shus624 truth. I toured the museum in Midland many times prior to the name change. I wondered if anyone was going to bring it up
Nice work, Simon!
I recently found out ( via Mark Felton's channel, I think ) that their was a thought that the B-29 could not carry the nuclear weapons, which initially were unsuitable... the bomb bays couldn't contain the bombs. Although they could carry the the needed weight, the wing roots took up too much space in the fuselage. He told the story of a backup plan using British Lancasters. This was a very, very secret plan, only known by a very few.
It apparently went so far as to create a special squadron, with unmarked black- painted aircraft with special top-rated crews, which began training. This ultimately proved unnecessary, as. Boeing was able to modify the B29s, and the backup plan was shelved; the program remained secret until recently.
Thanks again.
but i hope you do not believe in Santa Claus and the easter bunny. It`s a story some britains enjoy to simply feel betterHave a look at Gregs airplanes and automotive he did a video about this claim without laughung !!
@@michaelpielorz9283 What!? There's no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny? 😅
There were NO black Lancaster's.Mark Felton just made that whole story up.The Lancaster did not have the range or the altitude to drop an atomic bomb.
Excellent video. Accurate for the most part. My grandfather-built B-29's at the Wichita, Kansas factory during WWII. The B-29 called "Doc" is now in flying condition after a very extensive renovation. It was renovated many Boeing retiress who had built the original planes. here are only two flyig B-29's in the world today. "Doc" is located at the Wichita Kansas Eisenhower Airport when it is not going to airshows.
Hi Simon... NYC drinking water system might be a good side project. It comes, via underground aqueducts from up in the Catskills, over 100 miles away. Build 100 years ago...
Once targeted by the "bomber mafia" (Hap Arnold among them) in their conceptual planning that would lead to the B29.
Always amazed by how elegant the B29 is. Such a svelte plane!
In the summer of 2019, I had the pleasure of watching "FiFi" circling over my small town. Whatever else the B29 may be, it remains a beautiful airplane. Btw, I live in Canada, so perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they attend airshows all over North America rather than just the US.
The TU-4 was so closely reverse engineered that the pilots yoke said Boeing on them :D
Stalin ordered a exact copy instead of developing their own plane. So it might be a bit of malicious compliance from the engineers, who could not protest otherwise.
I wouldn’t doubt it considering Stalin was a genocidal maniac.
They even copied missing rivets. No joke.
@@Custerd1 If Stalin said exact copy, then it'd better be *_exact._*
The Soviets actually couldn't really create an exact clone because all of the tooling they had were calibrated to metric units. But they got pretty close!
The Vietnam era PBR (Patrol Boat River) would make an interesting video. Legend has it that it went from an idea to a functional prototype in 2 weeks, and the production model differed very little from the prototype.
I knew a guy who was a crewman on one of the Vietnam patrol boats. As they were motoring down the rive they came upon a large canoe full of women and children. The commander ordered him to shoot the canoe with his 50 cal machinegun, which killed all the women and children. Ten years later he still had nightmares about that. The commander is probably still telling jokes about that incident.
It’s true. Jeremy Clarkson talked about it in The Grand Tour special Seamen. He piloted a modern day PBR in Cambodian rivers.
@@kevinW826 Yes, I recently viewed that episode.
@@kevinW826
bb😢😢😢😢
In the 90's, FIFI was recovered from the deserts of China Lake NAWS, CA. It was a huge event in town. They towed it 30 miles through the desert to the original air field (Inyokern Airport, which was the original airfield for the Navy base), and had a big ol ceremony. Tibbets was there and gave a speech. After the war, the plane was sent to China Lake to being a target for modern weapons tests. FIFI is the phoenix. Left in the desert to die, she now rules the skies.
Idea for a video: a list of still uncompleted megaprojects that are being built right now or have just been approved
BN1 does a pretty good job on that, though its mostly architecture and buildings
I got to see FIFI in North Bay Ontario Canada about 2yrs ago.
Video and pictures don't do her true size justice. She is massive.
My dad worked on Doc, he rebuilt the fuel tanks and help with the tail re assembly, his name is even on the placard that shows all the people who worked on it
I had the privilege of hearing/seeing one come in for a landing. At first, all you heard is the low rumble which got loader and loader as it got close. Then you saw it and everyone stopped and looked up. It was gorgeous! It came in for a landing at the local airport. As you mentioned people could pay a good deal of money to ride around for about an hour and you could pay to go inside. School kids got to go in for free. The San Diego Union said it costs $500 an hour to fly (this was about 20 years ago.) Unfortunately, that B-29 did eventually crash and I never got to see one up close
My wife: how many channels does this guy have?
