Wendover Final Post

Tomorrow morning i`ll be heading out for Death Valley,but I really had a great time and met some wonderfull people here in Wendover.It`s a very unique little town,and out towards the Salt Flats is where the magic happens.Stunning stark beauty,I could photograph the mountains,sunrises and sunsets for a month and get a different image every time.It`s just been great to be able to camp right in the foothills  and wake up to the most amazing sunrises.
Thanks to Chad Duvall at the Montego Bay Resort in Wendover for his gracious hospitality.
Thanks also to Brian Erickson at the Truckers Lounge.I`ll see you guys next year when it all starts again with SCTA Speedweek , August 13th-19th,2011.
So this`ll be my last posting for a few days or maybe even a week or so,unless Death Valley has WiFi now.Who knows,they put a StarFucs with WiFi by the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin......

...I can see how it would just blend into the architecture and majesty of the Gate just perfectly.

Wendover has changed quite a bit from the days of the 306th,the 509th and the 393rd.The Enola Gay will probably come back here eventually after they finish the renovations on the Hanger.I also hear through the coconut telephone across the palm trees that a Speed Museum is in the works,with a building already either picked out or purchased for this endeavor.The ghosts of racers past are probably happy about this,now they don`t have to stay out in the mountains forever,they`ll have their own little shrine which they all deserve.

Meanwhile SF Urban Moto put one of my pics on their cover this month,it`s a pic of "Woz" that I took at sunset at the BUB meet,right behind the pits by the mountains...

Jill Rothenberg did a great job on the article too,really gives you a sense of being there.I ferried her around on the back of the bike for a bit,got her down to interview Leslie Porterfield at Mile 0 and over to Peg Leg Craig before he got the record.

I`m missing the Salt already,and it`s not even into 2011 yet.Are we there yet??........................are we there yet??.

Wendover Will

But as much as i`ll miss Wendover,i`m also starting to miss this too...

....and some of this.....

I know that when I get there it`ll be covered in snow,but snow is good.

Murph

The ENOLA GAY Hanger.

Wendover is home not only to the Bonneville International Speedway,but also to the controversial Enola Gay hanger and all it brought with it in the 1940`s.
Wendover Field was concieved during the late 1930`s,and Congress appropriated funds in 1940 for the acquisition of land for bombing and gunnery ranges.Wendover was selected because of the Great Salt Lake desert and it`s vast uninhabited terrain.
The first unit to arrive there was the 306th Bombardment Group,with four squadrons of B-17 aircraft.
All told,there were 21 bomber groups and over 1,000 aircrews that completed training at Wendover airfield.The crews participated in the strategic bombing of Germany,flew in support of D-Day,and conducted combat missions around the world.Three of the groups had Medal of Honor reciepients.
In 1942 FDR had established the "Manhattan Engineer District",(Manhattan Project) for the purpose of developing an atomic bomb.By 1944 development of the bomb was under way and the B-29 Superfortress was selected to deliver the weapon.General "Hap" Arnold,Cmdr.,Army Air Forces,named Col.Paul W.Tibbets to head the select team.Only Tibbets knew the mission of the 509th Composite Group,and he chose Wendover Field for training because of it`s isolation,the need for security,and the wide open spaces available for training.
The hurried departure of the 72nd fighter wing made room for the 393d Bombardment Squadron(B-29) to be moved to Wendover in September 1944.This move was made without explanation and on short notice,and the 393rd was to become the core of the project to deliver the atomic bomb.
In January 1945,a portion of the 393rd group left for Cuba,where they flew simulated combat,high altitude,over water radar bombing and navigation missions.They returned to Wendover and in May recieved new B-29s which featured lighter engines with fuel injection,reversible electric propellers,pneumatic bomb doors,and a modified tunnel to hold the atomic bomb.
A successful test of the "Fat Man",called "Trinity Test" took place on July 16th at Alamorgordo Army Air Field,NM.Truman warned the Japanese that a "Bomb of Extraordinary Power" would be used,but the warning was ignored.Col.Tibbets took off in the "Enola Gay" at 0245 on the morning of 6 August 1945."Little Boy" was dropped at 0915 over Hiroshima,Japan.
Three days later "Fat Man" was dropped on Nagasaki.
The third bomb,a "Fat Man",was sent for by Tibbets when the Japanese didn`t immediatly surrender after the Nagasaki bomb.The surrender came on August 14 1945,shortly after the plane took off from Wendover.The B-29 carrying the bomb was intercepted somewhere beyond California,and returned to Wendover where the "Fat Man" was disassembled and the nuclear components taken back to Los Alamos.

Brigadier General Paul W. Tibbets Jr. died November 1,2007 at his home near Columbus,Ohio.He was 92.

Murph

Diffuse.......

Murph