Me: why?
My wife: I hear that Brit's voice all the time
How many channels does he have?
@@joeblow9657 all of them. Every channel on RUclips.
Next up on the list of channels, a gaming channel, a scary videos channel, and unboxing channel and a fashion channel, Simon is going to have a youtube monopoly
@@eagonten you forgot a cooking channel and a reaction channel. LoL
@@eagonten - And soon... SimonTube! Where you can watch all things Simon, on all subjects, every genre under the sun ☀️! 🤣
I got to visit FIFI yesterday in Huntsville Alabama, along with the B24 Diamond Lil and the P51 Gunfighter. It was AMAZING. BTW, did you know that the CAF, Commemorative Air Force was once called the Confederate Air Force? It was unfortunately renamed in the late '90s.
Side note, i enjoy your informative videos. They're both entertaining and educational. It has a good balance between the two. Keep it up. I look forward to more of your videos in the future.
Got to fly in fifi a few years ago, amazing piece of history
now you need to fly in Doc
@@alexander1485 If doc is ever near me I denifetly try and hitch a ride, I'll have to pay the extra to go in the nose.
My Grandfather served as a Central Fire Control Gunner (the guy in that little bubble on the very top who remote controls the turrets) on one of these from February to August 1945. He flew on a bunch of missions in support of the Okinawa campaign and LeMay's firebombing raids, and a couple leaflet drop missions after the A-bombs were dropped. According to his diary, every return flight was a nailbiter - even with its massive range it would still be on razor-thin fuel margins getting back to Saipan. One of the reasons taking Iwo Jima was such a big deal was so the bombers would have an emergency divert location on their return legs - his plane had to make an emergency landing there after one mission just a few days after the island was secured.
Dad was CFC, also. They dropped leaflets before the A-bombs (they were printed yen on one side and "surrender" propaganda on the other). Pop hated those missions - he didn't want to die delivering propaganda. He had a similar Iwo Jima story too - they would not have made it back to Saipan if it hadn't been taken. A crewmember had to guard the plane overnight, sitting on the nosewheel with a .45. Saipan wasn't quite fully secured either - gunfire most nights with "rock happy" Marines dragging bodies past their huts. Dad felt sorry for the Marines. I sat next to an Iwo Jima Marine combat vet on a plane yrs ago and he said, "You'd never get me in one of those damn B-29s. We watched them come in all day - "2 turnin' and 2 burnin'."
My favorite bomber of all time, and truly an impressive beast (over 330 mph at 30k plus ft is no joke for WWII)...
Sad so many were lost due to engine problems...
People forget how in addition to winning the Pacific theater of World War II, this plane kicked the crap out of the Commie KPA in Korea. Those men had nerves of steel flying a prop bomber into enemy territory patrolled by MiGs! A truly incredible story that's often overlooked.
PACKED with info! I’ll have to watch it again, later. Thanks to the team for collaborating with the CAF. A lot of B-29 facts I’d previously known were suddenly more significant when framed into their effect on the entire development and mission purpose.
I love when you cover WWII and/or planes, fact boy!
My mother worked in the back office at Bell Bomber during WWII. They were all very proud of the B-29s they built and what those did to help end the war. One B-29A survivor, "Sweet Eloise", S/N 44-70113, is on display at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia. It doesn't seem that large now sitting on a pylon as you drive by, but they were huge planes for the time.
Fun facts. The Commemorative Airforce used to be called The Confederate Airforce. They started out in Harlingen Texas.
I thought so! These politically correct times can really make you doubt something you thought you knew.
Fifi is based in Fort Worth, Texas and we have the pleasure of hearing those classic engines flying overhead when she comes home for repair. Truly an awesome sight!
During 20th Air Force bombing of Japan, from the Marianas, damaged B-29’s landed in the then neutral USSR. The crews were eventually allowed to return & the Soviets then copied the B-29 to build their version of the B-29...the Tupolev TU-4
In 1943 the only plane capable of even having a big enough bomb bay to carry the bombs was the British Avro Lancaster heavy bomber(A good topic for the channel as well) and until april or may of 1945 this plane was the one chosen to do the raids. 3 Lancasters were sent by the British to the far east to start training for the drops at the start of 1945. They were painted all black and had no identification markings of any kind because the raid was supposed to have occurred at least 1 months earlier and at night without anyone being able to identify the participating planes. The B-29 needed to undergo major structural changes if ever capable of doing the raids. Major-general Leslie Groves(in command of the Manhattan project) and general Hap Arnold(commander of US airforce in the far east) intervened and put a hold on the raids until the B-29's were ready to undertake them. The Lancasters also needed modifications to do the raids but only to include in air refueling as it lacked the range.
This isn't true and it doesn't make sense. Lancs were not considered after June 1943, when Boeing began delivering B-29s. And, the timing is way off. A "concept" test explosion -- not even a 'bomb' -- was tested July 16, 1945. They were working so fast that neither a-bomb was tested before their drop. Little Boy was delivered July 30 and Enola Gay dropped it 7 days later. From late 1943, it took over a year for the Silverplate B-29s and the bombs to be engineered to work together.
@@baker2niner Norman Ramsay submitted his proposal to use modified lancaster bombers in October 1944. B-29's did tests with inert bombs of same or at least similar size and weight in august 1944 but failed because the bombs released to early when the bomb bay was still closed. National politics stepped in when Ramsay made his proposal but the B-29's were still not ready. Ramsay did however also admit the B29 to be the only American plane capable of delivering the bombs to either Germany or Japan but needed heavy structural redesign. This he did in October 1943. The first of these Silverplates was delivered on the 20th of February 1944 after a frantic effort by Boeing. My memory of the exact date of cancellation for the lancasters was indeed a bit off but their existence was not. The RAF had made the black lancaster unit with 6 planes in inventory already back in 1943 with RAF Endstone as base and spent the next 18 months training to do the atomic drops in great secrecy. The refueling issue of the lancaster was solved in november 1944 meaning it was still at least being considered for the attack at this time. The speed of the Manhattan project wasn't the hampering factor as it was moving at the required pace. The b-29 conversion wasn't however and this nearly lead to the lancasters being chosen instead as i eluded in my admittedly poor explanation but nevertheless Groves and Arnold refused to let a lancaster even be considered for the raid using and American weapon and it is thus not beyond the scope of imagination that they would have halted the raids until the b-29 was ready.
@@skullboy1003 Wout, that makes sense, particularly early 1943 when Germany was still strong & a means to carry the bomb there was needed. Lanc could have done it and the Brits were willing to do what it took. But, US would never would accept that path after the B-29 was deployed and Germany was collapsing. USG spent $3B on B-29 & $2B on the bombs (=$50B today) - strategic programs with a future and all the massive political, budget, tech, & logistical momentum that carried. Despite genuine engine problems (and new web narratives - some guy says the "fatal flaw" of the plane was its cowl flaps?), 20th AF had 1,000 plane raids, some going 3800mi/6100kms. Dad's logs show he did 14-16 hour missions every 2 days. It worked.
@@baker2niner US DID not accept the Lanc to be chosen instead of the B29 and standard b-29 was performing above and beyond the call of duty once the major flaws were countered but the Silverplates had issues completely separate of the standard b-29. Cutting through the wing spar reduces the overal strength of the airframe significantly and it still needed to be able to carry 10000lb of ordinance. The only 2 options were thus to either wait until the Silverplate was ready if it could not be delivered on time or use the Lanc instead. In the end the Silverplate was ready on time so America made the attacks a completely American thing.
@@skullboy1003 Wout, There is no evidence that the Lanc was seriously considered after the release of the B-29 in 1943. Your story is based on the details of the failed "Thin Man" program, itself ended in March '44, more than a year before the A-bombs were ready. Thin Man begat the much shorter "Little Boy" and both Little Boy and "Fat Man" fit inside a standard-sized B-29 bay. (Silverplate bays were modified for the single point bomb releases -- 6 tons hung from a single(!) shackle.) The standard B-29 hauled 20000 lbs 3200 miles. The chronology is a bit confusing, but you can review the development of all 3 bombs, B-29 and Silverplate to confirm this.
The B-17 was a "competent aircraft"? That's it? Kind of like saying Wagyu beef is "tasty enough".
Wi-Fi is kinda convienient
He's British, what do you expect? That's high praise
@@JJ-si4qh Ha, ha, so true! 😂
The B-17 carried less payload than the Lancaster [4-8000lbs vs 14,500lbs]
Wagyu is overrated as fuck
B-52's fly over my house all the time. They do a lot of the scheduled maintenance on them at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma.
My brother is stationed there. He's a f35 mechanic. Its currently cold and snowy here in el reno. He ain't going to base tho cause the weather. OkNG is deployed tho to help motorists. Bout to take his dog out tho for a potty break and walk.
@@theenzoferrari458 Do they plant on servicing F35's out of Tinker?
@@buddyrevell4329 dunno. He's in technical training. Maybe in a year they prolly will
When you talk about the B-29, but the thumbnail shows the TU-4
Did you even watch the video?
@@KevinMcNulty Yes, did I say anything about the content?
@@kimbonzky busted! 🤦🏻
@@Musicreach101 on what exactly? That he talks about the TU-4 for a few secunds in the end of the video?
Fixed :)
The bombs used against Japan were 'Fat Man' and 'Little Boy'. 'Thin Man' was an abandoned bomb project that was also part of the Manhattan Project.
General H.H. Arnold... who was memorialized in the naming of an American high school in Wiesbaden, Germany. My alma mater.
We call it wheezebaden here in Vilseck. Ironically, our high school does pretty terribly in a lot of sports. At least our football uniforms look sick.
@@k0lds0up5 I think during the time I was there we did okay in sports? I know the wrestling team was pretty good, but only because I dated one and was friends with three other member of the team. Then again, this was in the early '80s, so....
Do not know with one it was, but Fifi or Dock had a factory worker looking at the plane when it returned to the sky. She know execly what she had done and could se her markes. A old lady seeing her work from when she was young, still getting lots of love to keep it running
The first planes to be listed for carrying and delivering the nuclear bombs were actually RAF Lancaster. A squadron if them were actually in training in England for quite some time before they were able to get the Silverplate planes modified
Yup, I watched a video of that on the Marl Felton productions channel.
@@shaider1982 you mean Mark Felton
@@AScottish-AustralianM-84 No, he watched Marl Felton...
My father and my grandfather both had parts in all that was the B-29. My grandfather was part of the "Battle Of Kansas" that wasn't really mentioned in this video where he helped Boeing on the Kansas assembly line get the early planes built and/or modified.
My father was a Lt. Col. under General LeMay both in India and China when those first B-29 bases came into being. Also my father's ground crews worked on Enola Gay for regular service about one month before it dropped Little Boy. The crews were curious why the plane had been stripped of a bunch of it's "normal" equipment but never knew until after the war.
Also the USAAF didn't think the B-29 was going to be ready to drop the atomic bombs and a couple of British Lancaster were being acquired via the Canadians for the mission.
In their defense, he didn't call it the Battle of Kansas, but all of the 'parallel production' discussion was that topic. The B-29 is a big story...
Guys get your facts right - the Silverplate was not the first plane to be able to carry the atomic bombs and the USAF were well aware of this and for good reasons. There as a question as to whether the Silverplate project would be ready in time (you also failed to mention the B29 had two bomb bays and one of the issues was combining them in to one without losing structural integrity).
The fall back solution was a plane which was already known to be able to carry the bomb without modification, but did not have the range - the AVRO Lancaster. As result a new technology was developed to allow the Lancasters to reach and return in the event of the B29 Silverplate not being ready - air to air refuleing. This was completed and tested, but also considered risky so the USAF were relieved when the Silverplate modifications/project completed with time to spare.
Correct!
3:09 this picture is stunning. That reflective hull is amazing.
Rideau Canal and river system for MEGA PROJECTS! Francis "Peggy" Pegahmagabow for Biographics! Who doesnt love a great war sniper and this guy is the best of the best! Vote Canada!
Better than White Death?
well, I have never heard of white death before your question... but it appears that he was beyond a talented sniper... there are many difficulties about comparing them, firstly they are in 2 different world wars... huge difference in sniper technology between the two wars, also Peggy was First Nations. The amount of proof they needed over a white sniper was considerable. that being said a badass Finnish sniper with 500 kills is a video I'd love to see as well. Also I'm Canadian so one must root for their countrymen.
@@nikolaaswright6028 and I'm Nordic, so let's just shake hands and agree they're both interesting enough for a video.
I didn't understand what you meant by first nation and proof. The Sovjets weren't too keen on sharing the exact numbers of their military blunder either. And Finland had more skilled sniper than just Simo.
Simo is called White Death because...well he hid in snow and killed a lot of people.
@@LarsaXL sorry here in Canada, the term Indian is not proper, we call them First Nations or Native Canadians. Like cowboys and Indians, here in Canada it's considered a racist slur. What do you mean Nordic?
@@nikolaaswright6028 makes sense. India is halfway around the globe and a completely different people.
Nord or The Nordic Countries. Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and a couple island nations. We feel a kinskip.
I saw USAF B29s flying from Jackson Field, Port Moresby Papua New Guinea in September 1963. They were doing air photo mapping flights over Dutch New Guinea (West Papua) in preparation for transfer of the territory to Indonesia as part of a UN arrangement. If I recall correctly the aircraft and ground support equipment were painted a dark blue colour.
You should do a mega project on the Soviet evacuation of their war industry to the Urals during WWII!
I have visited with FIFI at various airshows and even rode with the crew around Dallas. I even have pictures of the outside of it on a static display from an airshow at a section of Love Field. An older friend of my family was a WW2 Crewman in the B-29's front section. Thank Mr. Bill Busbee for your service then.
Watch The Memphis Belle. It's a great movie about the true story of a famous B-17.
It's dramatic, funny, and has a perfect cast.
Spoiler- A hobbit is a belly gunner, a Joker is a pilot, and Will Smiths friend got shot down by aliens.
Great flying sequences too!
Agree. Excellent movie
Capt Robt Morgan, pilot of Memphis Belle, went back for more and became commander of the B-29 869th BS see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dauntless_Dotty LeMay wanted experienced squadron commanders and took many from the 8th AF.
Nothing quite like witnessing a B-29 fire up her engines. Monster radial engines spitting out smoke and belching fire. It's effing awesome!
I was once lucky enough to be up close, when a B-25 fire up her engines. An incredible experience. The exhaust stacks were like giant blowtorches.
While we're talking about planes, how abou the Willow Run bomber plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan. They pumped out one bomber. Every. Hour.
The first few B24s made by Ford at Willow Run were complete junk. The Ford employees built them like the crappy cars they made at the time.
@@j.sebring6136 this can be said about most things produced during that time. It was mostly due to ironing out all the production problems, and staffing problems involved with wartime production. A great read is The Arsenal of Democracy, I forget the author, but it gives a very real and in depth account of all that needed to and all that actually took place in this country. It pretty well outlines the logistical problems that all industries faced to honor the contracts with the government. I highly recommend this book, it's very well written, and does devote an in depth narrative on the Willow Run plant.
@@j.sebring6136 Actually, that had to do with the fact that Consolidated did not have adequate production drawings and Ford had to make all of the production drawings and develop a complete method to manufacture the airplane. Consolidated's method was to hand make every plane making each plane a one-off. Ford's method allowed mass manufacturing after they developed all of the processes to make the plane. Ford had fewer defects per plane than any manufacturer once the complete Ford manufacturing process was developed. Also, the airplane production employees never made Ford automobiles so your statement "made like crappy cars" is a pure projection on your part.
Others have mentioned this as well, but Mark Felton does an excellent job on the Lancaster and its suitability to carry the Bomb without major modifications and had the B29 not been modified in time the job would have fallen to the British plane. Check out Mark Felton's video.
Hello Simon and company
I would like to suggest a topic for your Mega Project or Side Project channel.
It is a story about one of the largest non nuclear explosions, shipwrecks, mining underneath the ocean and it all being broadcast live, for the first time ever, across Canada.
If you look up The Ripple Rock explosion, you can learn a little about some of my local history.
Thanks for your time and if you are ever back in the Pacific Northwest, your welcome to stop by for a pint.
Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦
I've had the pleasure of meeting some of the Commemerative Air Force when they flew up to Canada one year in their B-17 Flying Fortress, and the following year with their B-25 Mitchel. Great group of people, and definitely throw them a dime if you want to keep these treasures maintained. It's hard for them to keep them flying, and they *barely* make enough. With the pandemic, it's terrifying to think how they're doing financially - and not in a good way.
Little known fact, it was nearly a UK Lancaster bomber that dropped the nuke due to early problems with the B-29's.
Exactly!
True, it was the deligations between the Manhattan project crew and the military that wanted to go for an American bomber to drop a nuke.
Not so much problems with the B-29 as the design of the weapons bay. The initial version of the B-29 had two weapons bays, neither of which was large enough to fit the atomic bombs. A quick modification couldn't be done, because vital structural elements were in between the two bays. What ended up happening was that Boeing built a different version of the B-29 which was redesigned to have a single weapons bay that could fit the bombs, and thus the Lancasters weren't needed.
The Famous or Infamous Black Lancasters
With it's slow speed, low altitude (no pressurization) and canvas construction how could a Lancaster have ever dropped the atom bombs and survived the shock waves. Even if a Lancaster had the required range this would have been a suicide mission for the crew.
The tightly-cowled R3350 engines were a huge source of problems. The prototype that crashed on top of the Frye Packing plant in Seattle while on final approach to Boeing Field is a good example. Many of the key engineers on the project died in that crash. I have a small piece of that plane atop my bookcase. I bought it at an auction about 35 years ago. It had a small card taped inside that described where it came from.
Could you cover the Øresund Bridge?
Cover it with what?
@@AtheistOrphan A big canvas. that's be a.. wait for it...
*MEGAPROJECT*
I'll see myself out
The tu4 was such an exacting copy of the b-29 they duplicated the engine fire problem. You see the planes they got with the early ones that had a real big problem still. Part of the reason that a lot of losses was due to mechanical problems was a great distances over water with no safe place to land. That's why Iwo Jima was taken. In spite of the great cost to take the island, it being an emergency landing strip for b-29s and their crews, it also provided fighter escorts for the b-29s. The actual balance sheet of live's loss versus live saved, Iwo Jima was successful.
Not even a mention of the board gunners remote control firing system...
Been waiting for this video Mr. Whistler
Not sure if it'd be a megaproject or a sideproject, but how about the Essex class aircraft carriers? I think they'd make a great subject for a video
Megaproject for sure.
@@AndrewTubbiolo thank you, i wasn't sure if my comment would have been seen 👍👍👍
@@Sh_rib I was reading about the Ford and the problems its been having and wondering if there would be a "Essex" class we could do today to make CVs affordable again.
@@AndrewTubbiolo i read somewhere (I've forgotten so please forgive me on that one) that the US Navy were looking back into the concept of the light carrier concept again, I've no idea if they'd go with it, however it's quite an interesting subject on its own, along with the sloop of war concept the Royal Navy were looking in to at one point.
@@Sh_rib We'll use large CVN's as long as the Navy thinks it needs a platform that can move with nuclear power, and needs 4 catapults to get a strike package in the air fast enough. Look up "lightning carriers". That's the Navy's experiment going with the old Escort Carrier concept from WWII. Maybe it will be a worthy addition to naval aviation. Only time will really tell. I don't think there's a real answer to this, except if there could be a cheaper way to make something like a Nimitz Class CVN.
There were just a couple small mistakes in the history of this video, but all in all I think I enjoyed this one almost the most of any other Mega project video. I'd like to take an opportunity to take Simon, his staff writers, and all the other people that produced and made this video possible! You guys do such a wonderful job, I always look forward to seeing your videos in my queue
Good thing he has a dozen channels to entertain you
I remember when the Commemorative Air Force was called the Confederate Air Force.
And then along came political correctness.
The PC police probably believe that the confederate states really had an Air Force!
To the people talking about the PC people, the name was changed in 2002. Not recently.
As a child I was obsessed with all things that flew, especially military planes. Off the top of my head my favorites in no particular order is the B17, Folke Wolf 190 high altitude variant, Douglas A-1 Skyraider, and the very iconic and soviet copied B29.
My father went into northern China as LeMay’s communications officer . The 40th bomb group went on to Tinian
God bless him and the brave men who served alongside him.
That's very interesting! I'm currently writing my PhD in History on LeMay during the Second World War. I wonder if your father has any sources, documents, or recollections from his time in northern China as LeMay's communications officer. Message back if you'd like to chat!
I've seen Bockscar a few times. You don't really get a true sense of awe until you step up to it.
Why is it everything else I've seen/read regarding the atomic bombs referred to them as "Fat Man" and "Little Boy"‽ No one else has referred to the smaller one as the "Thin Man"
I was thinking the same thing, even the image looked a bit off... Still a great watch.
From Wikipedia, the Thin Man design was a gun type using plutonium. The reactor-bred plutonium that was ultimately provided for the weapon had too much plutonium-240 vs plutonium-239. The Pu-240 has a higher spontaneous fission rate and would have caused the weapon to detonate prematurely. It was decide that gun type research would be focused on the enriched uranium Little Boy instead of Thin Man. The plutonium weapon was the Fat Man implosion type.
That's because they ARE called 'fat man’ and 'little boy.' He gets it wrong when he mentions the bombs, but gets it right when he talks about the bombings. Poor editing on the part of the script writer.
@@unclebuild8480 Thanks, I kinda knew about the Thin Man, but again, I'm pretty sure neither of the bombs dropped on Japan were a "Thin Man".
An understandable slip of the tongue. At least he didn't call the plutonium bomb "fat boy." 😊
"Silverplate" was term that was used to order or obtain items needed to support getting aircraft to the pacific for the nuclear missions over Japan, with no questions asked or answered. The B-29's given to the group commanded by Paul Tibbets, the 509th composite group, were as you noted highly modified B-29's. These fell under the "Silverplate" umbrella and this explains their designation as such. These planes were picked up by members of the 509th and flown to the Marianas.
No mention of the contemporary and backup to the B-29, the B-32.
I think dark skies channel has a video on b32
Great video! Back in 2013, I was asked to design a calendar for the Commemorative Air Force, to celebrate the history of the B-29 and raise money for FiFi, the only flyable B-29 at that time. The Boeing B-29s were riddled with engine and oil pump problems. Many dozens of young flight crews lost their lives, often shortly after takeoff due to engine fires and explosions. I actually had access to hundreds of original B&W flight crew photos for use in the calendar and in my research, I was horribly saddened to learn the grisly fates of most of those crews. The pressurized cockpits were always problematic at best, so most sorties over Japan kept to lower altitudes, dropping mostly incendiary bombs. Bocscar and Enola Gay, the two B-29s used for the atomic bomb missions were specially modified 'Silverplate' models, made specifically for the missions.
So weird seeing the pictures of the 29 painted with the green paintjob.
USAAC started war with all planes camouflaged/painted. Paint is expensive, time consuming in production and added weight (50kg?), so they deleted it in most aircraft in '43-'44. The generals sold the idea by saying, "they wanted the enemy to see them coming." Several German aces said that they could spot US fighters and bombers easily from great distances and line them up for a kill. US strategy was to simply overwhelm.
@@baker2niner oh i know. But I have never seen a painted B-29 before. All the pictures I have seen were the bare aluminum ones. The closest I have seen was a WB-50 from the SAC era on static display that was painted white. Every display -29 is bare metal with just the tail markings. The image of the painted one in the video is actually the first I have seen.
12:54 Just for clarity: the 'thin man design' was a plutonium gun-type bomb that was cancelled. 'Little Boy' was a uranium gun-type design.
@@robertsecor2003 Actually, the barrels were custom made for the Manhattan Project by the Navy.
Can you do an AC-130 gunship? The main cannon is so powerful that the flight trajectory has to be slightly altered because of the recoil on the plane
My father was the radar operatoron the B-29 named "The "Georgia Peach". He was part of the 468th Bomb Group, 793rd Bomb Squadron. They flew the first combat missions using the B-29's from their base in Chengdu China. These were the first combat missions to hit mainland Japan since the Doolittle Raid in 1942, by hitting the Yawata Steel Works.
Simon, please do a Megaprojects on Britain's "White Elephant" plane the Bristol Brabazon.
My maternal grandfather built the nose section of the B-29 at the Seattle plant. My paternal grandfather what is a belly gun operator as well as loading the munitions for the B-29s. Bonus fact, both Fifi and Doc were once targets for target practice out in the desert of the western United States before being rescued and restored. There are two more still there being used as target practice and there are rumors that they might be saved and restored as well.
Since when was one of the atomic bombs named "thin man?" I've always known them to be little boy and fat man..
I agree that's what the dropped 2 were called.
I think the third that wasn't dropped was called something like thin man.
It was an idea during the Manhatten project that was eventually cancelled. It was closer to the "Little Boy", gun type design, firing a small nuclear slug down a barrel to hit a larger target of nuclear material, thus creating a critical mass and nuclear fission explosion. The difference is that the "Thin Man" was going to use Plutonium-238 instead of the Uranium-235 that Little Boy used. Somewhere along the way it was discovered that Plutonium breaks apart too fast for that to work properly, if at all. The only way to get Plutonium to start and SUSTAIN a chain reaction before breaking apart is to use a much more difficult design. Implosion. Using high explosives around a sub-critical mass and crush it in on itself at exactly the same time from all sides. That design is what came to be called the "Fat Man".
Fat Man started cutting carbs back in 53, believe it or not. Guys in great shape these days
@@snapdragon6601 Also Uranium is from ore and there is only a finite amount of it available. Plutonium is manufactured from uranium and in greater quantities. The Hiroshima bomb was a proof of concept and the designers had a high expectation of success. The Plutonium implosion weapon was the production weapon, and they were less certain about its potential success or yield even after the Trinity test. But they knew they could mass produce them if necessary.
He’s wrong a lot and just makes stupid stuff up. Don’t ever expect to see a correction.
CAF Rules!!! Thanks Simon!
I guess gotta go fast or the engines will overheat and burst into flames.
I'll use that if I'm pulled over for speeding.
Got to see Fifi today and had to come back and watch this. Such a magnificent piece of machinery. Theres nothing like seeing one of these beasts alive on the tarmac.
The only question is, How much over budget?
That is a phrase that does not exist to the US Military Industrial Complex.
thomas dillon As the military is fond of saying, in privacy of course, We have no budget.
My great uncle was a tail gunner on a B-29. During the Korean War, his air crew did a bunch of winter wilderness survival training. Turns out their training was in case they were ordered to Nuke China, and had to hike back across enemy territory after they ran out of fuel. I contacted the CAF, and they let him go up into Fifi, he actually ran ahead of the pilot and pulled the ladder out himself! I crawled into the tail gunner's position to take photos, since he couldn't make it back there anymore..He passed away a few months later, in 2016. I'm so thankful that the CAF has kept one airworthy.
It's both amazing and kind of sad that this plane is so iconic to US culture.
Pop was a CFC (chief gunner) in B-29s out of Saipan, 871st Bombardment Squadron. He would have liked to see this. Nice job, Simon.
My father was a radio operator on a B-29 first stationed in India flying over "The Hump" and later stationed on Tinian.
@@bobcosgrove3235 He really beat the odds. Dad was always grateful he was in the B-29 and felt sorry for his high school buddies who went to Europe in B-17s or B-24s. I did the math on his squadron and found the casualty rate was the same as the "Bloody 100th" (8th AF). 50% in 9 months of combat (Nov'44-Aug '45).
The atomic bombs were Fat Man and Little Boy.....not Thin Man.
The video was correct. When the B29 was selected, the bomb types were the Thin Man and Fat Man. Little Boy was derived from work on the Thin Man.
@@michaelmerrell8540 I concede there was a "thin man" design, but it was cancelled as it was a gun type weapon using plutonium, but that design was not feasible due to the high spontaneous fission rate of Pu240.
Little Boy was also a gun type weapon but it utilized U235 with a lower rate of spontaneous fission.
@@thomasdupont1346 Unless I missed an additional reference, the video only mentioned the Thin Man when it talked about the bomber selection process, which happened before the Thin Man was determined to be unworkable. The Little Boy was mentioned by name when they talked about the bombs being dropped. So you're right about the name of the bombs that were dropped, I'm just saying that the video was not in error when it said that the B-29 was selected with the Thin Man in mind.
Great job. I have always liked the B-17 better, it has the "LOOK" but the B-29 was light years ahead. Thanks to you and your team.....
The thumbnail is the russian copy
I have been waiting for Simon to cover this since I found this channel! Today is a good day!
Whoa! 7th! Also I wonder how many hours I’ve watched of these lol, they’re so good!
Dad, Buzz Barban, was a cameraman with the B29s. He brought home a bunch of pictures of the nose art, aerial shots of Japan, and various pictures taken around Guam and Tinian.
The only story I remember him telling, and I tend to relay this every time I see a B29 video, has to do with the primitive latrine system. Whoever used it first had to clean and empty it after the flight, many hours later, so for a while there would be a lot of crossed legs, etc, and then, when someone finally gave up, there would be a rush for the back of the plane that would force the nose up, toughest for those in the front cabin who had to scramble through the tunnel over the bomb bay.
Confederate Air Force. You're referring to the politically correct rebrand of a whole bunch of really good people. Take care all you know who you are.
You mean the Army Air Corps.???
@@TerryMcQ79 No, it's a bunch of people responsible for Fifi and her stablemates.
I had the distinct pleasure to climb aboard Fifi a few years ago when they were visiting my home town. It's *very* clear that the crew love their plane, and were the very image of proud parents in showing her off to the gathered crowd.
Dang, 3 views and posted 19 seconds ago. I am early asf.
My father was a USAAF B-29 navigator in the Pacific 1944-1945. He died in 2016 age 94. I have his original flight jacket with squadron insignia.
My family are Friends of Doc since 2015. My (then 16 year old) son and I toured FIFI when she visited Boire Field in Nashua NH in 2018.
Damn there are a dozen comments but just 3 views 😂😂
Seattle’s Air and Space Museum at Boeing Field also has a B29 and a B17 fully restored by Boeing sitting right next to each other.
As well as an F14, a Concorde, a retired Air Force One, and a B52, and a P51 Mustang that saw action off Japan and many many other planes and super spook drones, Huey H1.
Also hundreds more, I have been there four times and still have not made it through the entire museum.
Use to be the Confederate Airforce before the Woke generation!
The main driver behind the Silverplate project was that the stock B-29 was incapable of carrying the huge and long Thin Man bombs. The problem? The wing support structure bisected the bomb bay, resulting in two smaller bomb bays, none of which could hold the long A-bombs! Look at any old film of a B-29 in flight and you will see two bomb bay doors separated by the width of the wings. This presented a major design challenge to Boeing for correct. The only other plane that came close to being able to do the job was the British Lancaster, with its proven ability to deliver their 6 ton Tall Boy bombs. The UK was eager to do it, too. They created "Black Lancasters" for this purpose and began training for this mission. But General Groves would have none of it, demanding an American plane MUST deliver an American bomb, and told Boeing they had to get the job done. That was what Silverplate was all about. Dr. Mark Felton made an excellent video about this very subject: ruclips.net/video/5XX9ptCNpik/видео.html
And it all worked out so Leslie Groves, once again, was 100% correct...